2025 Austrian GP: Post Race Analysis

Austria hosts of the best tracks on the calendar. 3 long straights, 3 DRS zones, so passing is possible. 2 stop strategy for most cars is always more enjoyable than 1. Not a ton of drama, but overall a satisfying race.

McLaren were properly dominant this weekend. I suspect they had a lot of speed in reserve, they were probably in a lower engine mode and let the drivers push the tires. Lando Norris back on top and has closed the gap to just 15 points. Oscar appeared to be the faster driver in the race. Some exciting racing and so nearly a disastrous collision. But it really illustrates how amazing the racing can be when both drivers give each other space. Surprising that McLaren pitted Oscar just one lap after Lando during their second stops. Oscar extended his first stint by 4 laps and could have pitted at least a few laps later on his second stop. Instead they boxed him and put him right behind two lapped cars that ended up pushing him off the track. Thankfully Piastri kept it together.

Ferrari had a very good day points wise. They were miles off McLaren, but everyone is. A small upgrade that both drivers were positive about. That's encouraging. Their pitstops were outstanding once again. Leclerc is flat out the faster driver, he was in line for a podium no matter what. Hamilton drove brilliantly in those opening laps against Russell. There's a good chance Max would have been in the mix if he was in the race, so perhaps a few bonus points on that account, but still a successful day for the team.

Mercedes really is worse in the heat. A very hot race and they go from a great car in Canada to a lousy car in Austria. George was in race by himself which was probably pretty boring. Antontelli a big mistake on lap 1. Honestly he should carry a 3 place grid penalty into the next race.

RB got some decent points with Lawson. Having such a difficult season, it's good to see him get a result. A bit surprising Hadjar couldn't fight for points.

Aston Martin getting points when they probably shouldn't. It looked like Alonso was faster than Lawson but was glued to his wing the entire race and never made a pass. Post race, Lawson said Fernando told him that he was using the DRS to advance his race and that Lawson was actually the faster car. I still believe Aston Martin was sitting on their own faces and didn't take the opportunity to undercut Lawson and give Alonso a chance to show his pace. If it didn't work out, he could still get passed and stay in the DRS for the rest of the race. Alonso was clever in the last laps, but he sure was lucky as with one more lap he was surely going to get passed. Lance Stroll, well he drove around for 70 laps.

Sauber has done something right with their recent upgrades. Another surprisingly strong race performance by the car. Bortoleto scores his first points. He was fighting inside the top 10 all day. Not sure the strategy was optimized for him, but he held on. Hulkenberg came from dead last and got 9th. Sure he was helped by all the retirements, but he still had to do his job.

Haas pick up the final points with Ocon. A good race by him as well. Bearman finished close behind.

Alpine also looked pretty lousy. Probably another case of the heat being their enemy. Gasly complained all day about the car lacking grip. Colapinto had another scruffy race but wasn't too far off the pace of Gasly. Got collected by Tsunoda, probably picked up a little damage and then mistakenly forced the championship leader in the grass and got a penalty. Overall a tough day.

Red Bull had a miserable day in their "home race". Tsunoda did take a 10 second penalty but he was the only driver to finish 2 laps down. Ouch. Reality can't be stated any louder. Without Verstappen, that team is complete garbage with that car. If Max doesn't get hit (by a Mercedes bowling ball once again) he probably finishes P4. However Yuki might get 15th at best.

Williams day ended early. Sainz didn't even get to start the race because of another mechanical issue. He would have had a difficult race regardless starting from the back. Albon surely had a shot at points, but reliability continues to strike down on the team. Let's not forget the team is still improving.

Driver of the Day: Liam Lawson. He has had a brutal season and finally he really did an outstanding job. Was head and shoulders above his teammate. Held off Alonso for the entire race and scored points on merit. Honorable mention to Bortoletto.

 

I fast forwarded plenty of it. Turns out I lose a lot of interest when Verstappen retires in the opening lap. Say what you want about him, he does make races more interesting.