Piastri: Battle with Norris pushed the limits a bit far

Piastri at one point went for a lunge on Norris in Turn 4, locking up and almost rear-ending him, which prompted the McLaren pit wall to radio and warn him that he was going too far with his attack.

However, in the end, Norris managed to keep his teammate at bay and took his seventh Formula 1 career win, his third in 2025.

"It was intense," Piastri said in parc ferme after the race. "I hope it was good watching because it was pretty hard work from the car.

"I tried my absolute best. I probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. But it was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times, and probably pushed the limits a bit far," he admitted.

With Max Verstappen wiped out at the start of the race by Kimi Antonelli's shunt on Lap 1, and with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc unable to make inroads towards the top two, the race turned into a Papaya affair.

"It was a good race," Piastri said." That's what we're here to do—to try to race each other and fight for wins. That's what we did today. It was close for me but not quite enough.

"Thanks to the team. To have the kind of pace we did whilst battling each other, it was very impressive. I can't thank the team enough for the car we've got," he added.

Norris was the faster McLaren driver this weekend, but Piastri managed to run him close early in the race but did not manage to make a move stick.

"I thought it was possible," Piastri responded when asked if he thought he could challenge his teammate. "Qualifying was unfortunate with the yellow flag.

"I felt like the pace this weekend has been good. Once I could stay in the DRS, I felt pretty good. Once I dropped out after the first stop, it was tough to make the progress to get back.

"Some things to go over to see if we could have done anything better," the Australian concluded.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella hailed Piastri for acknowledging his error, endangering Norris' and McLaren's race.

Stella said: "It was intense racing but that’s what we are here for, a race. It was an open race today. We needed to give Oscar a bit of advice in terms of the maneuver in corner four, which he actually acknowledged.

"I’m proud of him for how he said straight after the chequered flag that he was sorry for that maneuver; he went a little too far. It’s not easy. It’s Formula 1, he’s racing hard, but it’s a good day," he maintained.

However, the Italian also admitted it wasn't easy watching both his drivers slugging it out on track; he added: "They are obviously stressful moments.

"But we trust, we rely on Oscar and Lando, and also, once we are on the pit wall, you just try to stay as chilled as possible, analyze rationally what is going.

"But for us, it was clear that the guys both needed to have the opportunity to win the race, as long as they do it in the way they’ve done it today," Stella concluded.

McLaren's result in the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix is their fourth one-two finish this season.