Mercedes’ George Russell benefitted from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris coming to blows in the closing stages to win a dramatic Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Norris duelled over several laps but it ended in tears to provide Russell his second career win over McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Most of the drivers opted to go with the Medium compound owing to the scorching track temperatures, but Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in the pitlane went with the Hards.
Like in the Sprint earlier in the weekend, Verstappen nailed the start to retain the lead in Turn 1 as Norris in second went defensive against Russell’s Mercedes behind.
Russell utilised the slipstream up the hill towards Turn 3, but Norris parked his car on the inside to protect second spot, while Lewis Hamilton was able to pass Sainz.
Further back, Charles Leclerc ended up sandwiched between Piastri and Sergio Perez, picking up wing damage and consigning him to pit along with Logan Sargeant.
Piastri was incensed when he was shoved into the gravel as he endeavoured to overtake Perez’s Red Bull around the outside at Turn 4 and the Mexican shut the door.
Behind the top contenders on the road, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon profited from Leclerc’s woe, with Kevin Magnussen making it two Haas cars in the top 10.
Hamilton was courting his Mercedes team-mate’s car and managed to sneak through into third at Turn 3, but Russell returned the favour using DRS going into Turn 4.
The stewards had noted that Hamilton had taken fourth place on Sainz at the start not on the track and he was informed to relinquish the position to the Ferrari man.
Hamilton was piling the pressure on Sainz as he aimed to move back into podium contention, as Piastri executed an excellent move around Perez’s outside at Turn 6.
Magnussen was circulating in 10th place as the race order had settled down into a management phase, but Haas pulled the plug in the pit lane with a stop on Lap 10.
Haas traded him onto the Hard compound alongside RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and the two came out line astern with Leclerc’s Ferrari and Sargeant’s Williams still behind.
Hulkenberg came in next time around and emerged from the pits with his team-mate having used the undercut to be in a position to make an overtake stick at Turn 4.
However, the German retaliated and replicated that move on the Dane on the next lap, which prompted Magnussen to ask whether Hulkenberg was preserving rubber.
Elsewhere, Leclerc’s degradation made him vulnerable to Alex Albon’s fresher-shod Williams car and an overtake at Turn 3 witnessed Ferrari bring the Monegasque in.
Zhou was enraged when Fernando Alonso punted his Sauber car wide as the Aston Martin attempted to make an ambitious manoeuvre to seize 12th place on Lap 21.
The Chinese driver was still running on his starting rubber and he relinquished further positions to both Albon’s Williams and Esteban Ocon’s Alpine under the next lap.
Hamilton’s trip into the pit lane triggered the rest to follow as Perez, Sainz and his Mercedes team-mate all came in over the next laps, with Russell heading those cars.
Both Verstappen and Norris would pit once Lap 23 concluded to discard the Mediums and go to the Hards, while Piastri continued to motor on and took the race lead.
Hamilton was under investigation when an oversteer moment saw him straddle the white line on the entrance to the pit lane and he was handed a five-second penalty.
Meanwhile, Alonso was also handed a 10-second time drop over his collision with Zhou’s Sauber to compound Aston Martin’s miserable weekend at the Red Bull Ring.
Piastri was the last driver from the leading contingent to come into the pits on Lap 25 and filtered back out in sixth place, with a five-second deficit to Hamilton in fifth.
Perez was provided with a five-second penalty as he had sped in the pit lane earlier on. Behind, Ricciardo was heading a group which included the two battling Alpines.
Leclerc had been told that a points finish was still possible without interventions, but he came into the pits for a third time to go onto the Medium before half distance.
Pierre Gasle was questioning whether team orders could be utilised at Alpine in the battle with Alonso as Ocon completed the pass into Turn 1 on Lap 36 to take 11th.
But Gasly capitalised on those ahead being compromised to overtake Alonso and also had a run on Ocon, who barged his team-mate onto the outside kerb at Turn 3.
Alpine must have been worried that its drivers would clash again as Gasly tiptoed around Ocon’s outside at Turn 4, but the pair kept it clean as the former took eighth.
Gasly’s overtake proved critical as it meant the Anglo-French marque gave him preference on the pit stops and he came back out behind the two Haas’ and Ricciardo.
Like in previous races, Verstappen reported that the Hard compound was not handling well on his RB20 and Norris was beginning to cut the gap down to six seconds.
Albon was the lead Williams driver in 14th position on the road, but he was the next to be handed a time drop as he was deemed to have crossed the pit entrance line.
With Russell now beginning to struggle on the Mediums as a lapped Lance Stroll overtook him, Mercedes decided that was the time to call him into the pits for Hards.
Ferrari responded to that choice with Sainz the next to pit on Lap 47 to switch from Hards to Mediums as he spied the chance to land a potential podium over Russell.
McLaren’s superior race management was prevalent again here as Piastri dispatched Hamilton with a late lunge on the Mercedes racer on the uphill climb into Turn 3.
Leclerc was once again spurning time on used rubber and Gasly was all over the Ferrari driver’s back when he made a pass on the inside at Turn 3 to seize 11th place.
Verstappen was complaining about degradation as Red Bull sought to discover the ideal place to drop him back in and that arrived on Lap 51 as he pitted with Norris.
However, Red Bull’s dependable pit crew delivered a sluggish 6.5s stop and a lock-up into the downhill right-hander at Turn 4 put Norris less than two seconds behind.
Norris was on an absolute charge as he saw the opening to land another win on the table and he was within the one-second range to open his DRS come the 54th lap.
The Briton was well-placed to make a move on the Red Bull and looked set to launch it up the inside into Turn 3 on the next lap, but Verstappen blocked under braking.
Although Verstappen was able to escape DRS range at one stage, Norris then clawed his McLaren back into the window to have a chance to challenge the Dutchman.
Norris dived down Verstappen’s inside to take the lead on Lap 59 at Turn 3, but a lock-up from the McLaren driver pushed him wide and he surrendered the lead again.
Verstappen was under pressure down into Turn 4 on Lap 61, but the reigning F1 champion was once again positioning his car in the optimal place to retain first place.
Norris repeated the move he had attempted several times prior but managed to keep his car on the track on Lap 63 and this time it was Verstappen who ventured off.
The battle threatened to invoke contact and that happened as Norris went to Verstappen’s outside at Turn 4, handing both drivers a puncture that wrecked their hopes.
Russell assumed the lead on the Hard compound, while Piastri as the sister McLaren driver behind cruised up behind Sainz and swooped round the outside at Turn 6.
Verstappen brought his wounded Red Bull back into the pits and came back out on Softs in fifth but Norris retired, with the Virtual Safety Car interrupting proceedings.
The stewards declared that Verstappen was accountable and he received a 10-second time drop, although he had that advantage over Hulkenberg’s Haas car in sixth.
Russell managed to control his closing gap over Piastri’s McLaren to prevail at the Red Bull Ring and land his second career win and Mercedes’ first since Brazil 2022.
Sainz booked his return to the rostrum with third in the sole Ferrari car in the points places, with Hamilton fourth in the second Mercedes and Verstappen back in fifth.
Haas took advantage of the chaos that ensued ahead to secure two cars in the points as Hulkenberg came home in sixth place and Magnussen behind in eighth spot.
Ricciardo added to his points total this season with a measured drive to attain ninth place, while Gasly beat Leclerc’s Ferrari home to take the final point in 10th place.
