Russell beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen’s first issue was a near-miss with Norris as he exited his pitbox in the first cycle of stops, but stewards decided it wasn’t worthy of a penalty.
A slow second stop for Verstappen put Norris right on his tail with 15 laps to go.
Norris lunged ahead at Turn 3 on lap 59 but had to give the position back as he ran wide. But their lead battle exploded there a few laps later, the pair colliding at Turn 3 and both receiving punctures.
That opened the door for Russell to inherit the second F1 victory of his career.
2024 F1 Austrian Grand Prix results
Cla
Driver
Car / Engine
Laps
Gap
1
George Russell
Mercedes
71
–
2
Oscar Piastri
McLaren/Mercedes
71
-1.906
3
Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
71
-4.533
4
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
71
-23.142
5
Max Verstappen
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
71
-37.253
6
Nico Hülkenberg
Haas/Ferrari
71
-54.088
7
Sergio Pérez
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
71
-54.672
8
Kevin Magnussen
Haas/Ferrari
71
-1’00.355
9
Daniel Ricciardo
RB/Honda RBPT
71
-1’01.169
10
Pierre Gasly
Alpine/Renault
71
-1’01.766
11
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
71
-1’07.056
12
Esteban Ocon
Alpine/Renault
71
-1’08.325
13
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin/Mercedes
70
–
14
Yuki Tsunoda
RB/Honda RBPT
70
–
15
Alexander Albon
Williams/Mercedes
70
–
16
Valtteri Bottas
Sauber/Ferrari
70
–
17
Zhou Guanyu
Sauber/Ferrari
70
–
18
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin/Mercedes
70
–
19
Logan Sargeant
Williams/Mercedes
69
–
–
Lando Norris
McLaren/Mercedes
64
–
2024 F1 Austrian Grand Prix report
Polesitter Verstappen led the charge to Turn 1, leading Norris and Russell. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) battled hard with Sainz over the opening corners, while Piastri’s McLaren was forced wide at Turn 4 by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez on the first lap and dropped back to seventh.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was forced to pit after contract with Piastri at the first corner and he required a new front wing.
As Verstappen rapidly pulled out of the DRS range of Norris, Hamilton passed Russell for third at Turn 3 on lap three, but Russell repassed him at the following corner.
Sainz passed Hamilton for fourth at Turn 3 on lap seven, after Lewis was told to let him through by the team, while Piastri impressively drove around the outside of Perez at Turn 6 a lap later.
Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to pit on lap 22, but crossed the white line at the pitlane entry, followed in by Perez. Hamilton received a 5s penalty for his transgression, while Perez was also given an extra 5s for speeding in the pitlane.
Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin punted Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) off at Turn 3 on lap 20 and received a 10s penalty.
Verstappen led by 5.7s as the two leaders opted to stop on the same lap, with Norris having to brake to avoid Verstappen as he left his box, which promoted Piastri to the lead. Piastri pitted a couple of laps later, rejoining sixth.
Verstappen was investigated for an unsafe release, and sprinted to a 7s lead, but was cleared by the stewards. Russell ran third, opting for more mediums on this stint, as everyone else switched to hards.
Russell kicked off the second pitstop cycle on lap 47, switching on to hards. Piastri passed Hamilton for a net fifth a lap later.
Verstappen pitted from the lead on lap 51 with a 7.4s lead, but lost time as the left-rear tyre wouldn’t come off at the first attempt, and Red Bull then had to hold him to allow Norris past in the lane. That put Norris – who had fresh mediums compared to Verstappen’s used rubber – within 3s.
Verstappen locked up and almost went off at Turn 4 on his out lap, which helped put Norris into his DRS range on lap 54. He got close at Turn 3 on the following tour, forcing Verstappen – who complained of “no grip” – to defend in the braking zone.
Norris lunged ahead at Turn 3 on lap 59 but had to give the position back as he ran wide into the run-off, the stewards noting that he exceeded track limits.
Four laps later, Norris lunged him again at Turn 3, but Verstappen went off the track at the exit.
On the following lap they collided at Turn 3, both of them sustaining punctures and crawling back to the pits. Norris was forced out with damage from the clash.
That gifted Russell the lead, as the virtual safety car was required to clean the track. He led Piastri by 3s, who had Sainz close behind. Hamilton ran fourth, with Verstappen rejoining sixth after changing his punctured left-rear tyre, but got a 10s penalty for causing the collision.
Russell inherited a 2.6s win over Piastri, Sainz, Hamilton and Verstappen. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) beat Perez in the battle for sixth, ahead of Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).
2024 F1 Austrian Grand Prix fastest laps
Cla
Driver
Car / Engine
Time
Gap
Km/h
1
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin/Mercedes
1’07.694
229.633
2
Max Verstappen
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
1’07.719
0.025
229.548
3
Lando Norris
McLaren/Mercedes
1’08.016
0.322
228.546
4
Oscar Piastri
McLaren/Mercedes
1’08.697
1.003
226.280
5
George Russell
Mercedes
1’09.164
1.470
224.752
6
Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
1’09.282
1.588
224.369
7
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1’09.562
1.868
223.466
8
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1’09.584
1.890
223.396
9
Pierre Gasly
Alpine/Renault
1’09.609
1.915
223.315
10
Esteban Ocon
Alpine/Renault
1’09.649
1.955
223.187
11
Sergio Pérez
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
1’09.694
2.000
223.043
12
Kevin Magnussen
Haas/Ferrari
1’10.125
2.431
221.672
13
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin/Mercedes
1’10.143
2.449
221.615
14
Nico Hülkenberg
Haas/Ferrari
1’10.215
2.521
221.388
15
Yuki Tsunoda
RB/Honda RBPT
1’10.318
2.624
221.064
16
Alexander Albon
Williams/Mercedes
1’10.364
2.670
220.919
17
Logan Sargeant
Williams/Mercedes
1’10.406
2.712
220.788
18
Daniel Ricciardo
RB/Honda RBPT
1’10.426
2.732
220.725
19
Valtteri Bottas
Sauber/Ferrari
1’10.449
2.755
220.653
20
Zhou Guanyu
Sauber/Ferrari
1’10.470
2.776
220.587
2024 F1 Austrian Grand Prix tyre history
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