In a dramatic Austrian Grand Prix, George Russell emerged victorious following a collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz completing the podium, and Pierre Gasly securing a point.
The Austrian Grand Prix qualifiers served as a stark reminder that the Red Bull RB20 and Max Verstappen remain the dominant pairing of the 2024 season. While Q1 was fiercely contested, the Dutchman outpaced Lando Norris by four-tenths, reaffirming Norris as his main rival.
George Russell and Carlos Sainz occupy the second row ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Oscar Piastri is in seventh after a disallowed lap time that McLaren couldn’t contest. Sergio Pérez is eighth, followed by Nico Hülkenberg and Esteban Ocon.
Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen follow ahead of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, while Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon start from the eighth row. Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas are on the ninth row, with Logan Sargeant alone at the back. Guanyu Zhou qualified 20th and will start from the pit lane to adjust his Sauber C44’s settings.
Besides significant tyre degradation, heat is expected to be a factor, along with wind. Pirelli anticipates two-stop strategies, deeming the use of soft tyres unlikely except for a very short final stint, provided the first two last long enough.
14:40: The air temperature is 29 degrees, while the track temperature has already reached 47 degrees!
14:48: Russell expressed concern during his formation lap about wheel lockups and heavy steering. His engineer reassured him that the wind is causing these issues, which could be a factor for errors during the race.
14:57: Zhou starts on hard tyres, while all other drivers are on mediums.
Start: Verstappen and Russell make strong starts, with Russell drawing level with Norris, but the latter maintains second position. Leclerc makes contact with Piastri.
Lap 1: Russell attacks Norris again, but Norris retains second place. Pérez overtakes Piastri, pushing him off track, while Leclerc’s front wing is damaged, likely from the first corner contact with Piastri. Leclerc pits.
Lap 2: Verstappen has a 12.2-second lead over Norris, Russell is 1.2 seconds behind, and Hamilton is fourth after passing Sainz and trailing his teammate. Sargeant also pits.
Lap 3: Fastest lap for Verstappen at 1’09″938, immediately beaten by Norris at 1’09″813. All other drivers are in the 1’10 range. Hamilton continues to pressure Russell, overtakes him, but Russell slipstreams and reclaims the position! Sainz capitalises on this.
Lap 4: Verstappen’s lead is 1.9 seconds, with Russell 1.6 seconds behind. The pack tightens with Hamilton, Sainz, Pérez, and Piastri. Hülkenberg is eighth, followed by Ocon and Magnussen, then Gasly and Ricciardo. Tsunoda is next, ahead of Alonso, Albon, Stroll, Bottas, Zhou, Leclerc, and Sargeant.
Lap 5: Verstappen continues to extend his lead, now at 2.7 seconds.
Lap 6: Sainz overtakes Hamilton for fourth place. The lead gap is 2.8 seconds.
Lap 7: Verstappen widens the gap to 3.2 seconds ahead of Norris, who has a 2.2-second cushion over Russell. Sainz is two seconds behind, with Hamilton close behind. Piastri overtakes Pérez for sixth place.
Lap 8: Hülkenberg maintains Pérez’s pace, trailing the Red Bull by 1.2 seconds. Ocon is close behind Hülkenberg, as are Magnussen, Gasly, and Ricciardo.
Lap 9: The lead gap slightly increases to over 3.5 seconds.
Lap 10: Pérez falls behind Piastri and can’t shake off Hülkenberg. His lap times are a second slower than Verstappen’s.
Lap 11: Ricciardo and Magnussen pit.
Lap 12: Hülkenberg and Alonso also pit, with Magnussen overtaking Hülkenberg after an error on his pit exit.
Lap 13: Albon makes his stop. At the front, the gap between Verstappen and Norris is 5 seconds, with another 3 seconds between Norris and Russell.
Lap 14: The drivers who have pitted are lapping at similar speeds to those on mediums, with Hülkenberg even quicker. The hard tyres are performing well. Albon attacks and overtakes Leclerc for 18th place! Are the Monegasque’s hard tyres, fitted at the start, already worn out?
Lap 15: Verstappen extends his lead to 5.5 seconds over Norris, who has also pulled away from Russell by 4 seconds. Sainz is 1.6 seconds behind, with Hamilton trailing by 1.9 seconds. Piastri is a further 1.9 seconds behind, with a 3.3-second lead over Pérez, who has not managed to gain more than 4.9 seconds on the Alpines.
Lap 16: Hülkenberg is matching the pace of the Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren cars thanks to his hard tyres.
Lap 17: Leclerc pits again after a difficult stint on hard tyres. The Monegasque switches to mediums and will need a third stop, a strategy Pirelli had not anticipated.
Lap 18: Leclerc overtakes Sargeant, while Hülkenberg and Magnussen pass Zhou.
Lap 19: Verstappen now has a 6-second lead over Norris, with a 4.3-second gap to Russell. McLaren informs Norris that he has two sets of mediums, unlike Red Bull. But with tyre degradation, can he manage two stints on mediums and one on hards?
Lap 20: Ocon and Bottas pit, adjusting their strategy compared to the rest of the field.
Lap 21: Zhou has not pitted but is running very slowly, being overtaken by Ricciardo and Alonso. The Spaniard collided with Zhou’s car, hindered by Ricciardo. Hamilton is the first of the front-runners to pit, followed by Pérez.
Lap 22: The Mercedes exits in sixth place, and Pérez rejoins behind the Haas cars. As usual, Norris is quicker at the end of the stint, gaining three-tenths on Verstappen. Gasly and Stroll pit, with the Frenchman rejoining just behind Ocon, who is close behind Albon and Bottas. The incident between Alonso and Zhou is under investigation.
Lap 23: Russell and Sainz pit, with the Briton rejoining on mediums. Verstappen and the McLarens extend their stints. Hamilton crossed the white line at pit entry, usually resulting in a 5-second penalty.
Lap 24: Verstappen and Norris pit, with a similar strategy. They rejoin with a 6.5-second deficit despite better stops. Norris was hindered by Verstappen, who was released somewhat trivially. Piastri leads with a 2.5-second gap over Verstappen. Alonso receives a 10-second penalty for his collision with Zhou.
Lap 25: Russell sets the fastest lap at 1’09″563, while Hamilton receives a 5-second penalty for crossing the line. Piastri pits at the end of the lap.
Lap 26: Norris sets the fastest lap at 1’09″434, with Piastri rejoining in sixth place. Pérez passes Magnussen. The stewards note the incident between Verstappen and Norris in the pits. Informed of his penalty for crossing the pit entry line due to oversteer, Hamilton apologises, saying he is “sorry”.
Lap 27: Verstappen leads by 6.8 seconds over Norris, who now has just a 2.5-second gap to Russell. McLaren will highlight that Verstappen’s unsafe release cost Norris time. Wolff radios Hamilton, saying “everything is still to play for.”
Lap 28: Pérez overtakes Hülkenberg. Ricciardo is tenth ahead of Alonso, but their tyres are much older than those of Ocon and Gasly. An investigation is opened into Red Bull’s unsafe release.
Lap 29: The lead gap exceeds 7 seconds. At the back, Leclerc is lapping at the top 10 pace but is only 18th.
Lap 30: Russell falls behind Norris but also pulls away from Sainz. Leclerc’s engineer tells him that projections place him in the points, even without a safety car.
Lap 31: Pérez is under investigation for speeding in the pit lane.
Lap 32: Verstappen does what’s necessary to stay in the lead in case of a penalty, increasing his advantage to 7.5 seconds.
Lap 33: Pérez receives a 5-second penalty. Behind Ricciardo, still tenth, Alonso, Ocon, and Gasly are closely bunched together.
Lap 34: Norris sets the fastest lap at 1’09″400 but does not gain on Verstappen. The Alpines are battling, but Gasly stays behind and asks Ocon to pass Alonso, arguing that the duo is “losing time.”
Lap 35: Leclerc pits again for another set of mediums. Mid-race is barely reached, and the Monegasque has already made three stops.
Lap 36: Ocon overtakes Alonso, Gasly follows and attacks his teammate, who pushes him off track but remains ahead, now in 11th place. Race control does not pursue the investigation into Verstappen.
Lap 37: Alonso pits and serves his 10-second penalty, rejoining in 19th place. Verstappen leads by eight seconds. Tsunoda overtakes Albon but misses his braking point.
Lap 38: Ricciardo pits and rejoins ahead of Leclerc.
Lap 39: Magnussen pits again. The lead gap is 8.1 seconds, with Norris pulling 7.7 seconds clear of Russell. Sainz is 4.2 seconds behind his rival, with a 2.9-second advantage over Hamilton, who still has a 5-second penalty. Piastri is 1.4 seconds behind, with Pérez 14 seconds off the McLaren. The Mexican is lapping a second slower than Verstappen.
Lap 40: Verstappen reports that his tyres are suddenly “very bad” and that he “doesn’t know” what’s happening. Stroll overtakes Albon, while Hülkenberg and Albon pit. The Haas driver rejoins ahead of his teammate in 13th place. Gasly passes Ocon after a multi-corner battle.
Lap 41: Ocon attacks Gasly again but cannot get past.
Lap 42: The lead gap has narrowed to 7.2 seconds, and Verstappen is lapping in 1’11, similar to Russell. His concerns about the tyres appear justified.
Lap 43: Gasly and Bottas pit. Albon is under investigation for crossing the white line.
Lap 44: Norris closes in to 6.4 seconds behind Verstappen. Piastri is also gaining on Hamilton, now just 1.3 seconds behind.
Lap 45: Stroll pits and rejoins ahead of Alonso. Ocon pits and rejoins behind Gasly. Verstappen stabilises the gap at 6.4 seconds. Russell falls back to 11 seconds, with Sainz matching his lap times.
Lap 46: Albon receives a 5-second penalty, the same as Hamilton.
Lap 47: Piastri is now right behind Hamilton. Russell pits and rejoins in sixth on hard tyres.
Lap 48: Sainz pits and rejoins in sixth ahead of Pérez, on medium tyres. Verstappen extends his lead over Norris to 7 seconds but says, “I can’t hold on much longer” with these tyres. Piastri overtakes Hamilton.
Lap 49: Russell sets the fastest lap with a time of 1’09″164.
Lap 50: Norris reduces the gap to under 7 seconds as he overtakes backmarkers.
Lap 51: Gasly overtakes Leclerc. Norris makes a mistake at Turn 2.
Lap 52: Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri all pit simultaneously! Red Bull botches their stop, losing over 4 seconds to Norris, who had to be let through to avoid an unsafe release, now 2.8 seconds behind the Dutchman! Piastri rejoins in sixth as Pérez pits.
Lap 53: Norris is significantly faster on his out lap, closing to 1.1 seconds! Verstappen is on used tyres, Norris on new mediums. Pérez rejoins in tenth behind the Haas cars and Ricciardo.
Lap 54: Verstappen sets the fastest lap with 1’08″772, but Norris betters it with 1’08″016: the gap is under a second! Hamilton pits, serves his penalty, and rejoins in sixth.
Lap 55: The gap between the leaders is 0.5 seconds, and it’s known that the McLaren had a slight advantage in recent races. Norris draws alongside but remains behind for now, complaining about a defensive move from Verstappen.
Lap 56: Norris gives a bit more space, the gap increases to a second. Russell is 12 seconds behind with a 4-second margin over Sainz, who has the same gap to Piastri. Hamilton is 16 seconds behind the second McLaren, leading Hülkenberg by 15 seconds. Magnussen is 2 seconds behind his teammate, with Pérez close behind the second Haas.
Lap 57: Verstappen complains about a lack of grip, and Norris closes to less than a second again.
Lap 58: Norris is half a second behind his rival, right on the Red Bull’s gearbox. He receives a black and white flag for track limits.
Lap 59: Norris overtakes Verstappen, but Verstappen reclaims the lead as Norris misses his braking point. Verstappen makes another defensive move in the braking zone.
Lap 60: Norris stays right behind Verstappen. The stewards note that Norris has exceeded track limits again.
Lap 61: Norris remains on the tail of the Red Bull but cannot get past. Pérez overtakes Magnussen and now targets Hülkenberg.
Lap 63: Norris makes another attempt but pushes his rival off track and lets him back through. The Briton claims he was ahead, but his engineer informs him he forced his rival off track.
Lap 64: Norris attacks again, but Verstappen cuts across and hits the McLaren! Both drivers suffer punctures. Additionally, Norris receives a 5-second penalty. Russell now leads, followed by Sainz and Piastri!
Lap 65: Piastri moves into second place! Norris retires, and the virtual safety car is deployed. Verstappen rejoins in fifth.
Lap 66: Wolff tells Russell he can win, and Russell bluntly replies, “Just let me drive!” The green flag is waved again, and the gap between Russell and Piastri is 2.7 seconds! Sainz is close to the McLaren.
Lap 67: Russell extends his lead slightly but not beyond 3.1 seconds.
Lap 68: Piastri narrows the gap to 2.9 seconds, but Russell seems to be managing his hard tyres. Verstappen receives a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Norris but has a 16-second lead over Hülkenberg.
Lap 69: Piastri closes to 2.1 seconds, but it is likely too late. Verstappen sets the fastest lap at 1’07″719.
Lap 70: Russell maintains control and extends the gap to 2.4 seconds. Further back, Pérez overtakes Hülkenberg.
Final Lap: Magnussen, Ricciardo, and Gasly battle it out, while Leclerc passes Ocon for 11th place. Hülkenberg overtakes Pérez on the final lap to finish sixth!
Finish: Opportunistic Russell wins the Austrian Grand Prix, his second career victory! Mercedes becomes the fourth team to win this season. Yesterday, the Briton said he would watch Norris and Verstappen battle at the front, and that’s exactly what he did until their collision propelled him into the lead! Piastri finishes second and Sainz third.
Hamilton is fourth, followed by Verstappen, Hülkenberg, Pérez, Magnussen, Ricciardo, and Gasly, who secures an additional point. Leclerc is 11th ahead of Ocon, Stroll, Tsunoda, Albon, Bottas, Alonso, and Zhou. Alonso finishes 18th with the fastest lap at 1’07″694, taking a point from Verstappen. Sargeant is 19th.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff | Stops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | George Russell | Mercedes W15 | 71 laps – 1h24m22.798s | 2 |
| 02 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | +1.906 | 2 |
| 03 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari SF-24 | +4.533 | 2 |
| 04 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W15 | +23.142 | 2 |
| 05 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | +37.253 | 3 |
| 06 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | +54.088 | 2 |
| 07 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Honda RBPT RB20 | +54.672 | 2 |
| 08 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari VF-24 | +60.355 | 2 |
| 09 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | +61.169 | 2 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault A524 | +61.766 | 2 |
| 11 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari SF-24 | +67.056 | 4 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault A524 | +68.325 | 2 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT VCARB 01 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 15 | Alex Albon | Williams Mercedes FW46 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Mercedes AMR24 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes FW46 | +2 laps | 3 |
| 20 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes MCL38 | DNF | 3 |
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