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Sport Nation
Important SN update for SouthlandLawson holds off Alonso challenge for F1 career-best finish at Austrian Grand Prix
Sport Nation • June 30th, 2025 6:30 am
Liam Lawson fends off Fernando Alonso at Austrian Grand Prix | Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Liam Lawson has completed a successful weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix by holding sixth place for his career-best finish in Formula 1.
It was a chaotic Grand Prix that saw Max Verstappen taken out in the opening lap by Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli - but Lawson was fortunate to not be involved in the turn 3 collision and continued to fight on.
Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies was full of praise for his driver afterwards.
"It’s never easy to start in a new team midseason, and he needed time to get used to our car. Yesterday’s great laps show the progress he is doing, together with the team," Mekies said.
"It did not look very bright after the first lap when both our cars were involved in incidents and lost many positions.
"From that point onward both Liam and Isack (Hadjar) drove an incredible one stop race, whilst most of the field elected to 2-stop, and this allowed us to fight our way back to the very top of the midfield. The pace and the race execution were brilliant, Liam was unstoppable and defended for 70 laps to Fernando (Alonso)."
Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Qualifying as the best positioned of the four Red Bull drivers at Red Bull Ring, the New Zealander heads into next weekend's race at Silverstone with the confidence that more results like Austria can come.
"After the first lap, I thought it might be over, but the team made a brave call with the one-stop strategy, it worked out perfectly," Lawson said post-race.
"Full credit to them, they’ve been working incredibly hard behind the scenes, and I’m super proud.
"The car was really fast all weekend, we’re constantly pushing and making small adjustments to make it more comfortable. The goal now is to carry this momentum through the rest of the season. We need to take the positives, keep fighting, and keep scoring points.”
The British Grand Prix serves as the halfway marker of the 2025 season - one that has seen Lawson's performance turn around dramatically since a solid outing at the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
With today's finish, the Kiwi driver has tripled his season points to 12, jumping ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasley in the driver standings.
Norris cuts Piastri lead after classic duel in the sun
It was a race for the ages, an epic duel under the baking Austrian sunshine as Formula One's top two talents laid on a show that will live long in the memory.
In the end, Britain's Lando Norris managed to fend off a relentless challenge from his Australian McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to earn redemption for his much-criticised blunder at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Victory also meant Piastri's lead at the top of the world championship had been cut by seven points, and with the British Grand Prix next up, this coming Sunday, Norris will be aiming to further reduce what now stands as a 15-point gap.
It was a magnificent weekend for Norris, who had been vilified after his botched attempt to pass Piastri in Montreal earlier this month ended in a collision and his retirement from the race.
But he had to fight tooth and nail to keep Piastri in second place as the title race seemed to move up a further notch.
It made for gripping viewing and there was a heart-in-mouth moment for Piastri as, with six laps to go, he was edged on to the grass between turns three and four by Alpine backmarker Franco Colapinto.
He kept control and was able to continue and keep the pressure on Norris. The Argentine was given a five-second penalty for the incident.
Piastri had briefly inched ahead on lap 11 only for Norris, who had started on pole, to snatch back the lead almost immediately.
It was nip-and-tuck before Piastri attempted a banzai dive at turn four on lap 20. Piastri locked his front-right tyre and came close to sliding into Norris's car.
McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battle it out at the front in Austria | Photo: EPA
McLaren promptly hauled in Norris for his first of two tyre changes. Piastri, perhaps as punishment, was left out on track with a flat-spotted tyre for four additional laps and was losing time, a signal that McLaren had seen enough.
By the time Piastri emerged from his stop, Norris was six seconds up the road.
"The feedback from the pit-wall was that the move into turn four was too marginal and we can't do that again," Piastri was told by his race engineer, Tom Stallard.
Norris came in for his second stop with 18 laps remaining with a three-second lead. Piastri would stop the next time around but then had to deal with the errant Colapinto.
Piastri continued his charge and with 10 laps to go was back within two seconds. "I need some pace," Norris said. "Please help."
Despite some damage on his front wing, Norris managed to stabilise the gap and hold on to the chequered flag, 2.7 second clear.
Charles Leclerc completed the podium for Ferrari, with teammate Lewis Hamilton fourth and George Russell fifth for Mercedes.
Red Bull's four-times world champion Max Verstappen suffered his first retirement of the season, in his team's home race, after a first-lap collision with Mercedes' Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli, who was given a three-place grid drop for the British Grand Prix.
There was drama when the start of the race had to be aborted after Williams driver Carlos Sainz failed to get away during the formation lap. He eventually got going and returned to the pitlane where his car's brakes caught fire before being extinguished by mechanics.
The race started after a 20-minute delay.
- Additional reporting by Ben Findon, AAP
