Austrian

Marquez continues his dominance of the 2025 season with a first Austrian GP crown as he closes in on the riders title.

Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has marked the 1,000th premier class race in history by winning the Austrian Grand Prix for the first time in his career to take a mammoth 142-point lead over his brother Alex in the championship.

Having won Saturday’s sprint from the second row, Marquez claimed the sprint-race double on Sunday for the sixth Grand Prix in a row. The Spaniard has been unbeaten since the British Grand Prix in May.

Not since 2014 had Marquez claimed six consecutive Grand Prix wins as he moves closer to a seventh MotoGP crown with nine rounds remaining in the 2025 season.

Gresini Racing rookie Fermin Aldeguer found late race pace to finish second while Aprilia’s pole sitter Marco Bezzecchi, who kept Marquez at bay for as long as he could, finished third. Alex Marquez finished 10th after serving a long-lap penalty.

“Super, super happy to finally take the first victory here in Austria,” Marc Marquez said.

“I’m happy with six victories in a row, but [I need to] keep focus. Next week, we have another race.”

Bezzecchi had claimed his first pole with Aprilia on Saturday, and despite finishing fourth in the sprint, this time he had the perfect launch to lead Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez into turn one.

The two Ducatis went side by side on lap one when Marc Marquez briefly overtook his teammate, but Bagnaia did not relent and took the place back to stay in second.

However, Marc Marquez made the same move on the next lap to take second and set his sights on Bezzecchi, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce.

“In the first part he [Bezzecchi] was super strong, but then I just waited. I tried in the beginning, but it was too risky. Then I preferred to wait and attack in the end,” the winner added.

Alex Marquez had a poor start, and with a long-lap penalty to serve for causing a crash at the Czech Grand Prix, the younger Marquez sibling fell out of the top 10 when he rejoined the field.

Marquez pressure

Bezzecchi soaked up the pressure, but the Aprilia rider was unable to shake off the red Ducati hunting him down.

Bagnaia was struggling with his bike, and he eventually faded, giving way to KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Aldeguer as the two youngsters fought for third.

Bagnaia had been undefeated in Austria for three years, but he was a shadow of the ringmaster who had dominated at the Red Bull Ring since 2022 as he was bumped down to eighth.

Marquez finally attacked on lap 19 and squeezed past the Aprilia, but Bezzecchi put his head down and took first place back from the Spaniard, eager to deny him a first victory at the Red Bull Ring.

But Marquez was on the ascendancy, and he finally broke Bezzecchi’s resistance on the next lap, using the Aprilia’s slipstream to dive into turn one and take the lead.

As Bezzecchi made a futile attempt to reel Marquez in, Aldeguer made a play for second place, and the Gresini rookie made his move with five laps to go on turn one to slot in behind Marquez.

Marquez responded to the challenge and kept Aldeguer at bay to take the chequered flag, but the rookie was over the moon with his best result in MotoGP.

“I’m super happy because at the end, Austria is not one of my favourite tracks like Le Mans,” he said. “Making two podiums on bad tracks for me is incredible.”

The 14th round of the MotoGP world championship will be held at Balaton Park in Hungary next weekend.

Lando Norris’s seventh career GP victory cuts Oscar Piastri’s championship lead from 22 to 15 points after 11 rounds.

Lando Norris has held off a race-long challenge from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to win the Austrian Grand Prix and lift his Formula 1 title hopes.

Norris and Piastri battled for the lead in the early stages of the race on Sunday with the Australian briefly in the lead before Norris took the position back. A rash lunge by Piastri nearly caused a collision soon after.

Piastri lost ground at the pit stops and was run wide onto the grass by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto while cutting through traffic. He soon made up ground on Norris but wasn’t quite close enough to try overtaking.

Over the radio, Norris called it a “beautiful one-two” finish for the team.

“We had a great battle, that’s for sure,” he added later. “A lot of stress but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar.”

A two-horse race at the top

More than ever this season, the title fight focuses on the two McLarens after defending champion Max Verstappen was hit by Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap, ending his race. Antonelli was later handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race.

Overall leader Piastri leads second-placed Norris by 15 points with Verstappen still third but now 61 off the lead.

Piastri apologised to McLaren for the near-collision between the two, which came one race after Norris collided with him in Canada. The Australian said he regretted not making more of his few seconds in the lead earlier in the race.

“I hope it was good watching because it was pretty hard work from the car,” Piastri said. “I tried my absolute best and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily. It was a good battle, a bit on the edge at times.”

Ferrari strong with third and fourth

Charles Leclerc was third for his third podium finish in four races, and his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton was fourth.

George Russell, who won the last race in Canada, was fifth for Mercedes and Liam Lawson sixth for Racing Bulls in his best result of the season.

Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin held off Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto for seventh. The second Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg was ninth, and Esteban Ocon finished 10th for Haas.

McLaren are 207 points clear of Ferrari – who moved back up to second in the absence of team boss Fred Vasseur, who had to return home for personal reasons – in the constructors championship.

Round 12 of the F1 World Championship takes place next weekend at the British Grand Prix.

Police found a pipe bomb, bombing plans, and a farewell note at the home of the alleged Graz school shooter. Police say the ex-student who killed 9 teens and a teacher before killing himself. Austria held a nationwide moment of silence Wednesday.

Austria have now won the Eurovision Song Contest three times after victory in 1966 and 2014. Vienna hosted the event following both victories.

On Saturday, Australian opera singer JJ won the hearts and minds of the European public with the surging, storming song ‘Wasted Love’.

In doing so, he beat Israel’s Yuval Raphael into second place and saved the ESC organisers a huge potential headache of whether or not to host a song contest in a warzone.

Austria have now won the Eurovision Song Contest three times after victory in 1966 and 2014. Vienna hosted the event following both victories. In the coming weeks, conversations will take place with potential host cities across Austria.

While it will come as no surprise that Vienna and Innsbruck have officially put themselves forward to host next year’s final, other, smaller settlements are vying to get in on the act. An Austrian travel colleague (who does admittedly live in Vienna so may be a little biased) tells me that others in the running are “the smallest and most charmless towns” the country has to offer.

While one of the bigger players is likely to be given the nod, it is not out of the question that the Austrian committee award it to one of the outside runners. Indeed, after Ireland won the 1992 finals, they decided to host the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest in Millstreet, a town with a population of 1,500 in West County Cork.

Given Eurovision fans will splash out on pairs of glittery lederhosen and make their way to whichever host city gets the nod, a destination guide to the hopefuls may come in handy.

Oberwart

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It would be a real turn-up for the books if Oberwart’s bid were successful. Located in Burgenland, it is a small town famed for its ethnic Hungarian minority and a population of 8,000 including JJ’s singing teacher. The Mayor of Oberwart, Georg Rosner has put the town forward, despite it lacking the capacity to accommodate the travelling eurofans. What it does have are four main attractions, according to Tripadvisor at least: The Baumwipfelweg Althodis observation deck, the AK-Bücherei Oberwart library, a mini-golf course and a cinema. Also, handily, a large concert venue is due to open later this year.

Graz

While it may not be in pole position, it would not be a total shock if Graz got the nod. Not only is it Austria’s second largest city with 250,000 people, it seems quite charming. Graz used to be known as “Austria’s secret love” and “small town at the river Mur”, due to the quiet, calm pace of life there.

In the heart of the city, there’s Schlossberg mountain, on top of which a fortress used to perch in the 11th century. Looking down from there over the city roofs, you will be able to spy buildings from the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Historism and Art Nouveau eras.

Hidden between the buildings are romantic lanes and hidden courtyards of the Italian-style palazzi. It is recommended to walk up and down the Gothic double spiral staircase that forms the backbone of the Burg to appreciate its unique construction. Graz was once a residence city of the Habsburgs, and the royal legacy is apparent through the likes of Eggenberg Palace, which has public museums, gardens and a magnificent park

Wels

“Wels, the jewel in the central region of Upper Austria, is a city grown out of history in the middle of nature,” claims the Upper Austria tourist board. Wels is best known for its conventions, trade fairs and shops. With a population of 60,000 people, it would be similar to Bangor or Margate hosting the ESC if it were to win. Notable landmarks include the Lederer Tower on the picturesque town square; the town hall, the late Gothic parish church with magnificent 14th-century stained-glass windows; and the former imperial castle where the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I died in 1519.