McLaren used a new floor, diffuser, and brake ducts at the Austrian Grand Prix as well as a tweaked front wing. Norris qualified in fourth and was promoted to third after a penalty was given to Lewis Hamilton, while Sainz qualified in eighth. This was McLaren's best grid start since the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix. After Norris lost positions in the opening laps to Hamilton and Alex Albon, both McLarens ran comfortably in the top ten for the remainder of the race. In the closing laps, Hamilton collided with Albon and was given a five-second penalty. Norris, running in fifth, was required to close the gap between himself and Hamilton (running in second place) to under five seconds in order to finish in the top three, overtaking Sergio Pérez (who also had a five-second penalty after a pit lane incident involving Norris) and setting his first fastest lap on the last lap of the race in the process, as well as achieving his first ever Formula One podium. Sainz finished in fifth after also overtaking Pérez. This was McLaren's second podium in three races after the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, in sharp contrast to their previous gap of 118 races. The result placed McLaren second in the World Constructors' Championship behind Mercedes, with Norris in third and Sainz in fifth in the World Drivers' Championship. In an article on strategy calls published in 2021, the team said Norris' podium finish was possible because of the "flawless" double-stacked pit stop allowing him to be in position to capitalise on Hamilton's penalty.