Cheers at Mercedes

“Wanted to be there to pick up the pieces!”

George Russell takes an unexpected victory.

(Bild: APA/ERWIN SCHERIAU)

Thanks to a late collision between Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren rival Lando Norris, Mercedes driver George Russell unexpectedly won the Austrian Grand Prix. The 26-year-old Briton celebrated his second Grand Prix victory on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring after a dramatic final phase. There was great relief at Mercedes.

"Unbelievable, it was a tough battle out there. Then I saw on the screen that Max and Lando were fighting pretty hard. We wanted to be there to pick up the pieces and that's what we did," said Russell after his second triumph since November 2022 in Brazil. For Mercedes and Team Principal Toto Wolff, who celebrated an unexpected happy ending to a long unspectacular home GP, it was the first victory in almost two years. "A real load has been lifted from our hearts. Now we finally have a win," said the Viennese.

Verstappen looked like the sure winner for a long time before a botched pit stop made the race exciting again. Six laps before the chequered flag, Verstappen and Norris, who was faster at the time, collided in turn 3. Race control put the blame on Verstappen, who received a ten-second penalty. "It was a strange contact," said the record Spielberg winner. "It was unnecessarily harsh from both drivers, it could have been handled differently," said Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, analyzing the decisive scene.

Norris and Leclerc without points

While Saturday's sprint winner rolled into the pit lane with a puncture and still managed to finish, Norris had to get out of his McLaren in disappointment. As a result, the championship leader extended his lead at his home race, with the Dutchman leading Norris by a comfortable 81 points ahead of next week's race at Silverstone. Third-placed Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari missed out on the points in eleventh place after a botched race.

The race was over for Norris after the accident.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Jure Makovec)

A total of 302,000 spectators attended the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg at the weekend, narrowly missing last year's record (304,000). A large proportion of them belonged to the "Orange Army", who once again gave Verstappen frenetic support. They saw their national hero take first place on the grid for the first time in three races.

Sudden turnaround
In summer temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and gusty winds, Verstappen got off the line excellently and defended his lead confidently ahead of Norris and Russell. Behind them, Hamilton overtook Sainz's Ferrari, while his team-mate Leclerc, who had started from sixth on the grid, damaged his front wing in a battle with Piastri and had to pit immediately. At the front, Verstappen opened up a lead of more than a second on the very first lap. As a result, Norris did not benefit from the DRS overtaking aid.

While the race leaders initially completed their laps in peace and Verstappen pulled away second by second, Hamilton gave back his fourth place due to a possible illegal advantage in the overtaking maneuver. The record world champion in the 'Silver Arrow' was then handed a five-second penalty anyway for drifting over the white exclusion line on entering the pits. "Lewis, it's still all to play for," said Wolff in motivating words over the radio.

Lewis, it's still all to play for!

Toto Wolff

The Grand Prix went on for a long time without any overtaking maneuvers in the leading field, with Verstappen eight seconds ahead of his McLaren rival at the halfway point of the race. "I don't know what's happening, the tires are suddenly really bad," Verstappen radioed on the 40th of 71 laps. However, the lead remained constant. A 6.5-second Verstappen pit stop and a braking error gave Norris hope shortly afterwards, and the championship runner-up reduced the gap to less than a second.

A wild race
Verstappen complained about a lack of grip, while Norris was getting bigger and bigger in the rear-view mirror. On the 59th lap, the McLaren driver overtook the leader, but came off the track and let his rival past again. The two came closer and closer to each other, too close on lap 65. As a result, the "Silver Arrows" around Russell were jubilant in the end, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth. Sergio Perez finished seventh in the second Red Bull with a damaged sidepod, directly between the two Haas drivers Nico Hülkenberg (6th) and Kevin Magnussen (8th).

Before the start, the world-famous film music composer Hans Zimmer reinterpreted the Austrian national anthem in four-four time together with percussionist Martin Grubinger. A total of 50 (amateur) musicians from Austria, Germany and Switzerland, including ski racer Max Franz on drums, were involved on the start-finish straight and played a rocking version of the national anthem with new segments.