The China Mail - McLaren bask in Austrian heat as Red Bull wilt

But while it was all smiles in the McLaren garage, Max Verstappen endured a dismal day, with the Red Bull four-time champion crashing out on the first lap, and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda trailing in last.

For Norris this was the 25-year-old Briton's first triumph on Red Bull's home tarmac to trim Piastri's lead in the title race to 15 points ahead of his and team's home event at Silverstone.

"It was a perfect result for the team -- a one-two is exactly what we want and we did it again," he said.

His happiness came also from achieving closure on their collision at the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks earlier when he hit Piastri and retired pointless, admitting he had "made a fool of myself".

This time, their thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle was completed without any rancour or tears and was a show of its own following Verstappen's exit after his Red Bull was taken out when teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes locked up and hit him.

"We had a great battle, that’s for sure,” said Norris.

"It was a lot of fun and stress. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar! Hopefully, it was a nice one for everyone to watch.

His win enabled the runaway leaders McLaren to move to 417 points and a lead of 207 ahead of Ferrari, for whom Charles Leclerc came home third and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton fourth, their best result this year.

Piastri admitted he did his utmost to catch and pass Norris after passing Leclerc on the opening lap from third on the grid.

"I probably pushed the limit a bit far, but it was a good race and that's what we were here to do – to race each other and try and fight for wins. That's what we did today.

- 'Not ideal' -

"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 this team enough for the car we've got."

Verstappen meanwhile is now 61 points adrift of Piastri in the drivers' title race amid mounting speculation about his future with Red Bull.

"It was just unlucky, like yesterday in qualifying," said Verstappen.

"But overall we did not have great pace here and we have a lot of learnings, and must find how to do better next weekend.

"It is not an ideal result."

It was the first time in 32 races that Verstappen had failed to finish in the points.

“We will keep trying to do our best, as always, and my mentality will never change. We have won a lot in the past and sometimes we have these times like this."

He accepted Antonelli's apology instantly and with good grace.

The 18-year-old Italian, hit with a three-grid penalty at Silverstone, said: "I didn't necessarily brake too late, it's just that when I braked hard behind other cars, I locked the rears.

"I feel super sorry to the team and to Max, of course, because obviously he was just a passenger."

Lawson was all smiles after achieving the best result of his career in sixth in Red Bull's sister team RB.

"It has been a tough time for me, but we have worked hard and it has been rewarded today so I'm very happy," added Lawson, who was dumped by Red Bull after just two races this season.

H.Au--ThChM