By holding position, staying out of the way and sweeping through just at the right time, George Russell claimed the first Mercedes race victory since 2022. The unexpected finish was the consequence of an impactful duel between popularly predicted race winner Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Verstappen appeared to be cruising, following his incredible dominance over the weekend throughout the Sprint Race and the qualifying stages. After a duel which lasted several laps between the two, Verstappen defended his position by moving under breaking. The cars made contact on lap 62, causing punctures to both and leading to
a DNF result for Norris.
Following behind the chaos, Oscar Piastri came home with something to celebrate as he claimed his fourth Formula One podium, placing second just as he did in the Sprint Race, ahead of his teammate. From Sprint Qualifying, it was clear McLaren were going to be holding strong at the top of the grid and with their drivers’ strengths and confidence in striking through when possible they were bound to expect a podium finish. Unfortunately, Norris did not achieve this due to the crash.
Mercedes’ celebrations were a great sight after Russell took the lead of the race and held on even with pressure from Piastri. Considering previous performances, this weekend was not unusual for Mercedes, but it was certainly unpredictable for them to finish first with Lewis Hamilton placing fourth, ahead of Verstappen who received a 10 second penalty.
Unlike their previous seasons, Ferrari came into Austria less threatening to the top of the grid. Carlos Sainz outqualified teammate Charles Leclerc who usually performs well in Austria. By the second lap of the race,
Leclerc had to pit for a nose change after a touch from Piastri. This did lead to plenty of early pit stops for Leclerc and he was unable to reach the points.
Haas featured in the top ten this Sunday as Nico Hulkenberg placed ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with teammate Kevin Magnussen following behind in eighth claiming 12 points for the team. Unfortunately, they still hold the tenth position in the Constructors’ Championship standings. They need five points to out qualify Alfa Romeo.
For Alfa Romeo, Valtteri Bottas placed P16, just ahead of teammate Zhou Guanyu. This is an improvement from their sprint race result.
Keeping next to one another for the majority of the race, the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were just in the points. Gasly felt he had more pace and their positions should be switched. In the end, Gasly did in fact just reach the points, ahead of Leclerc, and left Ocon in P12.
Daniel Ricciardo for RB finished in P9, as teammate Yuki Tsunoda claimed P14.
Williams unfortunately did not progress over this weekend. Alexander Albon achieved their best result this weekend, finishing in P15.
Written by Mille.
Featured Image Credit: bbc.co.uk
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