SPIELBERG, Austria — George Russell secured a victory against the odds at the Austrian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided fighting for the lead.
The win is Russell’s second in his career and Mercedes’ first since his last victory at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished second, 1.9 seconds behind Russell, ahead of Carlos Sainz in third.
Verstappen dominated the first half of the race, building a lead of eight seconds ahead of his second pit stop, but a slow tyre change allowed Norris to close within three seconds as they returned to the track with 20 laps remaining.
The Red Bull driver was clearly struggling with the performance of his car on his final set of tyres and by Lap 59 of 71 the Verstappen and Norris were fighting wheel-to-wheel for the lead.
Over the next five laps, the battle increased in intensity, with Norris regularly radioing his team to complain about Verstappen’s tactics in defending the lead.
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On Lap 64, the seemingly inevitable happened as Norris attempted to go to the outside of Verstappen at Turn 3, only for the two cars to clash.
The contact resulted in a right rear puncture for Norris and a left rear puncture for Verstappen, meaning they both dropped down the order as they returned to the pits for repairs.
Flailing rubber on Norris’ car tore the rear of his McLaren apart, scattering debris across the circuit and forcing him to retire when he returned to the pits, while Verstappen was able to rejoin the race in fifth place.
The stewards deemed Verstappen to blame for the collision and penalised him 10 seconds, although it did not impact his final finishing position.
Russell, who had been running a quiet race in third throughout, emerged as the race leader. Piastri passed Carlos Sainz for second place on Lap 65 and looked in contention for victory, but a virtual safety car to clear the debris left by Norris’ McLaren meant the Australian lost out on a chance to pressure Russell in the final laps.
