Russell emerges victorious in Austria after Verstappen and Norris collide in their intense fight for the lead

After a tremendously dramatic race that saw Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collide in the battle for the lead, forcing Norris to retire and dropping Verstappen down the order, Mercedes' George Russell emerged victorious in the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen had started the race strongly from pole position and held P1 for the majority of it, but when both drivers made their final pit stops on Laps 52 and 71, a thrilling battle between them and Norris of McLaren began. Red Bull experienced a rare slower stop because of a problem with the left rear wheel.

With the difference between them at less than two seconds, Norris was pursuing his opponent quickly and attempted to steal P1 multiple times. But when the two made contact on Lap 64, everything came to a head and they both had to limp back to the pits with punctures.

This gave Russell, who had been running in third place for some time, the opportunity to pass and take the lead in the Mercedes. He maintained this lead until the finish line to win his second race in the Formula One world championship.



Oscar Piastri took P2 ahead of the leading Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in third, which may have been a small comfort for McLaren. Lewis Hamilton's Silver Arrows machine trailed a significant distance behind in fourth, while Verstappen crossed the line in fifth, a position he maintained despite receiving a 10-second penalty for the incident with Norris.

Strong finishes for Haas came from Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, who finished sixth and eighth respectively. Sergio Perez of Red Bull finished in between them in seventh place. Daniel Ricciardo of RB finished in ninth place with two points, and Pierre Gasly of Alpine completed the top ten.

After a first-lap incident with Piastri, Charles Leclerc made four pit stops to climb to P11 on an eventful day. Esteban Ocon of Alpine followed in P12, having earlier engaged in a close battle with teammate Gasly.

On yet another challenging day for the team, Lance Stroll led the Aston Martin in P13, followed by RB's Yuki Tsunoda in P14 and Alex Albon's Williams in P15.



Zhou Guanyu crosses the finish line in 16th place, while Valtteri Bottas crosses in 17th, prolonging Kick Sauber's wait for their first points of 2024.

On his last lap, Fernando Alonso recorded the fastest lap, but he finished the day in P18 after having trouble keeping up with the pace in the Aston Martin and receiving a penalty for shoving Zhou off the track earlier in the afternoon.

Logan Sargeant finished 19th and was Williams' last classified runner. Norris, who was given a five-second time penalty for going over the track, retired in the pits due to damage he sustained in his collision with Verstappen, bringing an unhappy end to a promising day.

Following a hectic Saturday at the Red Bull Ring that included Verstappen's victories in both the Grand Prix qualifying and the third F1 Sprint of the season, focus shifted to Sunday's race as teams and drivers prepared for the 71-lap competition.

Just one minor change was made to the grid before the race: Zhou's Kick Sauber's setup after qualifying meant that he would start from the pits, even though the Chinese driver was originally scheduled to start on the back row in P20.

Before the pack had even assembled, the windy conditions appeared to be causing some issues, as Russell locked up in Turn 3 while heading to the grid. He then asked the team to examine the steering, and his engineer later informed him that there had been a 40 kph gust at the top of the hill that had entered the corner.

When the tyre blankets came off, it was evident that all but Zhou in the pit lane had chosen to run the medium rubber, with the Aston Martin pair opting for used tires instead of new ones. It was feeling warm even though there was wind in the race field.

Pole-sitter Verstappen got off to a strong start and maintained the lead, while Hamilton gained a position from Sainz to slot into P4 before chasing his teammate. Russell pursued Norris for P2, but the McLaren driver held his ground.



Leclerc encountered difficulties further back when he collided with Piastri entering Turn 1. This resulted in damage to his front wing, which made the Monegasque pit and almost drop him to the back of the field, while Piastri went on and had a good battle with Perez.

After appearing to be pushed wide by the Red Bull, the Australian made a brief excursion onto the gravel. Meanwhile, on Lap 3, a thrilling intra-team battle between the Mercedes cars took place, with Hamilton making a move on Russell into Turn 3.

But Russell quickly used DRS to reclaim the lead. Meanwhile, the stewards had reported a Lap 1 incident involving Hamilton and Sainz for leaving the track to gain an advantage, but they chose not to look into it.

Sainz regained P4 from the man who will take over as Ferrari's driver in Lap 7, and Piastri had taken P6 from Perez into Turn 6. Replays later showed that Hamilton had been asked by his engineer to give Sainz a place back after their earlier fight. It appeared that the battle between those two was far from over.

On Lap 10, Magnussen and Ricciardo were the first to pit in order to put on the hard tyre; one lap later, the former's teammate Hulkenberg pitted and came back on track in close proximity to Magnussen; however, after a brief battle, it was the Dane who maintained the lead in 14th.

As Lap 14 approached, Verstappen's lead over Norris grew to over five seconds at the front. However, things were not going as well for Leclerc at the back of the pack, as the Ferrari driver lost a position to the Williams of Albon, dropping him to P19.

Seventh-place finisher Perez reported sidepod damage after getting involved in the Leclerc/Piastri incident during the first lap. Magnussen, on the other hand, responded angrily to his engineer's request to save tires, indicating that he was not in the mood to do so.

Leclerc's day went from bad to worse as many teams appeared to be considering a three-stop strategy. The winner of the Monaco Grand Prix pitted for medium tires, emerging at the very back of the field and seemingly on course to be lapped by Verstappen.

The majority of the leaders had not yet pitted, so Norris's engineer informed him that the hard compound appeared "poor." However, the British driver was also reminded that he still had two sets of mediums, which could be advantageous since the Red Bull team did not have the same ones available.

In other stewardly news, Zhou expressed his frustration after Alonso punted him off course, leading to an investigation and a 10-second time penalty for the latter; Hamilton, on the other hand, was flagged for possibly crossing the white line on pit entry, earning the seven-time world champion a five-second penalty.



Verstappen pulled in on Lap 24, followed by Norris from Red Bull as they both changed to hard tyres. Piastri took the lead for a short while before the Australian pulled in a few laps later.

Verstappen provided more work for the stewards, as the Dutchman was being investigated for an unsafe release in the pits between himself and Norris. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was eager to lift Hamilton's morale after he received a punishment, calling his driver's spirits up over the radio by emphasizing that there was still "everything to play" for.

Leclerc received encouragement as well; he was told that even though he was running in P18, he could still score points. Verstappen, the race leader, received an update on his gears; was this a problem that the Red Bull team was handling?

Perez received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane in another incident involving the team. Eight seconds behind Piastri in sixth place was the Mexican runner. A train of cars was being held back by the Haas duo, who were leading from Magnussen in positions P8 and P9, respectively.

For Alpine, things did not appear to be going as smoothly as they could have since Ocon and Gasly fought for P11 before the former was given the lead. Only able to watch from behind and say "wow" over team radio was a struggling Alonso, who had just been passed by the pair.



When it was announced that Verstappen's earlier pit lane incident would not be investigated, Red Bull may have breathed a sigh of relief because the Dutchman was now eight seconds ahead of Norris.

Was the trouble over, though? While Norris had completed the fastest lap, Verstappen was heard complaining on lap 40 that his tires were "suddenly feeling really bad." Meanwhile, some people had already made their second pit stops.

The battle was still going on over at Alpine, where Gasly was determined to overtake teammate Ocon for P8, and he eventually did so into Turn 4. Though they both dropped down the order after visiting the pits, the move went smoothly and without any contact, which was fortunate for the team.

Leclerc was also looking good despite his earlier issues, moving up to P11 by Lap 46. Meanwhile, Norris had eaten into Verstappen's lead, cutting the gap to six seconds.

Similar to Hamilton, Albon received a five-second penalty for entering the pits beyond the white line, which was inconvenient for the Williams driver who was in position 15. Russell pulled into the hard compound from P3 closer to the front, as Mercedes appeared to be having trouble with their tires.



On lap 48, Verstappen told his engineer, "I can not hold this much longer." He was referring to the Haas cars that were lapped behind him and trying to get back past the world champion. A few laps later, he commented that the "tyres are ******."

Verstappen and Norris dove into the pits for medium tires on lap 52. The Dutchman still managed to finish ahead of his opponent, but the difference had shrunk to less than two seconds. Verstappen's stop was made somewhat more difficult by a recalcitrant left-rear wheelnut.

As the race entered its final 16 laps, a thrilling battle for the lead appeared to be in the works, with Norris using the DRS to pull even closer to Verstappen. "He saw me move and then moved," Norris said to his engineer following an unsuccessful attempt to enter Turn 3.

Verstappen was obviously uncomfortable, saying that he felt like there was "something wrong with the car" due to the lack of grip. Norris, who was still pursuing the Red Bull driver, was given a black and white flag for the track limits.

On Lap 59, Norris attempted a late move into Turn 3, and although he gained the advantage at first, the McLaren went off track, forcing him to let Verstappen pass through once more. Norris was the subject of a track limits investigation as a result, but the fight did not seem to be ending.



Two laps later, after yet another battle for the lead, Verstappen was forced to run off the tarmac as well, seemingly turning the tables. However, the dramatic contact between the two on Lap 64, which forced both of them to limp back to the pits with punctures, was what finally set things off.

Russell surged ahead to take the lead, while Piastri passed Sainz to take second. Norris, who had just received a five-second time penalty for going over the track, stayed in the pits and eventually retired the car due to too much damage.

When Verstappen returned to the racetrack, he was now down in fifth place. Team manager Wolff told Russell, "You can win this, George!" and a Virtual Safety Car was ordered. Verstappen received a 10-second penalty after the stewards determined that he was responsible for the Norris incident in another place.

Russell crossed the finish line first in his F1 career, and despite Piastri's best efforts, he was unable to catch up to him. This led the Brit to exclaim with joy, "It is not over until it is over!"

Piastri's McLaren was only 1.906 seconds behind him in second place. Sainz, who drove for Ferrari, finished third, ahead of Hamilton, who finished fourth. Even after receiving a 10-second time penalty, Verstappen managed to maintain a sufficient lead over Hulkenberg in sixth place to maintain his fifth place.

Perez managed to increase Red Bull's less-than-expected point total in the seventh position. Magnussen then doubled Haas's point total in the eighth position. The RB of Ricciardo and the Alpine of Gasly rounded out the top ten.

Leclerc was predicted to finish in a points-paying position, but he narrowly missed it and finished P11 after making four pit stops. After his previous battles with his teammate, Ocon took P12, and Stroll led the Aston Martin during a challenging weekend for the team.

Following the Kick Sauber duo of Bottas and Zhou in 16th and 17th place, respectively, were Tsunoda and Albon in 14th and 15th place. With the fastest lap, Alonso brought his difficult day to an end in 18th place, and Sargeant finished as Williams' last classified driver in 19th.

After that thrilling crash with Verstappen, Norris was the only competitor to retire from the race; it was his first DNF of the year.



Russell exclaimed, "Incredible". "I think it was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race just to hold onto that P3.

"I saw on the TV that Max and Lando were going pretty hard, I knew Lando would want to try and get that race win, but the team have done an amazing job to get us in this fight. You’ve got be there at the end to pick up the pieces, and that’s where we were.”