Austrian GP: Max Verstappen and Lando Norris tempers flare with Russell gifted the win
George Russell celebrates winning the Austrian GP
George Russell secured an unexpected victory for Mercedes at the Austrian Grand Prix, the Briton benefitting from the inevitable crash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Although Verstappen seemed to be cruising to the victory, a late-race challenge from Norris saw tempers flare between the two protagonists resulting in a crash with Norris out of the race and a puncture dropping Verstappen to P5.
George Russell secures Mercedes’ first win of the 2024 F1 season
Gusty wind and a track temperature of 47’C posed an added challenge for the drivers as they lined up on the Red Bull Ring grid for round 11 of the 2024 championship.
Pole sitter Max Verstappen, the pre-race favourite, leapt off the line to lead by metres already into Turn 1 as Lando Norris had to defend against George Russell, Lewis Hamilton took a position off Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc shot past Oscar Piastri. Sandwiched in Turn 1, Leclerc lost a piece of his front wing and had to pit for a new one.
Having defended P2, Norris set about chasing down Verstappen and dropped Russell out of DRS range, the Mercedes driver then unable to defend against his team-mate. But overtaken by Hamilton, Russell then had DRS and regained P3.
Sainz made his way by Hamilton after the Briton’s race engineer Pete Bonnington told his driver: “Lewis we are under investigation for Turn 1, so we need to let Sainz past.” Piastri muscled through on Perez at Turn 6 for sixth place.
As the race settled down into a DRS train with third to 12th separated by seven seconds, Verstappen continued to build his gap to Norris who in turn dropped Russell.
Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo – in the race for the minor points – withdrew from the train as they made early pit stops. Fernando Alonso was then in on lap 12. Magnussen was told to back off in his battle against his Haas team-mate: “Long way to go.” His reply: “F**k that!”
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Leclerc, out of the running near the back of the field, pitted for the second time on lap 17 as he got rid of the hard tyres and bolted on a set of softs. He was lapped by Verstappen a lap later. Sergio Perez meanwhile was told had had sidepod damage.
Zhou Guanyu wasn’t happy with Fernando Alonso as the Aston Martin driver punted him off the circuit in their tussle for 12th. The Spaniard was slapped with a 10-second penalty.
Hamilton was the first of the top eight to blink but was given a five-second penalty for crossing the white line. That sparked a run of pit stops from the frontrunners which played out with Verstappen in the lead by seven seconds ahead of Norris with Russell a further two off the pace.
Russell was the only driver inside the top ten to fit the medium tyres for the middle stint, everyone else on the hards. Perez, P7, added his name to the penalty list with a five-second for speeding in the pit lane.
Tyre management was the story of the middle stint for the top eight while behind them Magnussen headed a DRS train that included Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly running 12th and 13th and wing-to-wing.
“He’s gotta pass Fernando,” was Gasly’s message to Alpine as he wanted a free pass. Ocon promptly overtook the Aston Martin with Gasly also through and then briefly off the track as he tried to also pass his team-mate. Neither team-mate was happy with the other.
That was a concern for Alpine when they went wheel-to-wheel a few laps later with Gasly getting the move made on his team-mate. Albon joined Hamilton in being penalised for crossing the line at the pit entry
Both Verstappen and Norris reported their tyres were beginning to go off but stayed out, Norris notably fighting his McLaren despite taking tenths out of the race leader. His team-mate Piastri was faring better and overtook Hamilton to run third.
Russell was the first of the top eight to pit, the second round of stops again playing out with Verstappen still up in P1 but his advantage reduced to three seconds after a slow pit stop – left rear tyre. Russell was third.
A lock up from Verstappen allowed Norris to close to within DRS range, the McLaren driver had a look around the outside of the RB20 into Turn 3 on lap 55. Norris complained Verstappen moved in the braking zone. “He saw me move and then moved.” Norris again lined up Verstappen on lap 58 but wasn’t close enough.
He made a third attempt a lap later but left the track and had to give the position back. That also meant a track limit violation for the McLaren driver. As the stewards investigated that, Verstappen was again having to defend, Norris not giving up on a second F1 victory. There was another move on lap 63, this time Norris up the inside and Verstappen running off the track.
As tempers flared – CONTACT!
The two touched as Norris again tried to pass, Verstappen left without a rear left tyre and Norris also suffering a puncture. As they limped back to the pits, Russell took the lead but was being chased by Piastri and Sainz. Verstappen returned to the race down in fifth place but was hit with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.
Heading into the final lap, Russell kept it neat and tidy, the Briton racing to his second Formula 1 victory by two seconds ahead of Piastri with Sainz joining them on the podium.
Hamilton was fourth ahead of Verstappen while Hulkenberg took sixth off Perez with Magnussen, Ricciardo and Gasly completing the points.
Result
1 George RUSSELL
2 Oscar PIASTRI +1.906
3 Carlos SAINZ +4.533
4 Lewis HAMILTON +23.142
5 Max VERSTAPPEN +37.253
6 Nico HULKENBERG +54.088
7 Sergio PEREZ +54.672
8 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +60.355
9 Daniel RICCIARDO +61.169
10 Pierre GASLY +61.766
11 Charles LECLERC +67.056
12 Esteban OCON +68.325
13 Lance STROLL +1 lap
14 Yuki TSUNODA +1 lap
15 Alexander ALBON +1 lap
16 Valtteri BOTTAS +1 lap
17 Guanyu ZHOU +1 lap
18 Fernando ALONSO +1 lap
19 Logan SARGEANT +2 lap
Did not finish
Lando Norris – McLaren – crash