That Formula 1 is going through a change of pace has been something that could be sensed for some months now, with Max Verstappen going from rolling out the steamroller to rolling out his elbows. The superiority that led him to sweep the last two years, riding in one of the most dominant cars in the history of the competition, has vanished to the delight of the fans and also of McLaren, a team supported by two youngsters like Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who with their vigour and freshness have revitalised the team to the point of putting it on the same level as Red Bull. Norris opened his winning streak in Miami and was close to repeating it last week, at Montmeló, where a rookie mistake at the start, the worst moment imaginable, prevented him from knocking out the Dutchman, who started on shoulders on a day when his car was not the fastest. In Austria, where everything seemed set for McLaren to capitalise on the speed of its MCL35, an exchange of blows between Verstappen and Norris ended with the two favourites offside and with George Russell on the verge of a nervous breakdown, incredulous at the possibility of scoring the second win of his career, and the second in two years for Mercedes. Tempers ran so high in the Silver Arrows’ workshop during the final laps that the lad from Norkolk even allowed himself the luxury of giving his boss Toto Wolff a good honking over the radio: “Let me drive!”
With Verstappen and Norris disabled, Piastri crossed the line second and Carlos Sainz climbed onto the podium for the fifth time this season. Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, was limited to going through one of the most uncomfortable Grand Prix and finished second from last, penalised for a collision with Guanyu Zhou.
The current champion has gone from attacking to having to defend, even though he does both with the same aggressiveness. Compromised by a team error on his second visit to the garages (lap 52) – the left rear wheel did not want to come out and he lost three more seconds than expected – the inertia with which Norris circulated allowed him to catch up with his rival in three turns, and that left him a good margin to prepare the offensive. After throwing the car at him twice, almost always at the same point – the third corner of the track –, driven by the effect of the mobile rear wing (DRS), the Briton complained about the maneuvers of his opponent, who rectified his position in braking, after realizing where he was going to be overtaken. On the third (lap 64), Norris changed his strategy and launched himself from the outside, in an action as spectacular as it was risky, even more so on a tough bone like Mad Max, who cornered him until he contacted him. The friction ended with a tire puncture, an inconsequential ten-second penalty for the Red Bull driver – he finished fifth – and a balloon of three pairs of noses for Norris, who felt comfortable as soon as he got out of the car.
“In all three maneuvers, Max had a reaction that could perfectly have caused an incident. In a way, he was reckless. He seemed to be a little desperate,” declared the McLaren driver, who after the accident was forced to abandon, after the remains of the tire, in pieces, destroyed the flat bottom of his prototype. “Anyway, I’m not too surprised. I expected a race to the limit, tough but also respectful. “I don’t think this is what we’ve had,” he added. Verstappen always lands on his feet, this time he could not be an exception. Despite the gibberish, the boy from Hasselt left Austria with a wider margin in the points table and with the conviction that he had arguments to argue with Norris’ point of view. “I don’t think he was too aggressive. In fact, the ten seconds seemed like too severe a penalty to me,” summarized the flagship of the red buffalo brand, who has more work accumulated than he had a priori calculated.
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