Terrifying crash at Austrian Grand Prix as driver flips over cars
A huge crash in Formula Two saw the race suspended as a driver ended up upside down on top of a rival.
The F2 Sprint Race in Spielberg, Austria, was halted after just two laps following a three-way collision at Turn 3.
With cars still largely bunched up, the tight right-hander did not offer much room for manoeuvre as drivers jostled for position, The Sun reports.
And in the midfield pack disaster struck as Sami Meguetounif was squeezed off track as he hit the right-front tyre of Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad.
Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
Meguetounif, 21, was forced to the right side of the track before hitting the kerb and flipping up into the air.
As the French driver was in the air he collected British racer Luke Browning, who had been turning the corner just before him.
Williams Racing academy driver Browning, 23, remarkably ended up with the Trident car directly on top of his upside down.
The momentum carried by the 755kg flying vehicle eventually saw it skid off and come to a rest upside down.
Both drivers almost certainly saw their lives saved by the halo safety devices around their heads - a crash-protection system which first came into F1 in 2018 which can withstand up to 12,000kg of force.
Fortunately, Meguetounif reported he was okay as the race was suspended and cars brought into the pit lane to clear the debris, while Browning and Lindblad all checked in with positive updates too.
After a 30-minute delay, race stewards got the race back underway under a rolling restart led by Joshua Durksen.
However, stewards were forced to take action again almost immediately after the safety car was pulled in when Dino Beganovic was left stranded following contact with Oliver Goethe, once again at Turn 3.
A final lap incident saw four cars involved in a stunning pile-up at Turn 3 once again, with a spin by Amaury Cordeel left three drivers behind him with nowhere to go except for running into him.
Cordeel had been running in 4th, and the three drivers behind who crashed into him all ended up remarkably losing out on points finishes as well.
One fan on social media comparing the race to 'bumper cars'.
Campos Racing driver Pepe Marti took the chequered flag for the race.
After initial controversy over its introduction, the halo has more than proven itself to be a worthwhile addition to open-wheel Formula racing formats.
Notable examples of its prowess include Romain Grosjean's horror crash in Bahrain in 2020 and Guanyu Zhou's terrifying high-speed flip at the British Grand Prix in 2022.
Lewis Hamilton also hailed the hardware for saving his life after a crash with Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021 during their title fight when the Dutchman's rear wheel had found its way on top of the Brit's car.
In 2023 F1 Academy driver Chloe Grant also hailed the halo system for saving her life in a horror crash that saw her car set on fire.
F1 qualifying follows the stunning events of the F2 Sprint Race.
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7NEWS
10 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Oscar Piastri immediately apologises after ‘pushing the boundaries' in fight for victory against Lando Norris
It was the moment the great McLaren battle could have all gone disastrously wrong. Oscar Piastri moved to pass McLaren team-mate Lando Norris but locked his wheels and veered perilously close to his championship rival. The Australian regained control to eventually finish immediately behind the British driver in an enthralling Austrian Grand Prix that tightened up the race to the world title. Piastri, who saw seven points chopped off his lead, which now stands at 15, said: 'It was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 'But that's what we're here to do: try and race each other and try and fight for wins. And that's what we did today. It was close for me, but not quite enough.' The moment, on lap 20, turn four, caused some angst among the McLaren management, who had to deal with Norris's more serious blunder in the previous race, in Montreal, when he collided with Piastri and put himself out of the running. This was not on the same level but team principal Andrea Stella praised Piastri's immediate accountability after the incident. Stella said: 'As soon as he crossed the finish line, he opened the radio and he said, 'Sorry for the situation in corner four. My bad. I know what I have to do'. We have come out stronger and even more united.' Piastri replied: 'I thought it was a fair comment. Locking up and missing the back of your teammate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. So, even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again. So, a fair comment.' The race-long duel made for gripping viewing, a point not lost on Piastri, who said: '(It was) intense. I hope it was good watching, because it was pretty hard work from the car. I tried my absolute best, and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. Norris called it a 'beautiful one-two' finish for the team. 'We had a great battle, that's for sure. A lot of stress, but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar,' he added. 'Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch but inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in DRS (drag reduction range). It was a perfect result for the team, a one-two is exactly what we want and we did it again so I'm very happy,' For Norris, this was full redemption after his Canadian nightmare. He said: 'There were a lot of laps where I was looking in my mirrors. We both want to race hard and fair and it goes both ways. We have to put Montreal behind us and behind me for sure. It is something I wish didn't happen but it was nice we could push to the limit here. 'There were some close moments but nothing that would make (team principal) Andrea (Stella) or the pit wall sweat too much.' It was very much the McLaren show and Christian Horner, the Red Bull chief, conceded Max Verstappen's bid to win a fifth consecutive world championship is all but over as he proclaimed a two-horse race for the title. Verstappen is 61 points behind Piastri and Horner said: 'The buffer they have is significant. It looks very much like a two-horse race. They (McLaren) have got a cushion to the rest of the field. 'What's truly impressive is when you look at how close Oscar is able to run behind Lando with a car fat on fuel, at the beginning of the race, and he's basically making love to his exhaust pipe lap after lap after lap and the tyres are not dying. 'That is their advantage. I can't see any other car that would be able to follow that closely and not grain the front tyres or the rear tyres.'
The Advertiser
10 hours ago
- The Advertiser
I probably pushed the boundaries a bit far: Piastri
It was the moment the great McLaren battle could have all gone disastrously wrong. Oscar Piastri moved to pass McLaren team-mate Lando Norris but locked his wheels and veered perilously close to his championship rival. The Australian regained control to eventually finish immediately behind the British driver in an enthralling Austrian Grand Prix that tightened up the race to the world title. Piastri, who saw seven points chopped off his lead, which now stands at 15, said: "It was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far. "But that's what we're here to do: try and race each other and try and fight for wins. And that's what we did today. It was close for me, but not quite enough." The moment, on lap 20, turn four, caused some angst among the McLaren management, who had to deal with Norris's more serious blunder in the previous race, in Montreal, when he collided with Piastri and put himself out of the running. This was not on the same level but team principal Andrea Stella praised Piastri's immediate accountability after the incident. Stella said: "As soon as he crossed the finish line, he opened the radio and he said, 'Sorry for the situation in corner four. My bad. I know what I have to do'. We have come out stronger and even more united." Piastri replied: "I thought it was a fair comment. Locking up and missing the back of your team-mate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. So, even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again. So, a fair comment." The race-long duel made for gripping viewing, a point not lost on Piastri, who said: "[It was] intense. I hope it was good watching, because it was pretty hard work from the car. I tried my absolute best, and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. Norris called it a "beautiful one-two" finish for the team. "We had a great battle, that's for sure. A lot of stress, but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar," he added. "Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch but inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in DRS (drag reduction range). It was a perfect result for the team, a one-two is exactly what we want and we did it again so I'm very happy," For Norris, this was full redemption after his Canadian nightmare. He said: "There were a lot of laps where I was looking in my mirrors. We both want to race hard and fair and it goes both ways. We have to put Montreal behind us and behind me for sure. It is something I wish didn't happen but it was nice we could push to the limit here. "There were some close moments but nothing that would make (team principal) Andrea (Stella) or the pit wall sweat too much." It was very much the McLaren show and Christian Horner, the Red Bull chief, conceded Max Verstappen's bid to win a fifth consecutive world championship is all but over as he proclaimed a two-horse race for the title. Verstappen is 61 points behind Piastri and Horner said: "The buffer they have is significant. It looks very much like a two-horse race. They (McLaren) have got a cushion to the rest of the field. "What's truly impressive is when you look at how close Oscar is able to run behind Lando with a car fat on fuel, at the beginning of the race, and he's basically making love to his exhaust pipe lap after lap after lap and the tyres are not dying. "That is their advantage. I can't see any other car that would be able to follow that closely and not grain the front tyres or the rear tyres." It was the moment the great McLaren battle could have all gone disastrously wrong. Oscar Piastri moved to pass McLaren team-mate Lando Norris but locked his wheels and veered perilously close to his championship rival. The Australian regained control to eventually finish immediately behind the British driver in an enthralling Austrian Grand Prix that tightened up the race to the world title. Piastri, who saw seven points chopped off his lead, which now stands at 15, said: "It was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far. "But that's what we're here to do: try and race each other and try and fight for wins. And that's what we did today. It was close for me, but not quite enough." The moment, on lap 20, turn four, caused some angst among the McLaren management, who had to deal with Norris's more serious blunder in the previous race, in Montreal, when he collided with Piastri and put himself out of the running. This was not on the same level but team principal Andrea Stella praised Piastri's immediate accountability after the incident. Stella said: "As soon as he crossed the finish line, he opened the radio and he said, 'Sorry for the situation in corner four. My bad. I know what I have to do'. We have come out stronger and even more united." Piastri replied: "I thought it was a fair comment. Locking up and missing the back of your team-mate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. So, even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again. So, a fair comment." The race-long duel made for gripping viewing, a point not lost on Piastri, who said: "[It was] intense. I hope it was good watching, because it was pretty hard work from the car. I tried my absolute best, and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. Norris called it a "beautiful one-two" finish for the team. "We had a great battle, that's for sure. A lot of stress, but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar," he added. "Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch but inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in DRS (drag reduction range). It was a perfect result for the team, a one-two is exactly what we want and we did it again so I'm very happy," For Norris, this was full redemption after his Canadian nightmare. He said: "There were a lot of laps where I was looking in my mirrors. We both want to race hard and fair and it goes both ways. We have to put Montreal behind us and behind me for sure. It is something I wish didn't happen but it was nice we could push to the limit here. "There were some close moments but nothing that would make (team principal) Andrea (Stella) or the pit wall sweat too much." It was very much the McLaren show and Christian Horner, the Red Bull chief, conceded Max Verstappen's bid to win a fifth consecutive world championship is all but over as he proclaimed a two-horse race for the title. Verstappen is 61 points behind Piastri and Horner said: "The buffer they have is significant. It looks very much like a two-horse race. They (McLaren) have got a cushion to the rest of the field. "What's truly impressive is when you look at how close Oscar is able to run behind Lando with a car fat on fuel, at the beginning of the race, and he's basically making love to his exhaust pipe lap after lap after lap and the tyres are not dying. "That is their advantage. I can't see any other car that would be able to follow that closely and not grain the front tyres or the rear tyres." It was the moment the great McLaren battle could have all gone disastrously wrong. Oscar Piastri moved to pass McLaren team-mate Lando Norris but locked his wheels and veered perilously close to his championship rival. The Australian regained control to eventually finish immediately behind the British driver in an enthralling Austrian Grand Prix that tightened up the race to the world title. Piastri, who saw seven points chopped off his lead, which now stands at 15, said: "It was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far. "But that's what we're here to do: try and race each other and try and fight for wins. And that's what we did today. It was close for me, but not quite enough." The moment, on lap 20, turn four, caused some angst among the McLaren management, who had to deal with Norris's more serious blunder in the previous race, in Montreal, when he collided with Piastri and put himself out of the running. This was not on the same level but team principal Andrea Stella praised Piastri's immediate accountability after the incident. Stella said: "As soon as he crossed the finish line, he opened the radio and he said, 'Sorry for the situation in corner four. My bad. I know what I have to do'. We have come out stronger and even more united." Piastri replied: "I thought it was a fair comment. Locking up and missing the back of your team-mate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. So, even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again. So, a fair comment." The race-long duel made for gripping viewing, a point not lost on Piastri, who said: "[It was] intense. I hope it was good watching, because it was pretty hard work from the car. I tried my absolute best, and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. Norris called it a "beautiful one-two" finish for the team. "We had a great battle, that's for sure. A lot of stress, but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar," he added. "Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch but inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in DRS (drag reduction range). It was a perfect result for the team, a one-two is exactly what we want and we did it again so I'm very happy," For Norris, this was full redemption after his Canadian nightmare. He said: "There were a lot of laps where I was looking in my mirrors. We both want to race hard and fair and it goes both ways. We have to put Montreal behind us and behind me for sure. It is something I wish didn't happen but it was nice we could push to the limit here. "There were some close moments but nothing that would make (team principal) Andrea (Stella) or the pit wall sweat too much." It was very much the McLaren show and Christian Horner, the Red Bull chief, conceded Max Verstappen's bid to win a fifth consecutive world championship is all but over as he proclaimed a two-horse race for the title. Verstappen is 61 points behind Piastri and Horner said: "The buffer they have is significant. It looks very much like a two-horse race. They (McLaren) have got a cushion to the rest of the field. "What's truly impressive is when you look at how close Oscar is able to run behind Lando with a car fat on fuel, at the beginning of the race, and he's basically making love to his exhaust pipe lap after lap after lap and the tyres are not dying. "That is their advantage. I can't see any other car that would be able to follow that closely and not grain the front tyres or the rear tyres." It was the moment the great McLaren battle could have all gone disastrously wrong. Oscar Piastri moved to pass McLaren team-mate Lando Norris but locked his wheels and veered perilously close to his championship rival. The Australian regained control to eventually finish immediately behind the British driver in an enthralling Austrian Grand Prix that tightened up the race to the world title. Piastri, who saw seven points chopped off his lead, which now stands at 15, said: "It was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far. "But that's what we're here to do: try and race each other and try and fight for wins. And that's what we did today. It was close for me, but not quite enough." The moment, on lap 20, turn four, caused some angst among the McLaren management, who had to deal with Norris's more serious blunder in the previous race, in Montreal, when he collided with Piastri and put himself out of the running. This was not on the same level but team principal Andrea Stella praised Piastri's immediate accountability after the incident. Stella said: "As soon as he crossed the finish line, he opened the radio and he said, 'Sorry for the situation in corner four. My bad. I know what I have to do'. We have come out stronger and even more united." Piastri replied: "I thought it was a fair comment. Locking up and missing the back of your team-mate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. So, even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again. So, a fair comment." The race-long duel made for gripping viewing, a point not lost on Piastri, who said: "[It was] intense. I hope it was good watching, because it was pretty hard work from the car. I tried my absolute best, and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. Norris called it a "beautiful one-two" finish for the team. "We had a great battle, that's for sure. A lot of stress, but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar," he added. "Hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch but inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in DRS (drag reduction range). It was a perfect result for the team, a one-two is exactly what we want and we did it again so I'm very happy," For Norris, this was full redemption after his Canadian nightmare. He said: "There were a lot of laps where I was looking in my mirrors. We both want to race hard and fair and it goes both ways. We have to put Montreal behind us and behind me for sure. It is something I wish didn't happen but it was nice we could push to the limit here. "There were some close moments but nothing that would make (team principal) Andrea (Stella) or the pit wall sweat too much." It was very much the McLaren show and Christian Horner, the Red Bull chief, conceded Max Verstappen's bid to win a fifth consecutive world championship is all but over as he proclaimed a two-horse race for the title. Verstappen is 61 points behind Piastri and Horner said: "The buffer they have is significant. It looks very much like a two-horse race. They (McLaren) have got a cushion to the rest of the field. "What's truly impressive is when you look at how close Oscar is able to run behind Lando with a car fat on fuel, at the beginning of the race, and he's basically making love to his exhaust pipe lap after lap after lap and the tyres are not dying. "That is their advantage. I can't see any other car that would be able to follow that closely and not grain the front tyres or the rear tyres."
The Australian
10 hours ago
- The Australian
Oscar Piastri slams Alpine, comes second at F1 2025 Austrian GP
Australia's Oscar Piastri survived a frightening brush with disaster to retain his lead in the Formula One world championship after finishing runner-up behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix. Piastri showed amazing control to avoid crashing his car at full speed on lap 55 when he was run off the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg while lapping Alpine's Franco Colapinto, who was later penalised by the race stewards for his erratic driving. He was later blocked by Alpine's Pierre Gasly at turn one of lap 57. 'Alpine still manages to find a way to f*** me over all these years later,' Piastri quipped on the team radio. Piastri famously left Alpine for McLaren in 2022. Starting from third on the grid, Piastri improved one place after sweeping past the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc at the first corner but he was unable to get ahead of Norris and eventually had to settle for second place after having no luck with either pit stops or lapping the slower backmarkers. 'Intense, I hope it was good watching because it was pretty hard work from the car,' Piastri said. 'I tried my absolute best but could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily but it was a good battle, bit on the edge at times. 'Probably pushed the limit a bit far but it was a good race and that's what we were here to do, race each other and try and fight for wins. That's what we did. It was close for me but not quite enough.' Oscar Piastri finished second in Austria. Norris, who started from pole, defended his track position perfectly throughout the 70-lap race, making no repeat of his mistake from the last round in Canada, where he collided with his teammate, as he held on to register his third win in 11 rounds this season. In taking the chequered flag, the Englishman narrowed the gap to Piastri in the drivers' championship from 22 to 15 points heading into next weekend's British Grand Prix, the halfway point of the 24-race season. Barring a dramatic turnaround, the drivers' title is now looking like a straight battle between the two McLarens after Red Bull's Max Verstappen, currently third in the standings, was knocked out on the first lap in Austria when he was hit from behind by Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli, who incurred a three-grid penalty for his error. Verstappen has now fallen 61 points behind Piastri, while McLaren's lead in the constructors' championship has blown out to 207 points from Ferrari, which finished third and fourth with Leclerc holding off Lewis Hamilton to reach the podium for the fourth time this year. 'It's unlucky,' Verstappen said. 'It was not an ideal result. 'We try to do our best always, my mentality doesn't change, we've won a lot in the past and sometimes you have to accept that you're not winning and we just try and do the best we can.' Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli collided on the first lap With nine podiums from 11 races this season, Piastri has already demonstrated he has the speed, skill and consistency to contend for the greatest prize in motorsport but he can also consider himself unfortunate not to have added to his five wins this season. His hopes of claiming pole position were ruined when Colapinto's Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly spun during qualifying, forcing Piastri to abort his final flying lap on a fresh set of soft tyres and start from third. After making a clean getaway and overtaking Leclerc, Piastri had Norris under enormous pressure, and briefly got his nose in front, but dropped six seconds behind when he stayed out for an extra four laps during the first round of pit stops when McLaren switched from medium to harder compound tyres. 'Probably pushed the limit a bit far but it was a good race and that's what we were here to do, race each other and try and fight for wins. That's what we did today, it was close for me but not quite enough,' Piastri said. 'I felt like the pace this weekend has been good. Once I could stay in the DRS, it 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.' McLaren finished first and second at the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg. Norris eventually crossed the finish line just 2.6 seconds ahead of Piastri and was relieved to get the job done after McLaren told both drivers they were free to race each other as long as they did not make contact. 'We had a great battle, that's for sure, it was a lot of fun and stress,' Norris said. 'A nice battle so well done to Oscar, hopefully it was a nice one for everyone to watch. 'Inside the car it was obviously tough especially in the DRS, it's so tough round here and it's hard to get him out of the gap but once I did I could manage things pretty well, but it was still quick so it was good fun.'
