A dramatic collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris gave George Russell and Mercedes a first Formula 1 victory in a year and a half at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen absolutely dominated the first two-thirds of the race, leading by as much as eight seconds over Norris.
But an unfortunate long intermediate stint on hard tyres that he didn’t particularly enjoy, then a slow final pit stop where the left rear tyre initially refused to release meant that Verstappen rejoined the race just ahead of Norris.
The McLaren – on new medium tires versus a used set for the Red Bull – then quickly found itself in Verstappen’s DRS zone and mounted attack after attack, with radio commentary from both drivers on the driving of the the other becoming more and more concise.
A dip with 12 laps to go gave Norris the lead into the Turn 3 hairpin, but he won the line by running wide in the run-off, quickly giving the place back.
As it turned out, that moment was Norris’ fourth track limits violation, earning him a five-second penalty, but since that penalty had not yet been awarded, their battle continued.
The next time they faced off, it was Verstappen who stayed in the lead by running wide.
And then contact happened on the approach to the hairpin, a wheel scrape causing punctures in both cars and sending them off the road before a bizarre wheel-to-wheel battle down the hill with both cars reeling with damage.
Norris deemed the damage to his car too great and retired in the pits, but Verstappen rejoined to finish fifth. The stewards deemed the champion to be at fault for the collision and handed him a 10-second time penalty. It made no difference to his result.
Aside from an early scrap with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Russell was clearly the better of the rest behind Verstappen and Norris throughout, so was perfectly placed to patch things up after their clash and claim an ecstatic victory.
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, however, has every right to feel aggrieved.
A controversial track limits penalty in qualifying dropped him from third to seventh on the grid, but he fought well – clearing Charles Leclerc at the start despite contact between them which broke the wing ahead of the Ferrari, making work easier for the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, then passing Hamilton and Carlos Sainz during the race before finishing just 1.9 seconds behind Russell.
Sainz completed the podium, with Hamilton a distant fourth after a race featuring a time penalty for crossing the pit entry line during his first pit stop with a wild slide.
Haas had an exceptional points-scoring race with Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen sixth and eighth respectively, sandwiching a car as interesting as Perez’s Red Bull.
Early pit stops and excellent tire conservation saw Haas achieve a good result, with Perez limited by damage after being involved in the Piastri/Leclerc collision on the first lap.
Leclerc could only get back to 11th as Daniel Ricciardo’s RB and Pierre Gasly – who made another mistake with Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon – completed the scorers.
News Source : www.the-race.com
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