What looked to be a battle for the win between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris turned into triumph for Mercedes and George Russell in Sunday’s Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
After Verstappen and Norris made their final pit stops on lap 52, the front two drivers met on lap 64 where the race turned upside down.
While battling for the lead, the two made contact, resulting in punctured tires from both drivers. Norris’ McLaren inflicted too much damage and was out of the race while Verstappen returned to the track following a pit stop.
The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, however, was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident by the stewards. He’d finish fifth in the event.
Meanwhile, Russell managed to hang on for the final laps despite a closing Oscar Piastri to score his second career F-1 victory, one that he described as “incredible.”
“That’s the only way I can describe it,” Russell said. “We had a tough fight in the early stages to make sure we held on to P3. That would prove crucial at the end. I could see that Max (Verstappen) and Lando (Norris) were having a big battle. We were only just over 10 seconds behind the pair of them, which is really encouraging pace-wise.
“I knew there was a possibility that they could come together, even if it was only a slim chance. You have to be there at the end to pick up the pieces and that’s exactly where we were. I am so proud to be back on the top step of the podium,” Russell continued.
“The team have done an amazing job to get us closer to the fight at the front. We have made so many strides since the start of the season. The last few races have been great and hopefully there is more to come. It’s no secret that Max and Lando are a little bit ahead of us at present but we’re now consistently putting ourselves in that third position.
“It’s an exciting time for us; we’re riding a bit of a wave, and I can’t wait to go to my home race at Silverstone next week and see what we can do there.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed the podium with Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton placing fourth.
It was a stellar day for Haas F-1 with Nico Hulkenberg grabbing sixth, two positions ahead of Kevin Magnussen in eighth-place.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez filled the Haas sandwich in seventh while Daniel Ricciardo earned two crucial points in ninth. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top-10 finishers.
With Norris out of the race, he placed 20th in the event.