Russell wins as Verstappen, Norris collide

Russell was joined on the podium by 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 at the same spot 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

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…