The hills were alive with the color of papaya. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri dominated the Austrian Grand Prix with a 1-2 finish, Red Bull came out empty-handed, Williams was dealt a double whammy, and Ferrari had a refreshingly fruitful good race. That’s the quickest summary that I could give you, but we all know I won’t do that. Let’s take a few steps back and delve into the weekend:
Qualifying
Lando Norris secured his third pole of the season at a sizzling time of 1:03.971. Charles Leclerc qualified P2 and was sandwiched by Oscar Piastri. Lewis Hamilton came in P4, but not without first (briefly) triggering the red flags after titanium sparks from his undercar set a tiny fire on the grass (something that hadn’t happened since Suzuka).
Max Verstappen finished P7 in the session - an unideal result for the driver in what is technically Red Bull’s home turf (though the headquarters are based in Milton Keynes, the constructor is Austrian). Teammate Yuki Tsunoda qualified P18 - again, not great for a Big Four team. Liam Lawson, by the way, qualified P6. Kick Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto performed the best of the rookies and found himself in Q3 with an P8 result. Carlos Sainz, who painfully qualified in P19, deemed the car “undriveable” after getting knocked out of the first round of qualifying.
Remember that last sentence.
Woe is We: A Tough Race for Williams and Red Bull
Recent Grands Prix formation laps with aborted starts were often due to a weather-induced spin-out or gravel hit. This time around, it was the opposite - Carlos Sainz’s car didn’t start due to being stuck in first gear. Once he finally got the car moving, he was able to complete a lap and return to the pit lane, only for the rear brakes to catch fire. For obvious reasons, Sainz was out of the race before it even started.
Williams later suffered a second bout of bad luck after Alex Albon retired from the race due to mechanical problems - a truly frustrating weekend for the team. Let's hope everything goes uphill from here.
And there was the chaos of Lap 1 - a rookie mistake from Kimi Antonelli knocked out both he and Max Verstappen off the track at Turn 3, instantly ending their races. I have to say that the Red Bull driver doesn’t easily crash out of races these days, so when it does happen, it’s kind of strange.
Yuki Tsunoda, on the other hand, didn’t crash out but was slapped with a ten-second penalty for causing a collision and ultimately finished P16, which, with the DNFs, became last place. I think we can all agree that this is a weekend that Red Bull would probably prefer to forget.
I just remembered that, aside from Antonelli, the drivers have either a past or present seat with Red Bull. The fact that Verstappen, Tsunoda, Sainz, and Albon (the latter two, like the Japanese driver, were also teammates of Verstappen) were dealt a horrible hand at the team’s home race gives off a jinxing energy. Yikes.
The Race, Chaos Aside
Let’s face it: the actual battle was between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, teammates given the green light to compete competitively as long as they kept it clean. It was a beautiful, nail-biting fight from start to finish that ultimately ended with Norris coming in first while Piastri came in second at just 2.7 seconds behind. There was neither rubbish nor fuss between the two, just good old-fashioned clean racing.
Charles Leclerc completed the podium in third place after a mostly lonely drive - the McLarens were zipping ahead. Lewis Hamilton came in P4 in what seems to be one of the best races he’s had so far. This is good for them both, and I like to think that we will soon see Hamilton on the podium with this pace. My fingers are crossed. George Russell, having to do some heavy lifting after his teammate’s DNF, came in fifth. Liam Lawson finished in sixth place (the best result of the race for either Red Bull or VCARB), Fernando Alonso was in seventh place, and Gabriel Bortoleto got his first points of the season with his eighth-place finish.
Championship Standings Post-Race
McLaren continues to stand on business in the Constructors’ Championship at 417 points - a comfortable and commanding lead that would take quite a feat to overcome. Ferrari and Mercedes are in second and third place, with 210 and 209 points, respectively. Red Bull stands in fourth place at 162 points. Given how everything is currently shaping up, I honestly think that the battle for second place might just be the actual fight this year… assuming that race results in the following rounds maintain the same trends.
Over in the Drivers’ Championship, Oscar Piastri continues his lead with 216 points, but Lando Norris remains right behind, a mere 15 points behind at 201 points. The fight for this year’s title is definitely going to come down to these two, and I’m split on my predictions - this could easily be a fight that lasts throughout the whole second half of the season. Perhaps a true victor will emerge in Abu Dhabi, but at least the fight will be long and worthwhile. Max Verstappen, the only real threat to either of the McLaren drivers’ odds of winning, is contending for third place at 155 points - that DNF might just be the dent that sets his campaign for his fifth title next.
We are officially halfway through the season, and although nothing is final until the championship trophies are given, McLaren continues to set the pace. Everyone else is clawing to catch up.
Thoughts For The Road
Our next stop in the season will be at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. Although all the races hold the same value in points, this race is considered one of the grandest to win. It’ll be a classic race on a classic circuit.
The British Grand Prix is also the home race for one-fifth of the grid - Lewis Hamilton (last year’s winner), Lando Norris, George Russell, and Ollie Bearman. All eyes, however, will most likely fixate on Hamilton and Norris for very different reasons - a homecoming in red and papaya to prove all the naysayers wrong.
Mark my words: this is going to be a fun race… in a good way.
