Sunday Debrief: Russell wins in Austria after Norris-Verstappen collide

It was a chaotic end to the Austrian Grand Prix, trouble building from lap 55 onwards.

 

Sprint

 

Verstappen lined up on pole at the ‘Verstappenring’ for the sprint race with Norris alongside him on the front row, a pattern that would be repeated for Sundays Grand Prix. Going to the top of the hill, Norris took the lead of the race, Norris failing to cover off Verstappen as he reclaimed the lead a few corners later on the opening lap. Norris losing two places to both Verstappen and his teammate in the process.

 

The McLaren drivers looked to be fast over the race with new upgrades for Woking team to the front wing and front suspension. McLaren really coming alive this season.

 

To conclude the 23-lap stint, Verstappen claimed victory in front of the Austrian fans, Piastri holding on to P2 as Norris concluded the top 3 in P3 and with the fastest lap of the sprint. Both Mercedes and Ferrari drivers also in the points with Perez rounding off the points in P8.

 

Race

 

Verstappen did it again as he claimed  pole at a track, he has previously won 6 times, Going into turn 1, Verstappen had a brilliant start as he broke away from. Meanwhile a few rows back on the grid, Leclerc and Piastri made contact, Leclerc needing to make a early pit stop at the end of lap 1 with front wing damage sending him out to the back of the grid.

 

The stewards had their work cut out with this Grand Prix as the handed out 5 penalties. Alonso was the first to pick up a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Zhou at the start of the race, which he served on lap 37. Hamilton was next to pick up 5-seconds for an unsafe entry into the pits, followed by Perez who received a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

Piastri inherited the lead from Verstappen on lap 24, him and Zhou the only two drivers on the grid yet to make a pit stop in the race. Verstappen regained the lead a lap later as Piastri comes into the pits.

 

By lap 55, Norris closed the gap between himself and Verstappen in what would turn into a troubling next 9 laps for the pair. Norris made his way ahead of Verstappen on lap 59 but goes wide, Lando already being shown the flag for track limits a lap earlier, gave back the place to Verstappen, the battle continuing as frustration grows. Norris picking up a 5-second penalty for track limits for exceeding limits a fourth time.

 

By Lap 63, Norris was back on the tail of Verstappen, Norris making a lunge as Verstappen turns in on Norris, the pair making contact twice. Verstappen crawling back to the pits with a puncture but continued on in the race from P5. Norris returned to the pit but chose to retire out of the race. The stewards punished Verstappen with a 10-second penalty that would be added on at the end of the race but had no effect, Verstappen with a 20 second gap between himself and Hulkenberg behind.

Russell benefiting from the pair’s misfortune, picked up two places and the race lead, where he remained up until the chequered flag. Piastri made a move on Sainz on lap 65, going round the outside of Sainz to move up into P2.

 

Despite an unfortunate end to Norris’s race, Norris picked up driver of the day. Alonso picked up the fastest lap but didn’t gain the advantage of an extra point as he finished outside the points.