Entering the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship by 69 points from teammate Sergio Pérez, with Fernando Alonso third, a further 9 points back. Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship by 154 points over Mercedes and 167 over Aston Martin. McLaren brought a significant upgrade to the event: Lando Norris received new sidepods, bodywork, and a revised floor for his MCL60, with teammate Oscar Piastri scheduled to receive the same package at the following British Grand Prix. Prior to this event, Norris's best finish of the 2023 season had been sixth at the Australian Grand Prix.
The FIA also modified the tyre usage rules for the sprint shootout, allowing drivers who reached SQ3 to use any set of soft tyres rather than exclusively new ones. The change followed Norris being unable to participate in SQ3 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix earlier in the season after exhausting his soft tyre allocation.
Qualifying for the main race on 30 June was heavily disrupted by track limits violations. Sergio Pérez had all his Q2 lap times deleted for exceeding track limits, missing Q3 for the fourth consecutive Grand Prix. George Russell suffered a hydraulics failure that ended his session early. Verstappen claimed pole ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., with Alexander Albon qualifying tenth for Williams — a result made possible by Pérez's elimination. Kevin Magnussen and Nyck de Vries were both required to start the main race from the pit lane after unauthorised changes were made to their cars under parc fermé conditions.
The sprint shootout on 1 July was held on a damp track. Carlos Sainz Jr. suffered a brake-by-wire failure early but recovered to top the first segment after Lewis Hamilton's fastest time was deleted for track limits. Hamilton was eliminated from SQ1 for the first time since the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during the session. Verstappen secured sprint pole with Pérez alongside him.
The sprint race began in damp conditions with all cars on intermediate tyres. Pérez ran close to Verstappen at the start and went wide at turn 3, losing positions to Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr. Verstappen maintained the lead throughout to win, with Pérez recovering to second. Esteban Ocon and George Russell battled to the final corner, with Ocon edging Russell by 0.009 seconds for seventh.
The Grand Prix on 2 July began under cloudy conditions. A safety car was deployed early after Yuki Tsunoda collided with Esteban Ocon, leaving Tsunoda without his front wing. Kevin Magnussen also pitted with ERS problems during the same period. At the restart, Verstappen quickly built a gap from the Ferraris, while Lando Norris — who was running behind Lewis Hamilton — repeatedly reported Hamilton to the stewards for track limits infringements. Hamilton subsequently received a five-second time penalty. Nico Hülkenberg retired with a power unit failure, triggering a virtual safety car.
During the pit stop cycle, Ferrari opted to pit Sainz immediately behind Leclerc, resulting in a slower stop for Sainz, who rejoined behind Hamilton and Norris. Leclerc led for nine laps during the pit sequence — the first time a Ferrari driver had led a race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix — but Verstappen passed him with DRS after the stops and was not challenged again. Pérez, who had started fifteenth after his qualifying difficulties, climbed to third as drivers completed their stops. Verstappen won comfortably, also claiming the fastest lap bonus point. Leclerc's second place gave Ferrari their 800th podium in Formula One history. Pérez completed the podium.
Track limits violations at the final two corners of the Red Bull Ring generated an unprecedented volume of penalties. During the race, Hamilton and Tsunoda were the first penalised, each receiving five-second time additions. Sainz, Albon, Gasly, Sargeant, and Magnussen also received penalties during or immediately after the event, along with Ocon for an unsafe release at his pit stop.
Aston Martin filed a formal protest against the race results, asserting that many violations had not been addressed during the race. The stewards subsequently reviewed more than 1,200 reports and issued twelve further penalties after the event. Ocon ultimately received a total of 30 seconds in post-race penalties for track limits in addition to his earlier infringement, significantly affecting his final classification. Aston Martin's protest was upheld. Verstappen's championship lead extended to 81 points over Pérez following the round.
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