On Sunday, there wasn’t a Red Bull podium presence at the Red Bull Ring as Mercedes (Russell), McLaren (Piastri), and Ferarri (Sainz) finished 1,2,3.
SPIELBERG, Austria—There is an old saying that it’s never over ’til it is over. The saying applied Sunday in Austria as George Russell took advantage of a Max Verstappen/Lando Norris collision on the 64th lap of Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix to win his second career race. Russell finished just ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in third.
George Russell: I couldn’t believe how close we were to Max and Lando; it was a possibility; you are always dreaming. But as I said, you are so proud to return to the top step. The team has worked so hard; they’ve made so many strides since the start of the season. The last two races have been incredible, so more to come.
For Piastri, it was a tough race to forget. “There’s a lot of what ifs and maybes.” He said. “I know it’s only my fourth podium in F1, and it was so close to a win, it hurts. I think we were coming on pretty strong in the second half of the race. I am happy with another podium; you can’t help but hurt a bit when it’s that close.”
It seemed like another win for Verstappen from the start as he held the lead early, about seven seconds ahead of Norris, who once again failed to get a good start. But as the race went on, Verstappen began to have his tires wear out, and when the Dutchman pitted late in the race, the stop itself was too slow, which gave Norris a chance to close to one second between the two drivers. With only a few laps to go, both were close to each other, even when either driver went off the circuit. Then, on lap 64, both went too close and struck each other at turn three. Verstappen’s left rear tire was damaged, and Norris was in even worse condition, damaging his car and becoming the only car to retire from the race.
Russell (13 seconds behind) suddenly found himself in the lead, with Piastri going quicker than the Briton. But time ran out for Piastri, as Sainz, who had a quiet race, took the final podium position. Lewis Hamilton was as high as third during the race but had to settle for fourth, while Verstappen (despite that tire change problem) took fifth. After analyzing the collision, stewards awarded Verstappen a 10-second penalty.
One of the signature aspects of the race was that the American Haas F1 team had their best race this season, placing Nico Hulkenberg sixth and Kevin Magnussen eighth. Another plus was RB Daniel Ricciardo’s performance. Looking to stay with the team, he finished ninth. On the downside, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was disappointed again, finishing seventh. Pierre Gasly took the last point for Alpine in tenth.
The final race of the rapid-fire triple header will come next weekend when the teams travel to the famous Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix.
