Russell wins Austrian GP as Verstappen, Norris clash

George Russell scored a surprise win at the Austrian GP after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided while battling for the lead. This handed Mercedes its first win since the 2022 Brazilian GP.

McLaren did have one driver on the podium, with Oscar Piastri finishing second, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

1. Russell wins, 1.906 secs ahead of Piastri
2. Norris retires after colliding with Verstappen
3. Verstappen finishes P5

Verstappen, Norris collide

Verstappen held a comfortable lead for majority of the race, but that came undone after the last round of pitstops. The Red Bull driver dived into the pits on Lap 52/71, but lost a chunk of time due to an issue with the left-rear wheelnut. He remained in the lead as he re-joined the track, but Norris was now less than two seconds behind him.

Crucially, Norris was on fresh medium tyres, while Verstappen was on a used set. Taking advantage of this, Norris soon got into DRS range and made a handful of attempts to overtake. The McLaren driver got ahead on Lap 59, but went off the track to do so and had to hand the place back. However, since this was Norris’ fourth track limits breach, he was handed a five-second time penalty.

As the battle continued, just two laps later Verstappen ran off the track while trying to defend his lead. The two then dramatically collided on Lap 64, resulting in both drivers picking up punctures. Norris was forced to retire due to the damage sustained, but Verstappen was able to re-join the track in fifth place. However, the stewards did hold Verstappen responsible for the clash and gave him a 10-second time penalty.

Russell puts Mercedes back on the top step

Russell inherited the lead and held on to it till the chequered flag to claim his second F1 victory.  “I think it was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race just to hold onto that P3,” he said after the race.

“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.”

Piastri finished 1.906 secs behind in second place, but the McLaren driver admitted that “it hurts a little bit” to come that close to victory. He was on course for a top-three result in qualifying before his lap time was deleted due to a track limits violation. This dropped him to P7 on the starting grid.

Sainz completed the podium in third place, followed by Lewis Hamilton. Despite his penalty, Verstappen held on to fifth place.

Haas walk away from the Austrian GP with a strong points haul after Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished P6 and P8, respectively. The two were split by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in seventh place.  RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.

2024 F1 championship standings

Even after a difficult race, Verstappen has extended his championship lead to 81 points over Norris. Charles Leclerc is third overall, six points behind Norris.

F1 will now head to Silverstone for the British GP on July 5-7.

2024 F1 Austrian GP results

Also see:

Verstappen holds off Norris charge to win Spanish GP

New 2026 F1 rules explained: Smaller cars, active aero