Guiding light carries Norris to front of Silverstone pack

For Lando Norris, so despondent this season at so many junctures, this is exactly what the doctor ordered.

- KIERAN JACKSON F1 CORRESPONDENT

At one of his most successful circuits, the Briton breathed new life into his title challenge in the Styrian mountains. The challenge now is to keep the momentum rolling into his home race at Silverstone this weekend.

Eager to bounce back after his horrid error in colliding with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in Canada, Norris dominated every Austrian Grand Prix session he participated in. While he stepped back for Irish rookie Alex Dunne in FP1, Norris topped the timesheets in FP2 and FP3. No doubt, he was a man on a mission.

Thankfully, and in contrast to a plethora of races so far in 2025, he also maintained his composure at the end of qualifying, setting a table-topping time more than half a second quicker than Charles Leclerc in second. In F1 spiel, that’s a sizable gap. It was Norris’s best lap of the season.

But the opening to the 70-lap grand prix was met with a robust challenge from Piastri, who leapt up to second at the start. The Australian spent at least 15 laps right on the gearbox of his teammate. Lap 12 saw the lead momentarily change hands before Norris came swooping back.

It was tremendous race-craft and, ultimately, Norris came out on top. In fact, this time it was Piastri who pushed the limits too much, locking up his tyres and almost hitting his teammate at turn four. Piastri was promptly told by his engineer Tom Stallard, over team radio, that the move was “too marginal.” He added: “We can’t do that again.”