Race 11 - 2025 Austrian GP - Redbull Ring Spielburg

[Nitrodaze]

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We head back to Spielberg, Austria, at the Redbull Ring, where Verstappen has usually been supreme. Piastri arrives at this race with a 22-point lead over Norris after the first McLaren inter-teammate clash. Piastri shaken but not stirred. Norris' bruised ego and shaken confidence. We seem set to see the rivalry between the McLaren pair heat up as the season progresses. A Piastri win at Spielberg would most likely see him finish the first half of the season ahead in the points and most likely to secure the lead driver status going into the second half of the season. Hence, a Norris recovery at Spielberg is crucial, as would be winning the British GP at Silverstone to level up or retake the lead of the championship heading into the summer break. The converse would relegate Norris to second driver status for the remainder of the season. That is, if McLaren has learnt anything from the 2024 season.

Talk of Verstappen heading to Mercedes for 2026 has gained momentum at this race weekend. This was fueled by the delay on the Russell contract and Sky claiming Woolf admits interest in Verstappen for the 2026 season. If Verstappen takes Russell's seat at Mercedes, where is Russell going to go? One suggestion was for a swap into Verstappen's seat at Redbull. This would be very tricky as no one other than Verstappen is able to drive that car successfully. The other idea floating around is of Russell heading to Aston Martin, which may be a more rewarding direction, given that most competitive seats are locked up, at the moment, for 2026. I wonder what you think about this topic?

Temperatures are likely to be in the region of 29 degrees Celsius, which is in the Mercedes zone. The two front rows are likely to be filled by the two McLarens, Verstappen and Russell. The Ferrari cars seem to lack the pace at this track. The misery continues for the scarlet Ferraris. The floor upgrades seem not to have any effect on the performance of the Red cars.

What are your thoughts on the F1 movie if you have seen it?

[Nitrodaze]

What a lap from Norris. 1.03.9, blindingly fast. He is back.

[Used to be Starter]

What a lap from Norris. 1.03.9, blindingly fast. He is back.
Yes, great recovery from recent history for him. Now, can he keep it up through the race and into later events?

[Steve Boyd]

Time to transfer Max to the Racing Bulls? Looks like they've got the better car!

[Nitrodaze]

Yes, great recovery from recent history for him. Now, can he keep it up through the race and into later events?

Leclerc Ferrari is in second place, but a whopping half a second behind. Now, McLaren has found a solution for Norris, a half-second gap to the nearest rival would suggest the second half of the season would be a mere formality. McLaren would run away with both titles with ease.
The battle for second place would continue to be interesting, of course. I doubt we would see many upgrades after Silverstone. Hence, the Silverstone race may produce the pecking order for the rest of the season.

[Nitrodaze]

The Ferrari race pace seemed very strong in free practice, certainly closer to the McLarens than qualifying indicates. Hence, an upset is on the cards. One of the Ferraris may steal the win if the right opportunity presents itself.

[Nitrodaze]

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[Nitrodaze]

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[Nitrodaze]

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[Nitrodaze]

Sainz is out of the race. Car on fire.

[Nitrodaze]

The Ferrari pit wall still needs work. For the life of me, l don't understand why they could not understand "Tyre still good". They just interfered with Hamilton's race strategy.

[Bagwan]

The Ferrari pit wall still needs work. For the life of me, l don't understand why they could not understand "Tyre still good". They just interfered with Hamilton's race strategy.

It would have been a desperate long shot to not change when Ferrari chose to do so , as he would have been on those tires for 6 laps longer than anybody else managed on them by the end of the race .

Kudos to Lewis for accepting the order without argument .

[Bagwan]

That was a fun race to watch , even with the Macs so far in the distance .
I missed Max in the mix , though .

[Used to be Starter]

Disastrous race for Williams.

[N. Jones]

What was Antonelli doing? A grid penalty is appropriate.
Bortoleto is the driver of the day. What a race.

[N. Jones]

Disastrous race for Williams.

Did Alex retire for the same reason as Carlos?

[Nitrodaze]

It would have been a desperate long shot to not change when Ferrari chose to do so , as he would have been on those tires for 6 laps longer than anybody else managed on them by the end of the race .

Kudos to Lewis for accepting the order without argument.

Probably so, but they had nothing to lose by allowing Hamilton to experiment. Russell was over one pitstop distance away. Hamilton had saved tire life to attack the LeClerc pitstop. A battle of the Ferrari seemed to be brewing, and l was looking forward to it. Till they interfered l felt.

It was almost as if they were going out of their way to protect LeClerc. We want to see them race like the McLarens are doing. That said, Hammy did not have the pace today.

[Nitrodaze]

Disastrous race for Williams.

yep, but brilliant race for McLaren. It was brilliant to watch them race each other hard. There must have been a number of bum-cheek-clenching moments for Stella. This story is going to give us brilliant racing for the rest of the season.
My hat off to McLaren for their courage to allow their drivers to race each other. They had a whole minute gap to the nearest Ferrari, and that allowed a brilliant battle at the front.

McLaren gave Piastri the chance to go longer on the tire when asked to do so. Why can't Ferrari do the same when their driver is tactfully telling them his preference is to go longer on the current tyre? The Ferrari pit wall still needs work. They need to chill abit l think.

[Nitrodaze]

What was Antonelli doing? A grid penalty is appropriate.
Bortoleto is the driver of the day. What a race.

Inexperience caught up with Kimi. It wasn't a stupid act, but pure racing gone wrong. I think he tried to slow down but was not slowing down fast enough. Then he decided to change direction to avoid collision with the foot down on the brakes. That was the mistake, that change in direction caused the tyres to lose adhesion and the car became a projectile.

It was a valuable learning moment, and he would do better next time.

[Nitrodaze]

Did Alex retire for the same reason as Carlos?

I don't think so. Sainz's car caught fire. Albon had some sort of damage during the race. Whatever the case, they did not perform to their usual standard.

[Nitrodaze]

Ferrari leaps back into second in the championship by one sole point ahead of Mercedes. Norris closes to 15 points behind Piastri, and the driver championship hots up with a close inter-teammate battle for the rest of the season.

Verstappen drifts backwards by 61 points to Piastri. The way the McLarens are going, it is beginning to look like Verstappen is out of it. But one never knows, the McLaren boys may take each other out and bring Verstappen and LeClerc back into contention.

Redbull's woes at this race are probably signs of the price of not having Newey's guidance. Redbull seems lost, almost reminiscent of Mercedes in 2022. And the gamble on only one car is now costing dearly in the constructors. Lots of bad choices is translating to poor performances.

[airshifter]

Great bounce back by Lando after the mess at Canada, and proof that he isn't going to give up without a fight. He had a great weekend overall, and though Oscar didn't make it easy Lando seemed to still control things for the most part. That first stint made me think Oscar might end up on the top step, but it was great racing either way. I'm glad McLaren is going to let them race since most teams can't challenge them much at this point.

Crap weekend for Williams, Kimi, and Max, and Yuki is looking like the 2nd seat is just not working for him. Red Bull are really paying a price for not having a second driver that can pull solid points when Max has a bad day, but they have created that situation themselves. At this point Max is essentially fighting to stay 3rd in the WDC, and George might have something to say about that fight as well.

A rather lonely race for Ferrari, but managing to get one car on the podium is still a step up. They looked to be better than Merc this weekend, even though the lift and coast issues are still hurting them. If they get that sorted out and could actually push the entire race they might come out as the number two team unless Merc can come back hard.

It was fantastic to see Bortoleto score his first points, with Sauber getting both cars in the points. A well deserved congrats from Alonso after the race, who also had a good race himself. Lawson manages his best finish, and a Haas in the points as well. Though up front things are sorting out somewhat, the midfield races have been solid.

[Matthew]

The way Norris drove this weekend was pure class. If he keeps this form up, the title might just be his to lose.

[F1nKS]

Max seemed checked out. With Mercedes delaying signing Russel, it makes you wonder if Verstappen is completely checked out of Red Bull.

I thought Piastri was mature enough to take the points and not push his luck.

[airshifter]

Max seemed checked out. With Mercedes delaying signing Russel, it makes you wonder if Verstappen is completely checked out of Red Bull.

I thought Piastri was mature enough to take the points and not push his luck.

As for Oscar I think you are probably right. He knows he will retain the lead and not force any issues with the team.

As for Max a tougher call. He is no doubt watching the championship slip away and the what if scenarios are in his head for next year. But with his qualification run being ruined by a red flag and the contact with Kimi he might seem a bit checked out even if his loyalty remains with the Red Bull team.

[The Black Knight]

The improvement in Oscar this year has been massive compared to last years. I think he's one of the most naturally talented drivers to ever grace the grid but also got an incredibly calm head. As much as I liked Lando, I can't see him beating him to a WDC. He's mentally frail and it's too easy to plant self doubt in his head. I'd be delighted if I were proved wrong though.

[Nitrodaze]

The improvement in Oscar this year has been massive compared to last years. I think he's one of the most naturally talented drivers to ever grace the grid but also got an incredibly calm head. As much as I liked Lando, I can't see him beating him to a WDC. He's mentally frail and it's too easy to plant self doubt in his head. I'd be delighted if I were proved wrong though.

That's Lando's tactics. He leads you to think he is frail in the head, but then surprises you with a brilliant win. I think the McLaren car this season has gone Piastri's way. Lando has struggled with the car until Austria, where they found a solution for him. Since Austria, it has been even between them. But Piastri still has a slight edge because he is still the most comfortable in this year's car. The difference between them is really in how they both feel inside the cockpit.