The drivers’ championship fight swung in the favour of the McLaren drivers in Austria as they scored their fourth one-two finish of the season while Max Verstappen failed to score.
This was the sixth time Lando Norris has featured in a one-two for the only team he has ever driven for, yet the first time he has led it. As well as fourth with current team mate Oscar Piastri, he followed Daniel Ricciardo home at Monza in 2021 as well.Norris therefore once again drew level with Piastri on seven grand prix wins, a tally they share with Juan Pablo Montoya and Rene Arnoux. He also took the 12th pole position of his career, tying with Gerhard Berger and David Coulthard.
However Piastri denied Norris a fourth ‘hat trick’ by nabbing the fastest lap. He now has six, tying with world championship Emerson Fittipaldi, Mike Hawthorn and Phil Hill, as well as Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Dan Gurney, Carlos Reutemann and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Red Bull were much closer to beating Ferrari’s record for most consecutive points scores. Since their double retirement at the end of the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix they managed 77 in a row. Ferrari’s record has stood for 11 years; they went from the 2010 German Grand Prix to the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix without failing to score.
After Verstappen retired it fell to Yuki Tsunoda to keep Red Bull’s points-scoring run alive. His chances didn’t look great as he recorded the worst five-race run for a Red Bull driver in qualifying for 18 years.
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Tsunoda finished 16th and now hasn’t scored a point for the last four races. That is the worst such run for a Red Bull driver since Mark Webber did the same from the 2009 Belgian to Japanese grands prix.
Coulthard was also the last driver to win in Austria for McLaren, in the 2001 race. That was before the track was rebranded as the Red Bull Ring.
Verstappen saw his run of five consecutive pole positions at the Red Bull Ring come to an end. Note only four of these were in the Austrian Grand Prix as he also took pole position for the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix.
As if things weren’t bad enough for Tsunoda the driver he replaced at Red Bull – Liam Lawson – scored the best result from his 22 starts so far with sixth place. That meant Tsunoda is now last of the four Red Bull-backed drivers in the championship.
It’s almost 50 years since a driver from New Zealand finished so high up. The last to do so was Chris Amon, who took fifth in the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama for Ensign.
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Gabriel Bortoleto also scored his best finish to date and grabbed his first points in Formula 1 with eighth place. Nico Hulkenberg made it the first double points score for the team since the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, when they were known as Alfa Romeo. The last time they scored points with both cars as Sauber was at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, when Charles Leclerc came seventh, two places ahead of team mate Marcus Ericsson.
Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Austrian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
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2025 Austrian Grand Prix
- Wiping Verstappen out in Austria wasn’t as bad as Monza debut crash – Antonelli
- Piastri explains “f*** me up” radio message after third run-in with an Alpine at Austrian GP
- Bortoleto admits he made a “mistake” in fight with “very smart” Alonso at Austrian GP
- Tsunoda on longest point-less run for a Red Bull driver in 16 years: Austrian GP stats
- “Confused” Russell couldn’t tell if Leclerc was “trying to help me or Lewis” at start
MacLeod (@macleod)
2nd July 2025, 7:53
I thought the best drivers has the ability to adapt to any car and be fast? That is what I encounter in RL as I can drive fast in a car which I like but get smoked when it doesn’t.. But a race driver showed me for him it doesn’t matter he preform the same in any configuration.
So Yuki is a average driver by the standard of racing drivers or he isn’t putting serious effort in his driving.
S
2nd July 2025, 8:45
So he wins every race, then?
If he doesn’t, does that mean he lacks talent or is just lazy?
Driving competitively is about confidence. If the car is unpredictable or lacks performance, it won’t instil confidence and won’t be exploited fully. Every driver is slightly different, no matter how adaptable they might think they are.
Red Bull continually adapting their car to a certain driver’s style will inevitably cost the other driver confidence – unless they just happen to have a very similar natural style and preferences.
After throwing so many drivers into that situation, Red Bull still haven’t managed to find Verstappen’s clone…. But I’m sure they’ll keep trying until Verstappen’s not there anymore.
MacLeod (@macleod)
2nd July 2025, 13:50
He did win races but I was focusing on his performance that was always fast… if someone else was faster he could be beaten but he was competive then say top 5 always…. That isn’t so strange.
anon
2nd July 2025, 9:58
@macleod Willem Toet, a former aerodynamicist in the sport, has talked about how the idea of “the best drivers have the ability to adapt to any car and be fast” is a gross oversimplification of the situation, noting that even great drivers can find it much more difficult to adapt to the handling characteristics of a particular car than in popular myth.
His personal experience was that, given the complex interaction between the aerodynamic behaviour and mechanical systems on a racecar, it can be difficult for a driver to be able to learn and predict whether something that they do might result in a sudden change in handling, or when a car might be prone to sudden and unpredictable shifts in aerodynamic balance.
Even with telemetry data and assistance from their engineers, it may take time for a driver to understand why a car might behave in a particular way, and it’s not always intuitive or straightforward for a driver to then adjust how they drive to avoid a potentially negative trait. Furthermore, there are many inherent traits to how a driver might drive their car, from throttle application to corner trajectories to the use of the brakes or choice of gear ratios in certain corners, that have become ingrained traits that a driver may find particularly difficult to change, since it becomes a conscious effort to do something different to what was previously a subconscious act.
His opinion was that, whilst drivers can be adaptable, there are limits to how much drivers can adapt their driving style to the traits of a particular car and the process can be much slower and difficult for even great drivers, compared to the popular myth that trivialises and oversimplifies the process.
Added to that, Pierre Wache, the current Technical Director of Red Bull, has commented in the past that he sees trying to widen the performance window of a car as a negative thing, as he sees it as reducing the maximum potential of the car. He seems to approach car design from the standpoint of trying to maximise everything, even if it leaves the car with a very narrow optimum operating window, and then letting the driver work out how to try and extract the most from it (and it may be that was part of the disagreement that Newey seems to have had with the technical department at Red Bull in the period before he left the team).
Although Verstappen has made that approach work to some extent, we’ve seen how he’s frequently complained that the car doesn’t behave how he wants it to, and that is despite the team concentrating their resources behind him. Tsunoda, by contrast, joined the team during the season, and we’ve seen that Horner and Marko weren’t hugely keen on handing the seat to Tsunoda. Support for Tsunoda appears to be limited, and there is also the complexity of Tsunoda not being a native English speaker, which can sometimes complicate some of the engineering debriefs – add to that the challenges of driving a car with a narrow operating window and differences in the specification of the cars, and you have a challenging situation for any driver to adapt to.
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd July 2025, 11:24
I actually am not at all convinced Red Bull IS tailoring their car to the driving style of Verstappen, adding to what Anon writes, Verstappen has been complaining more and more for at least 2 years now too. He’s mentioned that he does not like how the car drives and he has agreed when previous drivers mentioned how hard it is to drive and get it in the right window and mentioned the team should listen.
That Max is good enough to be ABLE to get superb performance out of the car (and that it’s quirks play somewhat ok with what he does like in a car and not so much the things he dislikes) means that Red Bull get away with it. But it is far from certain he wouldn’t prefer a different design, provided it is fast, off course.
Boomerang
2nd July 2025, 14:24
To say that any driver on the grid “isn’t putting serious effort in his driving” is insulting and reveals huge ignorance about the racing at F1 level. Please refrain of such comments.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
2nd July 2025, 16:37
Not really digging the ‘report’ function. It should be a flag or something next to reply, something that doesn’t take up the width of the page either.
Erzen (@xenn1)
2nd July 2025, 7:54
I’ve seen enough F1 to know where this goes: Lawson to replace Tsunoda at Red Bull from the British GP onwards and will be given 2.33 races to prove himself!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd July 2025, 13:21
Mmm, I don’t get the reference to 2.33, except it’s 1\3 of 7!
S
2nd July 2025, 13:31
More or less the total extent of Lawson’s Red Bull team career.
2 GP weekends plus some testing.
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd July 2025, 11:25
Is there a sprint race in that timeframe? That way it would actually work!
Mahesh (@m47e57)
2nd July 2025, 8:58
What a mess this second seat is…
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
2nd July 2025, 16:41
That won’t be a thing after Max leaves. Its like Marc Marquez, there really is no #2 driver at RBR, just an entry to keep up appearances. I would wager the budget cap is completely monopolized by his side of the garage, so he just has the requisite number of people to do pit stops, a race engineer, and maybe someone else. Im sure Max has put in his time and understands the car to a great degree, but it’s clear there is significant disparity between both sides of the garage. And probably just to help make Max look better than he really is.
Frank
2nd July 2025, 22:31
In this scenario, why did they bother swapping Lawson?
Jamesski
4th July 2025, 4:19
To save his career. He is a Red Bull driver whereas Yuki is a paid driver. They see him as expendable. I’m not saying it’s right, but it is how they see it.
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd July 2025, 11:28
I seriously doubt it pcmax. Sure, Red Bull clearly seem to operate with a preference for maximizing what the no. 1 car can do and gets in terms of material, people, strategies etc. And yes, the “second” team will probably be at a lower level, as well as somewhat disheartened by knowing they are the unbeloved second car team.
But there is really no sign that they are doing everything to make Max happy, he’s been complaining about the car, and has also mentioned he agrees with his teammate when talking about too narrow margins for setup and having to do a lot of work each weekend to fins a setup that works to be fast and consistent.
Pflite
2nd July 2025, 9:29
Guys, serious debate, do you really tihnk it’s just Yuki’s fault? When he was at RB at the start of the season he was doing well, then he got “promoted” to Red Bull.
Red Bull gives Max all the support possible, updates, simulator time, etc, to compete for the WDC. On the other side, they don’t want to compromise budget cup and 2026 car development, so they just try to save as much money as possible.
So it seems pretty obvious that all the remaining 2025 resources (until they decide to go all in for 2026 if Max goes out of WDC contention) are delivered to just one driver.
Imagine you have an underspecced version which requires different simulation work than #1 driver, team gives you way less simulation time before the FP1 and then simulation time goes down to zero between FP2 and FP3…
Not many chances to improve the car…
If you look back at Checo, he was more competitive at the start of the season, then his performances went down. Less upgrades and less investments into the development of his car.
It has became quite clear how Red Bull is managing the budget cup to maximise the performance of just one driver, who, to be fair, is the best in the lineup.
To me, also considering the difference in driving style, this is the main reason why the difference among the 2 drivers is so wide.
What you think?
Mayrton
2nd July 2025, 13:34
I rather think the RB is a very mediocre car, and has been for quite a while. Maybe comparable to Aston Martin, Alpine, Williams or slightly better and we all get distracted because Max will optimise anything he drives. So we do not get a honest/realistic view on the car.
As soon as Max leaves, we will see. Personally I hope Max leaves and takes a sabbatical in 2026 to assess whether he still wants to be part of the circus created by Liberty. F1 is no longer the desirable category to race in. WEC or GT way more interesting imho.
S
2nd July 2025, 13:52
There’s no debate to be had, really. Red Bull management and drivers all openly speak of the team being massively one-sided.
It’s not about the budget cap though – that’s just a convenient excuse to trot out when No.2 driver breaks something. Note the budget is never mentioned when Verstappen crashes.
No F1 team will ever use all their resources to maximise both cars down different paths – it’s simply not feasible, nor sensible. Most teams more equally balance their development direction based around the data collected from both of their drivers, however – not just one of them.
This is the primary reason why we see these drivers doing better in the junior team than they do in the senior team. That car is less focused on one person’s driving characteristics.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
2nd July 2025, 15:11
I think you are pretty much spot on.
There have been a few too many “coincidences” regarding the no 2 Red Bull car and its performance in relation to the obvious no 1 car.
It’s been going on for quite some time now. Management keeps demanding miracles of the no 2 driver, then consistently give drivers too little time to adapt. Lawson got 2 races – seriously what did they expect…?
F1 is supposedly a team sport and the driver is just one parameter out of many.
Maybe the core issue is not the driver, but something else.
TheNewNo2
2nd July 2025, 16:14
It’s clear the issue isn’t just the driver – though I think Tsunoda has had his time to show what he could do at Toro Rosso and didn’t – but the car. Verstappen is an amazing driver, but in trying to cater to his preferences they have created a car no one else can drive, and even he struggles. That’s not about a lack of upgrades for the second car, they’ll be a race or two behind maybe but they’re not using the Bahrain-spec all year.
A modern fighter jet cannot be controlled by a pilot alone – the plane is designed to be unstable, because that’s when it’s most agile, and so you need computers to take care of the micro-inputs to keep it in line and the pilot does the macro-level. The same thing is true in F1 – a really agile car is unstable, but hard to drive. Verstappen, as an analogy, has a good computer to handle things and so can make it work, but he’s a class above anyone else they’d put in the car. Someone less talented, even if they are still a good driver, won’t be able to do that.
The issue boils down to this: Red Bull have, since 2008 at least, operated a second car because they are obliged to, not because they really want to. They put all the effort into that one (very talented) driver, throwing away others (who prove their mettle by being champions in other series) when they don’t measure up immediately. They use the one driver’s preferences, and ignore the idea they should make a car which can be driven by other people. I am enjoying them finally getting burnt by this, I hope Verstappen gets banned simply so I can watch the two Red Bulls qualify 19th and 20th on merit.
Mr A
2nd July 2025, 11:58
What we are seeing is the beginning of the downfall of Red Bull.
No Newey, no Honda and soon no Verstappen. The team is toast.
And I await their days of mediocrity with glee, as I do not like them as an organisation.
XM (@xmf1)
3rd July 2025, 12:37
Vettel speaks well of Red Bull. So does Webber, so does DC. So do many of their employees who’s left.
But you, an outsider, who consumes media, feels it’s a bad organisation.
Alright.
Patrick (@anunaki)
2nd July 2025, 12:33
The car is just a bad car unless you’re an exceptionally good racing driver
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd July 2025, 13:23
Damn, tsunoda is breaking all the records, the qualifying one the other day too!
Dane
2nd July 2025, 13:38
Both Lawson and Tsunoda have been awful in the second Red Bull seat and curiously have done better at Racing Bulls. I say, time to stick Max in the Racing Bulls and see how much he dominates!
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
2nd July 2025, 14:35
Since Max is seems keen to race anything, and is probably out of the championship picture. Why not ‘demote’ him? They might learn something interesting in the second half of the season. Kvyat, Gasly, Albon, Checo, Lawson, Yuki aren’t bad drivers. They’ve had success both prior and post being that second seat. Is it the car? Is it Max?
Red Bull are in a very unusual position where they could put Max in another car, especially when he really isn’t likely to be fighting for much. Why not? It seems a better alternatively than to just repeatedly keep throwing other drivers into the second car and seeing if that changes anything?
If I was Hadjar I’d be glueing myself to the RB seat, nothing good comes of the ‘promotion’.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
2nd July 2025, 15:14
Yes to all of this.
Max in the RB car – now that would be something!
Dane
3rd July 2025, 0:08
Maybe it’s like 2008 where the sister Red Bull team accidentally had as good or better car.
BasCB (@bascb)
3rd July 2025, 11:33
Most likely the RB is a more “benign” car, but until very recently it used to drop back through the field a bit in races, much like Alpine tends to do when Gasly qualifies high up the grid. It is quite possible that Max would be able to get to the maximum level of car performance faster and raise it a bit, but also rather likely that would not allow more than say playing with the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari at the top end while in the Red Bull he can, if they get things right, still mix it in for the pole and for the podium and occasionally a win.
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd July 2025, 15:51
Alexander Dunne became the first (fully) Irish driver to participate in an official GP weekend session since Derek Daly and Tommy Byrne in the 1982 Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix.
The biggest 2025 pole margin so far at 0.521 seconds, or percentage-wise relative to the next fastest at 0.814%.
Max Verstappen suffered his second retirement in 76 rounds.
Liam Lawson was also the last to finish the race on the lead lap, like he was in Las Vegas & Losail last season.
On the other hand, last-placed Yuki Tsunoda was the only one to get lapped twice by the eventual winner (both McLarens, for that matter), which means that for the second consecutive season at Red Bull Ring, the last-placed finisher finished two laps down, with Logan Sargeant being the only one to finish two laps down twelve months ago.
Gabriel Bortoleto also achieved his first Q3 appearance & became the first Brazilian to score not only at Red Bull Ring but also in F1 as a whole since Felipe Massa in 2017, quite frankly, because no one else could’ve scored in between, while Sauber achieved their best result on this circuit since Kimi Räikkönen finished fourth in the 2001 race.
As of round 11, Franco Colapinto is the only driver besides Jack Doohan without a single point scored in the 2025 season so far.
Carlos Sainz was eliminated in Q1 for the third consecutive round for the first time & he also suffered his third DNS following the 2020 Belgian & 2023 Qatar GPs.
Simon
2nd July 2025, 17:50
And you’re still not crediting your source. I have read these, in the same order, elsewhere
anon
2nd July 2025, 19:44
Simon, and will you do the same when using the work of others in your posts?
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
4th July 2025, 23:19
Who were the slightly Irish drivers?
Tim O’Glock and Nick O’Rosberg?
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
2nd July 2025, 17:24
Whatever is going on with RBR’s second car, it would make for a fascinating documentary at some point down the line I think, with insights from all the number 2 drivers they’ve cycled through, and maybe Newey/Horner when they’ve retired from the sport and can talk more freely about these things!
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
2nd July 2025, 20:35
If four races is the longest point-less run, who’s got the longest pointless one?
Jonathan Parkin
3rd July 2025, 11:07
Luca Badoer
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
3rd July 2025, 12:28
I’m going the Hulk. Pointless pursuing a podium.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
2nd July 2025, 22:25
1000th GP in which at least 1 French driver has started – trails only Britain (1120).
Verstappen’s first no-score since Australia 2024 (another race where Albon was the only Williams that started). Piastri now has the longest unbroken streak (29, last no-score was Miami 2024).
First time Lawson has finished ahead of his team-mate this year, leaving Antonelli as the only driver yet to do so (including races where one driver failed to finish).
First time Piastri has finished 2nd this year.
Second race in a row that the podium featured none of the drivers that finished the previous race on the podium.
McLaren now have the longest unbroken point-scoring streak with 49 (last no-score was Canada 2023).
Barring any unexpected calendar changes, 2025 will be the first year in which Norris has finished on the podium in 100% of the GPs to have been held in Austria.
First circuit at which Leclerc has finished on the podium 5 times.
Sainz has had DNSs with 3 different teams following Belgium 2020 for McLaren and Qatar 2023 (another race with a lap 1 DNF for Mercedes) for Ferrari.
Verstappen’s first lap 1 DNF since Britain 2021 (where he was also hit by a Mercedes).
First time since Spain 2016 that the reigning World Champion has retired on lap 1.
Thanks to statsf1 and the official F1 site for some of these.