George Russell won a dramatic Austrian Grand Prix following long-time leader Max Verstappen collided with Lando Norris.
The Red Bull and McLaren pair made contact at the Red Bull Ring’s Turn 3 with seven laps of the 71-lap race after Norris had cut into Verstappen’s lead after the triple champion had suffered a long second pit stop.
Several times Norris attacked at Turn 3 all while collecting track limits strikes during his chase to get into Verstappen’s DRS range.
On lap 59, Norris dived to the inside and locked up as Verstappen moved across, which meant the McLaren slid off into the runoff and let the Red Bull by on the run to Turn 4.
This was not enough to stop Norris from getting a five-second time addition for track limits and yet, it did not matter as the pair came to blows.
On lap 54, Norris moved to Verstappen’s outside as Turn 3 approached and when the Red Bull moved left they touched and both went off with punctures.
Each had to pit, with Norris retiring with damage to this rear floor, which meant Russell, who had been third for all of the race behind the top two, inherited the lead as he continued on.
A short virtual safety car was required to clear debris from the track with Russell lapping a few seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz, but in the closing laps the Mercedes driver maintained his lead to secure a second Formula 1 career Grand Prix win.
At the start, Verstappen made a good getaway from pole and easily ran clear of Norris in the first stint, where McLaren tried to reassure its charge his extra set of medium tyres would make the difference later on, as Red Bull looked set to use to hards after the mediums the whole field had started on.
But that appeared a faint hope as Verstappen simply clear across the first stint – his lead approaching six seconds before he pitted on lap 23 to take the hards.
Norris came in at the same time, with the Red Bull being released into his path and forcing the McLaren to brake as he approached his pitbox in an incident race control reviewed by decided was not worth referring to the race stewards.
In the second stint, Verstappen again pulled clear, although not as quickly in stint one, with his lead reaching a maximum of eight seconds just past half distance.
Here Norris started to take time back, with Verstappen struggling to keep the hards alive and even keep the lapped Haas cars behind him at this stage.
Red Bull kept Verstappen out for longer than he wanted before he was pulled in to take used mediums as his lead came down to 6.5 seconds – his pre-race extra set of hards – on lap 51 at the same time as Norris came in behind.
A slow left-rear tyre change and then a conservative release this time meant Verstappen’s previous lead was suddenly reduced to under two seconds, with Norris pushing hard to get into DRS and this kicked off all the drama that was to follow.
Behind Russell, Piastri finished 1.9 seconds adrift of a surprise victor, with Sainz third – having been overtaken by the McLaren when Piastri pulled a bold around-the-outside move at Turn 6 just after the Verstappen/Norris clash.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth – his race featuring a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit entry line at his first stop, the seven-time world champion picking floor damage by hitting the Turn 8 kerbs too hard and Piastri passing him by late in the second stint.
Verstappen made it home in fifth, with a ten-second time addition for causing the collision with Norris in the stewards’ view.
Nico Hulkenberg beat Sergio Perez to sixth, with Kevin Magnussen eighth in a double points finish for Haas in a race where its drivers battled each other hard early on.
Daniel Ricciardo took ninth for RB and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten after prevailing in a close and hard mid-race scrap with his Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon.
So a dramatic race in which best friends Lando Norris and Max Verstappen making contact while fighting for the lead. George Russell benefitted from this to take his second win of his career.
Austrian Grand Prix, race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:24:22.798
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +1.906s
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +4.533s
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +23.142s
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull +37.253s
6 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +54.088s
7 Sergio Perez Red Bull +54.672s
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas +60.355s
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB +61.169s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +61.766s
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +67.056s
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine +68.325s
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB +1 lap
15 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber +1 lap
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1 lap
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1 lap
19 Logan Sargeant Williams +2 laps
20 Lando Norris McLaren DNF
Mercedes’ George Russell claimed a somewhat unexpected victory in the Austrian Grand Prix after a hugely dramatic end to the race saw Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collide in the battle for the lead, dropping Verstappen down the order and forcing Norris to retire.
While Verstappen had made a strong start from pole position to hold P1 for much of the race, a thrilling duel with McLaren driver Norris unfolded when both made their final pit stops on Lap 52 of 71, where Red Bull suffered a rare slower stop due to an issue with the left rear wheel.
With the gap between them at less than two seconds, Norris was hot on the tail of his rival and made more than one attempt to snatch P1. But it all came to a head on Lap 64 when the pair made contact, causing both to limp back to the pits with punctures.
This allowed Russell – who had long been running in third – to sweep through to take the lead in the Mercedes, which he held until the chequered flag to claim the second race win of his F1 career.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/russell-claims-surprise-win-in-austria-after-verstappen-and-norris.2Kmxvn4a42JYDFhvklagYk
McLaren driver Norris criticises Red Bull Formula 1 world champion Verstappen’s actions.
Lando Norris has called Max Verstappen’s driving in Formula 1’s 2024 Austrian Grand Prix “reckless” and “desperate” after the collision between the pair cost them both a victory shot.
Norris and Verstappen made contact as the final stages of the race at the Red Bull Ring kicked off after long-time leader Verstappen had lost almost all of his previous advantage in a slow pitstop.
After Norris had gone off at Turn 3 in an attack at the inside of the track’s tight, sharply uphill right-hander, where he felt Verstappen moving right in the braking zone contributed to his lock-up and slide off track, the Red Bull driver moving left meant they collided as Norris that time came alongside on the outside line.
Speaking to reporters after the race, Norris said of the incident: “There’s rules for what you’re not allowed to do and you’re allowed to do.
“He was doing things you’re not allowed to do and not getting penalised. I expect a tough battle against Max. I know what to expect. I expect aggression and pushing the limits and that kind of thing.
“All three times he’s doing stuff which can easily cause an incident. And in a way just a bit reckless – he seemed like a little bit desperate from his side.
“Doesn’t need to be, he’s got plenty of wins. But a bit desperate to do what he could to not let me pass and I know it’s going to be aggressive.
“So like I’m in a way not surprised, but I just expected a tough, fair, respectful on the edge bit of racing and I don’t feel like that’s what I got him into.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/norris-slams-reckless-desperate-verstappen-after-austrian-gp-crash/10629897/
George Russell was full of smiles after taking a surprise victory in the Austrian Grand Prix, having “been there at the end” to capitalise on a huge moment of drama involving long-time leaders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Russell was running third to the Red Bull and McLaren drivers when they clashed at Turn 3 on Lap 64 of 71, sending Norris out of the race with damage and dropping Verstappen down to fifth via a puncture and time penalty.
With Russell next in line, the Mercedes man assumed the lead and maintained it over Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz to the flag, giving both the driver and team their first triumph since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
“Yeah, incredible,” Russell said after hopping out of the car. “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 [in their battle for the lead]. 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!”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/russell-ecstatic-after-picking-up-the-pieces-from-verstappen-norris.30cLJWqzymdE7F7WqHm5DN
Red Bull’s triple Formula 1 world champion maintains he wasn’t aggressive in clash with McLaren rival Norris.
Max Verstappen denies he was “aggressive” towards Lando Norris in their 2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix crash and that he was moving under braking throughout their battle.
The pair collided as the final laps of the main event at the Red Bull Ring kicked off, with Verstappen penalised for moving across on Norris’s outside line attack at the track’s tight, sharply uphill Turn 3 right-hander.
Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty as the stewards found him to be predominantly to blame for the collision, which opened the door for George Russell to win as both drivers incurred punctures, dropping Verstappen off the podium and Norris into retirement.
When asked about the contact by reporters after the race, Verstappen said he “went back at it” and felt “10 seconds seemed a bit severe for me at that point”.
He added: “Because I didn’t feel like it was super – like anything kind of aggressive – going on in that movement.”
“I saw him coming of course, so I defended a little bit the inside. And then under braking we touched with the rear tyres and we both get a puncture from it, which of course is something you don’t want to happen.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-denies-aggression-moving-under-braking-in-in-norris-austria-crash/10629956/
McLaren Formula 1 team boss reckons Verstappen’s Austrian GP tactics stemmed from his 2021 moves against Hamilton not punished properly.
McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andrea Stella believes Max Verstappen’s collision with Lando Norris in the Austrian Grand Prix was a result of his 2021 clashes with Lewis Hamilton not being properly punished.
Verstappen and Norris crashed late in the race at the Red Bull Ring when the former moved across the latter at the track’s tight, sharply-uphill Turn 3 right-hander, after Norris had sent a series of moves to the corner’s inside in previous laps.
In an interview with Sky Sports F1 in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s main event in Austria, Stella said: “I see it as the entire population in the world will know who is responsible, expect for a group of people [Red Bull, its fans and Verstappen and his fans].
“But the problem behind it is that if you don’t address these things honestly, they will come back.
“They have come back today because they were not addressed properly in the past when there was some fights with Lewis that needed to be punished in a harsher way.
“You learn now to race in a certain way, which we can consider fair and square.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/stella-verstappen-norris-austrian-gp-clash-caused-by-unpunished-2021-f1-moves/10629965/