More than a year and a half later, George Russell is back to winning, by winning this Sunday’s Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix. An incident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris promoted the British driver to the lead near the end.
Race summary
Starting from pole position, Verstappen (Red Bull) took advantage of the lead, and in the first stint quickly distanced himself from Norris (McLaren/Mercedes). The margin gradually grew until both made their first tire changes on lap 23.
The scenario repeated itself from then on, with Verstappen controlling the race operations well and Norris having no arguments to keep up. However, the Dutchman’s tires started to deteriorate, allowing the British driver to close in.
However, on lap 51, Verstappen’s second pit stop did not go well, and his advantage over Norris eventually disappeared. Car #4 made several attacks on the way to turn three. In one of them, on lap 59, he slid off the track and was penalized five seconds for exceeding track limits for the fourth time.
Then, on the 64th lap, the incident that defined the result occurred. Norris attempted an overtaking maneuver on the outside heading to turn three, but Verstappen closed the door by moving to the left and the two collided twice.
The incident went worse for Norris, who still made it to the pits but had to retire. As for Verstappen, he had a punctured right rear tire but managed to continue in the race and, despite receiving a ten-second penalty for the collisions, crossed the finish line in fifth.
At the time of the incident, Russell was in third and didn’t waste the opportunity to take the lead. The British driver from Mercedes had Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes) close by, but he was never truly pressured and secured the victory with a 1.906s lead over the Australian.
Carlos Sainz completed the podium in third, in a bittersweet day for Ferrari: his teammate, Charles Leclerc, had a forgettable race in which he only managed to finish 11th and never got involved in the fight for points.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, ensuring that Mercedes had the best combined result in the Austrian GP, followed by Verstappen. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas/Ferrari), Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), Kevin Magnussen (Haas/Ferrari), Daniel Ricciardo (VCARB), and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) also scored points, finishing in sixth to tenth place respectively.
Verstappen nearly secured the fastest lap, but it was taken from him by Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Mercedes) in the final opportunity. However, the Spanish driver finished only 18th (second to last of those who crossed the finish line) and didn’t earn the extra point.
Results:
RACE CLASSIFICATION (LAP 71/71)
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 30, 2024
Russell takes his second victory in F1 💪
Bravo, George 👏👏👏#F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/NJTVKXMDNh
