George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix after a tense and gripping battle with what was a resurgent Red Bull in the hands of Max Verstappen. Russell held his nerve to ground out the victory even as the Dutchman charged at him in the final laps at the Red Bull Ring to take a win the British driver sorely wanted.
His Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli was in third, having harried Verstappen to the flag with the top three separated by just two-seconds at the end. However, Ferrari’s expected challenge failed to materialise, their car’s struggling for grip and pace in Austria, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finishing fifth and eighth. Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren with his teammate Lando Norris in seventh, while Isack Hadjar took sixth for Red Bull.
The win, Russell’s first since the opening round in Melbourne, moves him back into second place in the championship, closing the gap to Antonelli to 40 points with Hamilton now third, 46 points back.
Russell’s victory was hard fought but deserved as he could not afford to put a foot wrong with Verstappen showing so much pace to follow him home from fifth after a big crash in qualifying. Speculation about the four-time champion’s future has swirled all weekend in Austria, with rumours of a move to McLaren abounding, with their team principal Zak Brown noting that while he was happy with his lineup, of course he would sign the Dutchman if something happened to one of his current drivers.
However Verstappen has always been clear he wants performance more than anything and Red Bull know that if they provide that, he will stay and on this form, the swathe of upgrades they brought to Austria have very much delivered at this circuit at least. Verstappen was absolutely rapid at the Red Bull Ring, the most competitive he has been all year, for his best finish this season and was genuinely in with a shot of the win.
For Russell, this was a victory the British driver badly needed, with Antonelli having taken wins from five of the previous seven meetings the British driver needed to reassert himself in the title fight and did so with no little style in Austria.
This season, having started as favourite, he has struggled with some poor fortune but also having been put under enormous pressure by his young teammate. He remains confident that he can still compete for the title given there is still an awfully long way to go but nonetheless claiming an impressive victory was needed and a reminder that he has the calm control to deliver even under immense pressure.
Russell held his lead from the start while the two Ferrari’s vied with one another, Hamilton taking second place with a bold move round the outside of turn four. Antonelli was frenetic from the off but too overeager, repeatedly going off track and was passed by Verstappen on lap two, who then also passed Leclerc for third.
Verstappen swiftly showed how quick he was, closing on Hamilton and making a pass on turn three only for Hamilton to come immediately back at him and regain the place as they went wheel to wheel through turns six and seven with neither driver giving way. Verstappen felt he had been forced wide, describing it as a “clear penalty”. The incident was reviewed by the stewards but they deemed it fair racing.
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Ferrari did not have the pace or grip to stay in the fight, even trying a three-stop strategy for Hamilton that did not work out. After the first stops Verstappen once more came at Hamilton on lap 22 squeezing past at turn three and then as Hamilton came back at him, took the place through turn six with a bold move cutting across the inside with the Dutchman showing great pace and verve on his fresher rubber.
Verstappen was looking strong, promptly cutting Russell’s lead to four seconds by lap 34 and a further second two laps later. On a charge Verstappen was catching him at a rate of knots as Russell struggled for pace. He was within 1.5 seconds by lap 40.
After Russell took his final stop on lap 44, looking for fresher tyres with which to attack in the final third, Verstappen stayed out. He went long, losing time to Russell on worn rubber until he came in on lap 49.
He emerged 11 seconds back from Russell with 21 laps to go and had the gap down to six seconds with 12 remaining. It was a tense finale as Verstappen moved inexorably closer, three seconds off with three to go. However, Russell maintained an iron composure to hold his line and the place, even as Antonelli also closed on Verstappen to take their battle too to the flag.