by: Alana Brown-Davis
This weekend, the F1 Austrian Grand Prix provided loads of action in Round 11 of its current season. In the Austrian Grand Prix, we witnessed an epic battle between McLaren titans Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. After a scary crash in the Canadian sector of the season, British driver Lando Norris stole the show winning first place for McLaren. Norris was able to hold off his teammate Oscar Piastri in a nail-biting race getting his third win of the season. This cut Piastri’s lead against Norris to 15 points in the series.
“Well done everyone, beautiful one-two,” Norris said. “We had a great battle, that’s for sure. It was a lot of fun. For me, a lot of stress! But a nice battle.”
The excitement of this weekend was fueled by other factors as well. On Friday, the ‘F1’ movie released globally and secured the number one spot in the box office.
Key Winners in the Austrian Grand Prix
Norris and Piastri are in first and second place for this year’s series. In third place, Max Verstappen faced a tough debacle this weekend after being taken out by Kimi Antonelli on the first lap. The accident made the reigning champion’s chances at a two-peat even slimmer. Antonelli was given a three-place grid penalty ahead of next weekend’s British Grand Prix. This puts the Dutchman a whopping 61 points behind Piastri, breaking his streak of finishing races.
Antonelli apologized to Verstappen, noting that it was the result of a brake lock.
“I didn’t necessarily brake too late,” Antonelli said. “But when I did I broke hard, and in that moment I locked the rears and I just couldn’t turn the car. It was too late because I was arriving too quick. The crash was inevitable. I just feel super sorry to the team, and to Max of course.”
Amidst a weekend filled with fiery mishaps, the future felt brighter for a lot of racers. As for others in the race, Ferrari managed to keep up although still being a bit behind. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton won third and fourth respectively. This brings Leclerc at fifth and Hamilton at sixth for the season. Mercedes racer George Russell took the fifth spot in the Grand Prix but is still above the others ranking fourth for this season. Liam Lawson of the Racing Bulls came in at sixth followed by Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. Alonso was able to hold off mentee Gabriel Borteleto who took eighth for Sauber. The former World Champion gave his protege a hug after maintaining a qualifying position. Borteleto’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg took ninth with Esteban Ocon taking tenth.