Hard racing and contact between the two fastest drivers turns the Austrian Grand Prix (June 30) on its head, with George Russell reaping the benefits, wining June 30’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Contact between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, the two main contenders, on lap 64 opened the door for Russell, who cruised to his second victory.
He held off Oscar Piastri, who finished second, while Carlos Sainz stood third on the podium, earning his fifth podium of the season.
Verstappen looked to be in control at the Red Bull Ring, at one point having an eight-second lead over the McLaren of Norris. However, a slow 6.5-second stop brought Norris closer to the Dutchman.
Norris entered DRS range and began to attack Verstappen for the lead of the race in the final 20 laps of the race.
Norris pushed so hard that it looked like he made a fourth track limits infringement.
However, as the stewards were investigating Norris, he continued to apply pressure on the Red Bull of Verstappen.
The entire grand prix changed on lap 64. Norris once again dived to the outside into turn 3, and Verstappen veered left, making contact with Norris, causing a puncture in both of their cars.
While Norris’ damage became terminal on his way back to the pits, Verstappen recovered to finish fifth. A 10-second penalty for avoidable contact failed to affect Verstappen’s ultimate finish.
Benefiting from the Verstappen/Norris wreck was Russell. He raced fourth for most of the day, and was poised for third, racing on the hard tire in the closing stages. With the top two in points out of the race and after a subsequent virtual safety car, Russell held on two seconds ahead of Piastri.
Piastri’s weekend became more difficult as his third fastest lap in yesterday’s qualifying was deleted after the stewards deemed that he violated track limits on his flying lap. He was relegated back to seventh on the start, survived the start with contact with Charles Leclerc, and worked his way back up to earn the second step of the podium.
Lewis Hamilton ran fifth, but on the first cycle of pit stops, Hamilton experienced understeer in the car coming into the pits, sending the car barely over the white pit entry line. He received a five-second time penalty for the infringement. With the misfortune of Verstappen and Norris, Hamilton finished best of the rest in fourth.
Sainz’s Ferrari teammate Leclerc was the biggest loser on the start, as the Monegasque, who…
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