Verstappen’s race ban threat and McLaren relations set to intensify Austrian GP

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Formula 1 head to Red Bull’s home track for the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend after a dramatic conclusion to the last event in Canada.

Sky Sports F1 takes a look at the big talking points as the battle at the front heats up heading into round 11 of the 2025 season…

More Piastri, Norris fireworks?

Lando Norris accepted blame immediately for colliding with Oscar Piastri during the latter stages of the Canadian Grand Prix which got rid of any potential tension between the McLaren pair.

McLaren were prepared for such a scenario but, ultimately, bosses Andrea Stella and Zak Brown are powerless once their drivers leave the garage and find themselves fighting for the same piece of track.

“What happened happened and I regretted it at the time and apologised for it,” Norris told Sky Sports News.

“Sadly, it’s also racing. I take it on the chin and I’ve got a move on. I’ve got to look at the next race and see how I can do a better job and not make those silly mistakes at times.

“There’s a lot of positives and I’ll make sure to look at them and build on what I’ve got because once I get into a good rhythm I’m sure I will be very happy.”

Norris, who is 22 points behind Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship, is still yet to string together consecutive wins in the same season, despite having several opportunities over the last 12 months.

He took his maiden F1 podium five years ago in Austria and the British Grand Prix follows one week later on July 4-6, so the 25-year-old will have the home crowd on his side.

Two strong tracks for Norris could be what he needs to regain some momentum but he will likely find himself attacking or defending from his team-mate at some point, given the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone traditionally see plenty of on-track action.

Sky Sports F1‘s Jenson Button said: “This is the moment whether we see Lando is in a good mental place and whether he will come out of the other side strong.

“I think he has in terms of being confident in his ability and putting it all out there, so I’m excited to see him move on.”

Verstappen continues to walk penalty tightrope but could pounce on McLarens

Max Verstappen stated he was “p***** off” at questions over his race ban threat, which will dwindle following the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen has 11 penalty points on his super licence and if a driver reaches 12 points, they will be suspended for the next race weekend.

The Dutchman came through Canada cleanly but needs to repeat that in Austria before two penalty points drop off, as the points cover a rolling 12-month period.

Verstappen has a record five wins at Red Bull’s home track and would likely have won last year without a slow final pit stop which led to his epic battle with Norris that ended in a collision.

In fact, the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix was arguably the last event Red Bull had the car to beat throughout the whole weekend as Verstappen took Sprint pole, the Sprint win and pole position.

Although he has picked up wins and pole positions since then, including this year in Suzuka and Imola, Red Bull needed to find plenty of performance from Friday to Saturday.

There is something about the short Austria track, which only has seven braking zones, that suits the DNA of Red Bull’s cars throughout different regulations, but Christian Horner has played down expectations.

“Probably our weakness at the moment is in the medium speed type of corners,” said Horner.

“The middle sector, there’s a bit of medium speed there, so, we’ll see. I would expect, if it’s hot, McLaren to again be stronger.”

Verstappen trimmed his disadvantage to championship leader Piastri to 43 points with second place behind race winner George Russell in Canada.

Even though the season is yet to reach its halfway mark, deficits of over 40 points are rarely turned around but Sky Sports F1‘s Martin Brundle thinks Verstappen is “not out of the title fight at all”.

“If he gets beaten by George one weekend, Oscar the next weekend and Lando the weekend after that, it almost doesn’t matter, if he’s second or third,” said Brundle.

“He will nick some great wins, like we have already seen twice, and will always somehow pull a podium out of the bag as well. If his rivals start sharing out wins among themselves, he’s right in there.”

Can Russell repeat Canada triumph?

Russell’s victory in Montreal never looked in doubt at Mercedes won their first race of the season, but was it track specific?

The chicanes and kerbs suited the W16, which was expected to struggle in warm conditions but even on a very hot and sunny race day, Russell held off Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli took a maiden podium.

Mercedes brought their new rear suspension to Canada, having not run it at the previous two races in Monaco and Spain due to uncertainty over its performance on debut in Imola.

Toto Wolff says correlation between the wind tunnel and real-life pace has been “difficult” for Mercedes but hopes the upgrade has solved their rear overheating issues.

“The swings in performance are still there. We saw it last year. We were not even closer but then [at other races] we dominated the weekend,” said Wolff.

“Austria is going to be a different ballgame, different track layout, different challenges, so all of our eyes and brains are concentrated on Austria now.”

Russell won last year’s Austrian Grand Prix after benefitting from Verstappen and Norris’ late collision. However, he was 15 seconds down on the leading duo so Mercedes did not have the outright pace.

The weather in Spielberg is set to be hot with temperatures around 30C throughout the weekend and the faster corners will be a true test for Mercedes’ car.

“Though we have made solid progress with our car in recent weeks, we know that we cannot expect this level of performance each and every weekend,” said Wolff.

“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with its absence of high-speed corners and a more closed tarmac that puts less stress on the tyres, suited the W16.

“The team executed well and took advantage of that, but we know that our rivals will likely be much more competitive in Austria this weekend.”

Ferrari to bring Austria upgrades

Although Charles Leclerc found himself briefly in the lead of the Canadian Grand Prix due to the pit stop phases, Ferrari were in no man’s land yet again on a track they expected to be more competitive at.

Lewis Hamilton hit a groundhog which explained his poor pace on his way to sixth but Ferrari were still over half a second off the pace.

“We are really in need of an upgrade and there’s lots of things that need to change for us to compete at the front,” said Hamilton in Montreal.

“We have something hopefully coming next week [in Austria]. I don’t know if it’s much, how much it is. I don’t think it’s a lot. I just think it’s one of those years.”

Since they were disqualified at the second race of the season in China, Ferrari are understood to have not been able to run the car as low to the ground as they want without overwearing the plank.

In the ground effect era, it is particularly important for teams to run the cars low to generate downforce which gives you performance.

If Ferrari bring a revamped rear suspension to Austria, they will hope it allows them to run the car lower which would give them an instant benefit.

“We will have an upgrade soon, before the British Grand Prix, and perhaps another one a bit later,” said Frederic Vasseur.

“But I think there is much more in execution and what you get from the car, than the potential of the car itself. Now we are at the end of the regulations, when we bring something to the track, we are speaking hundredths rather than tenths and if you don’t use the car well, you lose tenths.

“That’s happened a couple of times on our side at least. When we brought upgrades in the past, we needed one or two races to adapt the car to the set-up of the new version.

“I want to put the focus on the team much more on the execution than on the pure potential of the car. But we will bring something.”

Colapinto’s final race for Alpine?

Austria is the last of Franco Colapinto’s confirmed five races for Alpine before they decide who drives from the British Grand Prix onwards.

Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan ahead of last month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix where executive advisor Flavio Briatore told Sky Italy “no set limit” for the Argentinian driver.

However, speaking two weeks’ later at the Spanish Grand Prix, Briatore appeared to apply more pressure to his driver.

“I never tell [say] five races, three races, four races, one race. If Colapinto is performing, he’s driving the car. If not, we will see,” said Briatore.

“2025 is a year we need to prepare ourselves for 2026. So whatever experiment I need doing, we are doing.

“I don’t know at this moment if Franco will stay for the season or not, but let’s see. Depends on the performance. We’re only looking at the performance – nothing else.”

Colapinto crashed in his first qualifying outing for Alpine in Imola, then qualified 20th and 19th in Monaco and Spain, although he had an issue at the end of Q1 in Barcelona.

The 22-year-old outqualified team-mate Pierre Gasly for the first time in Canada and finished 13th, his joint-best race result of the season.

Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.

This news was originally published on this post .

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