George Russell cashed in to take a completely unexpected Austrian GP win for Mercedes after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ battle for the lead ended in an acrimonious collision.
A rare slow Red Bull service on race leader Verstappen’s car at the second round of stops turned the complexion of the race on its head and put Norris, who had been six seconds behind before then, on the Dutchman’s tail in to the closing laps.
With Norris having been frustrated by Verstappen’s defence of the lead on several occasions in the previous laps, the pair then collided on lap 64 as the McLaren launched its latest attempt at an overtake of his rival at Turn Three.
Both cars suffered punctures and had to make emergency visits to the pits. While Norris was unable to continue and dropped out of the race, Verstappen returned to the track in fifth place.
Verstappen was adjudged by stewards to have been at fault for the collision and handed a 10-second time penalty, although it did not change his finishing position.
With Russell having run third for the majority of the race, the Briton gleefully took over the lead and completed the final laps to secure just his second career win in F1 – his and Mercedes’ first since November 2022.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was second and left to rue what might have been after he had dropped from third to seventh on the grid after a track limits penalty on Saturday.
Carlos Sainz beat Lewis Hamilton, who had earlier served a five-second penalty for crossing the white line on the entry to his first pit stop. to the final podium berth for Ferrari.
More to follow…
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