F1 Austrian GP winners and losers: Are Max Verstappen’s title hopes in tatters?

Lando Norris fought off McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to claim a crucial victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Here are our biggest winners and losers from a dramatic and tense F1 race at the Red Bull Ring…

Winner - Lando Norris / McLaren

This was the result Norris badly needed to bounce back from his heartbreak in Canada last time out and revive his aspirations of becoming F1 world champion this year.

After sitting out of FP1 for McLaren junior Alex Dunne, Norris produced a sensational performance to top every practice session and grab a dominant pole position at a track he loves.

Norris then resisted a race-long challenge from Piastri and held his nerve to convert pole into his third win of the season, and one that sees him reduce the Australian’s championship lead down to 15 points.

A McLaren 1-2, coupled with a bad day for Mercedes, has further strengthened the team’s stranglehold at the top of the constructors’ standings, giving them a massive 207-point buffer.

Loser - Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen’s title defence has suffered a huge blow following his opening lap retirement in Austria. The four-time world champion was wiped clean out by Kimi Antonelli’s out-of-control Mercedes at Turn 3.

With Norris and Piastri finishing first and second, the Dutchman has now fallen 61 points off the lead of the world championship.

With 13 races still remaining, there are obviously plenty of points up for grabs, but given the challenges Red Bull continue to face with their RB21, along with McLaren’s dominance, things have just got a whole lot bleaker for Verstappen in his quest to win a fifth successive drivers’ crown.

Winner - Ferrari

Ferrari enjoyed their strongest weekend of the season across both qualifying and the race as the introduction of a major upgrade appeared to provide a significant uplift in performance.

Third and fourth place for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton represents Ferrari’s best and most convincing result of 2025 so far, even if they were never in contention for victory.

Leclerc finished nearly 20 seconds adrift of Piastri, underlining how much performance Ferrari still need to find to get into race-winning contention, but they were the second fastest team in Austria on merit, and have reclaimed second in the constructors’ from Mercedes.

Loser - Kimi Antonelli 

How quickly things can change in F1. In Canada, Antonelli was a hero, and in Austria he went to zero as he was brought back down to earth with an almighty bang.

After a difficult qualifying left him only ninth on the grid, Antonelli’s bid to salvage a decent result lasted mere seconds before he locked up and lost control of his Mercedes and collected Verstappen.

To rub salt into the wounds on a painful weekend, Antonelli has copped a three-place grid drop for next weekend’s British Grand Prix.

Winner - Liam Lawson

2025 has been a brutal season so far for Liam Lawson, but Austria offered a welcome reprieve as the New Zealander secured his best-ever F1 result.

Backing up a standout performance in qualifying to line up from sixth - ahead of Verstappen - Lawson pulled off a well-executed one-stop strategy to retain P6 and take just his second points finish of the year.

At the home of Red Bull, it was Lawson who led home the energy drinks company’s charge for sister team Racing Bulls, who leapfrog Haas up to sixth in the constructors’ standings.

Loser - Williams

It was a weekend to forget for Williams in Spielberg as both their cars failed to take the finish - with one not even making the start.

Carlos Sainz failed to start Sunday’s race after his fiery exit in the pit lane, having first encountered issues that prevented his car from leaving the grid on the formation lap.

To compound Williams’s misery, Alex Albon retired for the second consecutive grand prix due to an overheating issue.

Winner - Gabriel Bortoleto / Sauber

Gabriel Bortoleto enjoyed his strongest weekend of his rookie F1 season to date. 

Having reached Q3 for the first time on Saturday, the two-stopping Brazilian secured his maiden points with a superb drive to eighth, having narrowly come out second best in a late battle with his mentor and manager, Fernando Alonso, who had to use all of his experience to just stay ahead at the chequered flag.

Credit too must go to Nico Hulkenberg, who impressively rose from 20th to ninth to make it three consecutive points finishes for the German and complete a first double points haul for Sauber this year. 

Loser - Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda was left bewildered as his struggles to adapt to Red Bull’s 2025 F1 car continued in Austria.

The Japanese racer was so far off the pace he admitted it was “like the first time I’m driving in F1” en route to a nightmarish 16th and last in the classification.

Points never looked on the cards for Tsunoda but his race was ruined after a clumsy collision with Franco Colapinto broke his front wing and required an unscheduled pit stop.

Winner - Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon made it back-to-back points finishes - and three top 10 appearances across the past four races - as he recovered from 17th to grab the final point on offer in 10th.

An opportunistic drive from Ocon, who profited from chaos around him to ensure Haas leave Austria ahead of Aston Martin, having lost sixth place to Racing Bulls.

Loser - Franco Colapinto

Bar it not have been for Piastri’s lightning-fast reactions, Colapinto could have been responsible for taking out the F1 world championship leader.

Colapinto was locked in a battle with Tsunoda and seemingly unaware of Piastri when he inadvertently forced the McLaren driver onto the grass in his bid to get past Tsunoda.

The under-pressure Alpine driver was hit with a five-second time penalty - as well as a penalty point on his licence - for the incident which left him 15th in the final order.