F1 2025 Austrian GP Review and British GP Predictions and Preview (Undercutters Ep27 transcript)

The double-header of Austria and the UK were fantastic last year, but would they live up to that in 2025? In this, the 27th edition of Undercutters, I take a look at how the Austrian Grand Prix went, and ahead to Silverstone.

As always, if you want to say hello online I’m MorrisF1 at both Blue Sky and Twitter, and morrisf1.blogspot.com is where you can find the transcript and many wonderful graphs.

There are plenty of upgrades still coming in, but will Ferrari finally work out how to get the most from a car that differs drastically from their excellent 2025 effort? Will Sauber continue to be surprisingly good? And will Norris finally nail Q3?

Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying 00m55s

Qualifying in Austria had some weird results. Hulkenberg was slowest of all, perhaps the most surprising man to go out in Q1. He was joined by Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Sainz. The Spaniard seemed to have some serious car problems, which explains his lack of pace. Alonso and Albon were the fastest men eliminated in Q2. But it was, all day long, the Lando Norris show. For once, he didn’t choke in qualifying and nailed every fast lap to utterly dominate. A victory margin of half a second on the shortest lap of the year is fantastic.

And also fantastic was Ferrari, with Leclerc 2nd and Hamilton 4th, Piastri between the pair. The Aussie might’ve done better but Gasly brought out waved double yellows which got in his way, and Verstappen’s as well. Behind the McLarens and Ferraris the top 10 were: Russell and Lawson (who had a great day too), Verstappen and Bortoleto (making a very good Q3 debut), and Antonelli and Gasly.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Russell had an unsafe release during qualifying and ended up with a reprimand rather than grid penalty. Hmm. That feels a bit soft to me. It’s rough on the driver but unsafe releases are just that and need more than a slap on the wrist.

Race Review 2m24s

The Austrian Grand Prix had a lot of excitement but almost all of it was front-loaded.

Even before the race started drama was about, as Sainz, starting 19th, couldn’t get going on the formation lap. Eventually he was able to start but by this time the start had been aborted and delayed 15 minutes. He duly peeled off into the pits, at which point his car burst into flames and he had to retire.

Off the line Leclerc lost out to Piastri, and Russell was hassling the Ferraris but the safety car came out on lap 1. Antonelli had locked up and clattered into Verstappen, taking them both out.

The Alpines, Hadjar, Bearman, and Hulkenberg had all started on the soft tyres, and Hadjar took the opportunity for a cheap stop.

Then we were treated to a very tasty fight. Piastri was right behind Norris and looked to be faster, regularly just half a second back. It was very close and he got ahead only for Norris to immediately reclaim the place. All throughout the first stint there was barely a gap, but Norris held on and boxed first.

Then McLaren went for a different strategy, after consulting Piastri, keeping the Aussie out longer for fresher tyres. Unfortunately we never saw them that close again, although Piastri did close the gap up a lot in the final stint he was never near DRS range. But it was a show of force from McLaren, who were miles ahead of the competition and achieved a thoroughly dominant 1-2.

Ferrari have had upgrades and they had good pace, but only as best of the rest. It was also a pretty lonely race for both Leclerc and Hamilton, neither threatening the McLarens nor facing a threat from behind. Russell, who had been all over Hamilton early on, just didn’t have the pace to fight the Ferraris. It’s a shame for the Prancing Horse, given their pre-season hopes, that a good result is being second to McLaren.

For Mercedes it was a rough weekend. They simply weren’t quick enough either in qualifying or the race, and Antonelli taking himself out meant a single points finish for Russell in 5th. After winning last time in Canada this was heading back down to Earth with a bump.

On Cloud Nine, however, was Liam Lawson. Not only did he handily outqualify his talented team mate Hadjar, he kept Alonso behind him for pretty much the entire race. Very assured performance, and a great result for the driver who has had a tricky season and seems much more comfortable in the Racing Bull than the Red Bull. As mentioned, Alonso got 7th right behind Lawson. While I’m sure he was frustrated to be stuck, this is still a good points result for Alonso and after atrocious luck for the first part of the season the Spaniard has scored three races in a row.

He also did well to keep Bortoleto right behind him at the very end. The young Brazilian had a cracking qualifying and good race, and wasn’t quite able to pass his Spanish manager but did score his first points. I think he’s going to get some more this year, and the Bortoleto-Hulkenberg partnership looks rather good. Speaking of which, Hulkenberg also scored for the third race in a row with 9th. While he was the supporting act this time, going from last on the grid to scoring is no mean feat and goes to show both how well the upgrades are working and how well Hulkenberg is driving. It’s going to be interesting to see just where Sauber end up finishing.

Ocon nabbed the final point for Haas. The team was there or thereabouts for the final points positions, with Bearman finishing in 11th. Perhaps disappointing for the team given the fantastic result they enjoyed here last year.

Williams, by contrast, had another nightmare, making it their third weak weekend in a row. They’ve gone from troubling Ferrari and double-scoring to multiple DNFs. Sainz I’ve mentioned already, but the team also had to retire Albon from the race for a reliability failure that hasn’t been clarified at the time I’m writing this. I don’t know if bursting into flames and a car problem are considered a saving grace because the pace was there to fight for points and if you can fix problems then battling for the top 10 can happen.

For Alpine, that is not the case. They were slow, very slow, and Gasly was not happy with his car at all. Colapinto also had some dodgems moments, on one occasion being clunked by Tsunoda (who got a 10s penalty) and then receiving a 5s penalty himself for forcing Piastri wide onto the grass when being lapped. That came close to taking out the title leader, which would’ve been quite the incident. It did cost Piastri a little time when he was homing in on Norris at the end of the race but I don’t think he would’ve got close enough.

Incidents and Drama 7m43s

The story of the day is not just Norris dominating qualifying and winning the race with some excellent early defending, it’s that he didn’t crack under pressure. For almost the whole season he’s made mistakes in qualifying and been second best to Piastri racing wheel-to-wheel. In Austria, a track Norris rather likes, he came out ahead on both counts. I think this’ll do him the world of good, or it should, at least. Piastri won’t be disheartened at all, but if this bolsters Norris then that’s great for neutrals who just want a close fight. Piastri was lucky he didn’t get taken out by Colapinto drifting right and forcing him onto the grass, otherwise he would be just behind Norris in the title fight.

One interesting part of the race was the differing strategy. Almost everybody went for a two-stop, same as last year. Lawson and Alonso did not. Both started on the medium tyre and switched to the hard, and it worked a treat, but only just. Bortoleto was all over the back of Alonso and another lap probably would’ve seen him get ahead. Nevertheless, both teams made a good call, both drivers nailed keeping their tyres alive, and next year I think quite a few strategists will be pondering trying a one-stop.

Ferrari had a decent weekend, but it still managed to see Hamilton fighting his engineer on the radio, disagreeing with the strategy. There does seem to be a feeling of ‘the computer says no’ whenever a Ferrari driver tries to make a case for a different strategy and they just got ignored or overruled. Bit awkward to listen to, to be honest.

It’s also worth noting just how poor the Red Bull is if anyone other than Verstappen’s in it. Lawson was 6th, Hadjar 12th, and Tsunoda 16th. The Japanese driver was last, two laps off the pace. And we know it’s not him. He was driving well for Racing Bulls before switching. Lawson struggled immensely in the Red Bull and just had a great result in the supposedly junior team. Red Bull need to redesign their car. Changing a second driver won’t do anything, unless they’ve been growing a Verstappen clone somewhere.

The Austrian Grand Prix was cracking in the first stint with a great battle for the leader, and it saw good strategy calls deliver strong results for Lawson and Alonso. Nice to see Bortoleto get his first points too.

Austrian Grand Prix Predictions Assessment 10m25s

And so to the predictions review. Well, I very slightly overestimated Russell. I had him down for pole and the win and he ended up 5th for both, so that’s very red. I did, however, get Piastri right as 2nd. Verstappen was my pick for 3rd and he didn’t last a single lap. Would’ve been interesting to see where he finished but it was not to be.

I got Alonso right for midfield points. He was looking good pretty much all race, albeit stuck behind Lawson. Albon was my other pick and he had to retire. A great shame as he was looking like he would probably sneak into the points.

I’m not sure if my Mercedes power unit failure suggestion came off or not. Albon did retire and at the moment I don’t know why that is.

So, more red than green but some of that was perhaps misfortune.

F1 2025 Standings after Austrian Grand Prix 11m20s

At the sharp end Norris has closed the gap a little. Piastri has 216 points to Norris on 201 points. Barring a huge turn around this is very much looking like a two horse race, I don’t think Verstappen or Russell are going to be able to intrude on this McLaren duel.

It’s tight between the teams, though. Ferrari now have 210 points to 209 for Mercedes, and I think that battle will continue. It’s probably advantage Ferrari, though, as their driver lineup is probably better. That said, they do face a stiff challenge from the Ferrari strategy team.

The great result for Racing Bulls has put them on 36 points, in 6th ahead of Haas who have 29 points, and Aston Martin who have 28. Sauber’s recent good form still has them down in 9th, but with 26 points they’re only four away from passing both Haas and Aston Martin. Alpine, alas, remain rooted to the bottom of the table with 11 points.

Williams have had some rubbish weekends lately but remain kings of the midfield in 5th with 55 points. But they need to resume scoring soon or that advantage will not last forever.

From the heat of Austria to the probably humid drizzle of the United Kingdom, our next race is in England.

Quick Look at Silverstone 12m55s

The British Grand Prix is held at Silverstone, formerly an RAF airfield. As might be expected, this means it can get pretty windy. It was also the host of the first ever F1 Grand Prix back in 1950. It’s a very fast track, with challenging corners, and should suit the McLaren. It’s also pretty long at 5.9km, which means 52 laps in the race, and there’s 239m from pole to the first corner. There are two DRS zones, each with their own detection point, and these are far apart. The first is from turn 5 to turn 6, and the second is from turn 14 to turn 15.

Pirelli’s stats for the circuit have it as one of some extremes, with 5 out of 5 for tyre stress and lateral load, and 4 out of 5 for downforce. Braking and track evolution, however, are below average at 2 out of 5.

As you might expect, rain can be a factor in the UK. While we’ve had pretty dry weather for much of the year it has been raining more recently, and this affected last season’s race, which I’ll cover in a minute or two. It’s been a fantastic circuit for Hamilton in the past, with 9 wins in total.

The Last British Grand Prix 14m10s

Shocking no-one, the last British Grand Prix was a wet affair, but dry tyres were on at the start.

On the grid, Mercedes had the front row, Russell leading Hamilton, with title contenders Norris and Verstappen right behind them. Piastri and, rather surprisingly, Hulkenberg formed up on row three.

Medium tyres were the order of the day.

Off the line Russell held the lead against Hamilton, while Norris lost a place to Verstappen. Initially, the two Mercedes started to pull away from Verstappen but Russell was unable to get far ahead of Hamilton. Norris was catching up to Verstappen but took a couple of laps to regain third. Rain started to fall as Piastri got past Verstappen, whose Red Bull seemed a little off the pace at this stage.

At the sharp end, Hamilton seemed more at home in the rain and passed Russell for the lead, only for both Mercedes to go off-track and enable Norris to get into second, and it didn’t take long for him to claim the lead. It wasn’t long before Piastri did likewise, putting the McLarens 1-2 and relegating the Mercedes to 3-4.

Some drivers started pitting for inters, Hamilton arguing against it on the radio and Perez and Leclerc pitting only to regret it.

It was at this point that McLaren made a serious strategic snafu. The rain intensified and so Norris pitted as did Hamilton and Russell. Piastri was kept out by McLaren on the basis double stacking would cost a few seconds, but an extra lap trundling around a wet circuit on dry tyres cost Piastri way, way more time and ultimately may have denied him a very good shot at victory. After things had shaken out Norris was first and Piastri was down in sixth. Hamilton was second, while Verstappen was third.

The track was drying and the inters suffering but it was too early to switch to dry tyres. Lap 34 saw Russell box and retire due to a water system failure. Hamilton, meanwhile, had narrowed the gap to Norris to 2s, with Verstappen 5s further back.

When Hamilton, Verstappen, and Piastri pitted for dry tyres they each opted for a different compound. Hamilton went soft, Verstappen went hard, and Piastri went medium. This time it was Norris who stayed out for one extra lap, before going onto the soft compound. A slow stop helped Hamilton get ahead of Norris, who emerged in second, and soon had Verstappen closing in on him.

The Red Bull soon passed the McLaren and began reeling in Hamilton, but with only 3 laps left the 3s advantage might be enough for the Mercedes. And so it was. Verstappen halved the gap but Hamilton held on for a record 9th win at Silverstone, to the delight of the home crowd.

Verstappen and Norris completed the podium, with Piastri finishing fourth. The Aussie was 12s off the lead, and I think but for that strategic error by McLaren he had a good chance of coming home either winning or second, but there we are.

Sainz was fifth, while Hulkenberg, after dropping back a long way at the start, recovered to sixth. Stroll and Alonso made it double points for Aston Martin, with Albon and Tsunoda also scoring.

Predictions for the British Grand Prix 17m36s

Bearing all that in mind, I think Piastri’s going to extend his lead in the UK, but he won’t get pole. I’m backing Norris for pole and Piastri for the win. On qualifying pace I think Norris has the edge and I’m hoping he can avoid making a mistake this time, but come race day Piastri’s the better driver. Norris, I think, will end up in second, with Verstappen coming home in third. I was tempted by Hamilton or Leclerc for 3rd, and it’ll be interesting to see how they do.

Midfield points are competitive but I’ve gone for Hulkenberg. He’s driving very well, the Sauber’s been improved, and old school circuits like Silverstone are very much up his street. I’ve also backed Hadjar to rack up yet more points. The Frenchman had a rare off-weekend in Austria but I think he’ll bounce back in the UK.

For my extra prediction, I’m backing Hamilton to outscore Leclerc. The British driver has had immense success at his home race, and if he can’t beat Leclerc here that doesn’t bode well.

F1 News 18m39s

F1 news.

It’s been confirmed by Sebastian Vettel, who won four titles with Red Bull, that he’s been in talks about possibly replacing Helmut Marko at the team. Marko is an advisor at Red Bull and has been controversial both in the distant past and recently. Mark Webber was annoyed that he saw Vettel as being protected by Marko when the two had clashes, and this season the advisor drew quite a lot of condemnation for his comments about Hadjar when the rookie crashed out on the formation lap in Australia.

Marko’s been around a long time and is now 82, so retirement makes sense. Vettel has been talking to ORF TV’s Sport am Sonntag podcast and stated he’s still in touch with Marko and they continue to get along well. At the moment it sounds like talks are at an early stage, and Vettel has expressed his hope that Marko will continue to stay on at the team.

It had been expected that Carlos Sainz Senior would stand for the FIA presidency, but he is not going to do so. His stated reasoning is that ‘the present circumstances are not ideal’ for his candidacy, adding that it would interfere with his Dakar Rally preparation. However, he also asserted, on social media, that the FIA needs important changes.

Many people were glad when it seemed Sainz Senior was going to stand against Mohammed Ben Sulayem, current FIA president, as MBS has not won many friends. There have been numerous departures of major FIA figures and changes to the structure of the organisation which many feel compromise it in terms of accountability and transparency. Whether someone else steps remains to be seen.

On the driving side of things there are tons of rumours about Verstappen being signed for Mercedes and Russell not having a contract. I don’t want to talk too much about this because either the news will be totally out of date very quickly or nothing will actually happen and rumours will continue to swirl. It’s also possible it could be Verstappen and Russell together, which would be rough on Antonelli but very entertaining to watch. Verstappen potentially leaving Red Bull has been seen as possible for a while, with most believing that would be in 2027 after spending 2026 with the team to see how they do with the new regulations. There have also been plenty of suggestions he might just leave the sport entirely. And, of course, Lawrence Stroll and his persuasive chequebook is another possibility. We shall see. For what it’s worth my guess is that Verstappen will stay where he is for next year.

He does have a contract with Red Bull until 2028, but F1 driver contracts are not carved in stone. The reason I think he’ll stay with Red Bull for 2026 is that it gives Verstappen the chance to see how the teams have done with the first year of the new regulations.

Recently, long term contracts have become a habit in F1 and we have another to add to the list. Austria’s staying on the calendar until 2041, and it’s nice to see an old-fashioned European circuit staying as a regular fixture.

Thank you all for listening. Austria was great at the start and Norris held his nerve, and we’ve got the British Grand Prix the very next weekend to look forward to. At this stage drizzle and thunderstorms are on the radar for qualifying and the race. Let’s hope it’s as dramatic as last year’s race.



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