Lando Norris highlights biggest shock of Austrian GP after anonymous F1 race

McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris says that seeing rivals Ferrari struggling so much was the biggest shock of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Just two weeks after Lewis Hamilton won in Barcelona the seven-time world champion could finish only fifth, having been beaten by Norris’s team mate Oscar Piastri.

Norris meanwhile finished seventh, in front of the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, after both Scuderia drivers pitted three times as they tried to get more life out of their tyres. 

Norris admitted that he didn’t anticipate that McLaren would be in the fight with them.

“There was nothing easy about the race today with the temperatures we had,” he said regarding his race. “I just lost out on lap one to a couple of cars, and lost out then in the pit stops with having to box Oscar first to cover Hadjar. I lost out, and that was it, really. 

“So not a lot to complain of, otherwise just lost track position, and track position was the most important thing today. Unfortunate, but that's the way it is.

“I would say the pace seems to be a little bit better than we probably expect into Sunday.

“The shock was really Ferrari today, struggling so much. To be honest, I feel bad for them. I mean, when you have no power, you have to push like hell in the corners, and you can't do that with these tyres. It's a tough race for them. 

“But otherwise not a bad race [for us]. I think we still struggled with the balance, and it's still incredibly difficult to drive the car, but I expect it to be the same story for everyone on track today. We didn't change anything, we still had the same struggles. We just need time still to improve it.”

Meanwhile, Piastri expressed similar sentiments to Norris in terms of McLaren’s Maranello rivals.

“I think, to be honest, it was a bit of a surprise we were able to beat Ferrari,” said the Australian. “Obviously in my case, it wasn't by much. 

“Strategy probably helped us out today with that, but the pace was a little bit stronger than them, but clearly not strong enough to go and get Mercedes, and Verstappen was a lot quicker than we expected. So that's where we are.”

On a personal level Piastri was pleased to have bounced back after a poor Sunday in Barcelona saw him well off the pace of his team mate.

“I think today's race was similar in some ways, and was night and day different for me,” he said. “So we put a lot of effort into understanding why Barcelona was so tricky, I think we understood why, and attacked things pretty differently for this weekend, and today in particular. 

“And I think the result is kind of the evidence of that work. So from that side of things, I'm really happy. Just when you don't get a trophy at the end, you always wish there was a bit more, but that was the most we could have done.”