Norris cuts Piastri's lead in Austrian thriller

SPIELBERG, Austria :Lando Norris won the Austrian Grand Prix and revived his Formula One title bid after fending off championship-leading McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri under race-long pressure on Sunday.

The Briton's third victory of the season, all from pole position, cut Australian Piastri's Formula One lead from 22 to 15 points after 11 of 24 rounds, with the two locked in an increasingly private title battle.

Charles Leclerc completed the podium for Ferrari - who moved up to second overall - but a hefty 17 seconds behind Norris, with team mate Lewis Hamilton fourth and another nine seconds down the road.

"Tricky, hot, tiring," said Norris after stepping out of the car at the finish of the 70-lap race in sweltering heat. "A lot of stress but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar.

"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)."

George Russell, winner in Spielberg last year and also in Canada two weeks ago, was fifth for Mercedes.

Red Bull's four-times world champion Max Verstappen suffered his first retirement of the season, in his team's home race, after a first-lap collision with Mercedes's Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli.

The Dutch driver stayed third overall, but is now 61 points behind Piastri and with his hopes of a fifth successive title fading fast. Antonelli was given a three-place grid drop for next weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Piastri, who seized second from Leclerc after an aborted first start caused by the Williams of Carlos Sainz being stuck on the grid, set the fastest lap of the race and made sure it was never just a procession.

He took the lead momentarily on lap 11 in an intense battle but