Written by Owen Bradley
George Russell took a shocking victory at the Austrian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris crashed into one another.
It would be a mostly clean getaway for the field as Verstappen held the lead from Lando Norris and the attacking Mercedes’ of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Russell would attempt to make a move on Norris, moving to the outside line of the McLaren at Turn 3, unable to find enough grip to complete the move.
Sergio Perez would run Oscar Piastri wide at Turn 4, the Australian was put onto the outside gravel trap and lost a place to Charles Leclerc, before Leclerc would need to come into the pits for a new front wing, fitting the Hard tyres.
Just a few laps later, Piastri would come right back at Perez, overtaking the Mexican around the outside at Turn 6, just like he did to his teammate in the Sprint Race yesterday.
Verstappen would open up a lead of a few seconds in the first ten laps as the gaps between the leaders were just a couple of seconds to one another.
Nico Hulkenberg would come in for the Hard tyres after just 12 laps completed. The German would come out just in front of his teammate, the pair battling at Turns 3 and 4 as Kevin Magnussen managed to overtake his fellow Haas driver, before Hulkenberg re-overtook Magnussen a lap later at Turn 4.
Alex Albon would draw alongside and overtake Leclerc at Turn 4 on Lap 16, the Monagasque driver struggling for grip on the Hard tyres after previously running wide on the exit of the penultimate corner. Leclerc would come back into the pit lane for Medium tyres, nearly an entire lap down on Verstappen.
Most drivers were struggling for grip on the Hard compound tyres, as the Mediums were expected to be the best tyre overall for tyre life and performance.
Zhou Guanyu would be hit by Fernando Alonso at Turn 3, forcing the Sauber driver to take evasive action and drive into the run off area at Turn 3. The incident would get an investigation, the stewards handing Alonso a 10-second penalty.
Lewis Hamilton would slide his Mercedes right up to the white line on the pit entry, and after an investigation would be handed a 5-second penalty for indeed crossing the white line.
Lando Norris would be slightly obstructed by Verstappen’s Red Bull when trying to enter his pit box, the stewards investigating Verstappen and Red Bull for an unsafe release.
Verstappen would have to manage some gearbox issues, as Norris began closing the gap slightly at the halfway mark of the Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez would be hit with a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him further down the field and into the path of the Haas drivers, with Hulkenberg eventually overtaking Perez with a small handful of laps remaining
Leclerc would make a third pit stop for another fresh set of Medium tyres, the Monaco Grand Prix winner racing at the back of the field at the halfway point in the race.
The Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon would make contact at Turn 3, Ocon running his fellow countryman wide and over the sausage kerb. Just a few laps later, the pair would duel once again with Gasly managing to get past Ocon at Turn 4.
Alex Albon would also be given a 5-second penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry, in a similar incident to what happened with Hamilton earlier in the race.
Piastri would dive down the inside of Hamilton into Turn 3 on Lap 48, the McLaren’s catching the rest of the field as their cars appeared to conserve their tyre grip better than those around them.
As Gasly and Leclerc battled on Lap 51, Lando Norris would run wide at Turn 3, just in front of the pair of them who were lapped traffic. Verstappen and Norris would come in for Medium tyres, Norris managing to hold Verstappen an extra few seconds as Verstappen was not able to be released before Norris blocked his path.
Verstappen would have a major lockup into Turn 4 on Lap 52, the gap slashed between the pair by 5 seconds in just one lap after a few errors from the Red Bull team.
After the lapped traffic gave Norris the DRS, it was game on between the pair, as Norris moved to within a second of the Red Bull. On Lap 55, Norris would attempt a move into Turn 3, with Verstappen moving to the centre of the circuit to defend.
Norris would complain on the radio that Verstappen moved in the braking zone, chasing back after the Red Bull and eventually being given a black and white flag for track limits.
On Lap 59, Norris would dive down the inside of Verstappen, running wide and off the circuit as Verstappen eventually reclaimed the lead into Turn 4. Just a couple of laps later, Verstappen and Norris would duel into Turns 3 and 4 with Verstappen marginally in front for the final ten laps.
Lando Norris would dive down the inside of Verstappen on Lap 63, with Verstappen running off the circuit and retaking the lead as Norris would complain on the radio once again. The pair would make heavy contact into Turn 3 on Lap 64, both picking up punctures as Russell took the lead of the race.
Oscar Piastri would manage to make the switchback move on Carlos Sainz at Turn 4, flying around the outside of the Spaniard into Turn 6 and claiming second place.
Verstappen would come into the pits for the Soft tyres as Norris destroyed the underside of his car, retiring from the Grand Prix with just a handful of laps remaining. Verstappen would be hit with a 10-second penalty for the incident between the pair.
George Russell would come home to take his second career victory in Austria, with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz rounding out the podium places.
Austrian Grand Prix - Race Results
1st George Russell, Mercedes
2nd Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3rd Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4th Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
5th Max Verstappen, Red Bull
6th Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
7th Sergio Perez, Red Bull
8th Kevin Magnussen, Haas
9th Daniel Ricciardo, RB
10th Pierre Gasly, Alpine
11th Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
12th Esteban Ocon, Alpine
13th Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
14th Yuki Tsunoda, RB
15th Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
16th Alex Albon, Williams
17th Guanyu Zhou, Sauber
18th Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
19th Logan Sargeant, Williams
DNF Lando Norris, McLaren
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