Max Verstappen and Lando Norris came to blows in Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix to hand an unexpected win to Mercedes and George Russell at the Red Bull Ring.
But how did that contentious clash change our view on those two drivers’ weekends and who starred or disappointed as the campaign continued at pace in Spielberg?
Max Verstappen: 7
Sprint Position: P,1 Sprint Finish: P1
Grand Prix Position: P1, Race Finish: P5
Verstappen was set to have a complete weekend around Red Bull’s home soil in Austria when he beat the McLarens to the Sprint win and then surged to pole position.
But while he then controlled the pace in the opening stints to open a commanding advantage, a slow stop placed Lando Norris on his tail and set up a tantalising end.
The Dutchman adopted a robust defence to repel Norris’ advances on several occasions, but a squeeze at Turn 3 on Lap 64 saw the two touch and sustain punctures.
Verstappen was slapped with a 10-second penalty which had no implication on his finishing position as he was able to return to the track and come home in fifth spot.
Sergio Perez: 4
Sprint Position: P7, Sprint Finish: P8
Grand Prix Position: P8, Race Finish: P7
Perez’s recent slump continued at Red Bull’s home race as contact with Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at the start, which handed him huge sidepod damage the entire race.
Having been over eight-tenths behind Verstappen’s benchmark pole time, the Mexican trailing behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas compounded another wretched outing.
Lando Norris: 8
Sprint Position: P2, Sprint Finish: P3
Grand Prix Position: P2, Race Finish: DNF
Norris once again utilised McLaren’s strong speed to be Verstappen’s nearest contender, but he rued leaving the door open at Turn 4 in the Sprint against the Red Bull.
The Briton dampened McLaren’s hopes going into the race, but Red Bull’s dependable crew slipping up provided him with a chance that he was willing to capitalise on.
However, Norris’ unconvincing overtaking attempts meant that he was unable to get the move done prior to Verstappen’s dubious actions pushing him into retirement.
Oscar Piastri: 7.5
Sprint Position: P3, Sprint Finish: P2
Grand Prix Position: P7, Race Finish: P2
Piastri got more than he bargained in the truncated Sprint encounter as Norris’ mishap in wheel-to-wheel combat with Verstappen saw him lead his team-mate home.
However, the Australian endured a frustrating qualifying hour later on as a track limits infringement at Turn 5 dropped him from third on the grid down to seventh spot.
Piastri was fortunate to avoid damage at the start when he ended up three wide with Charles Leclerc and Perez at Turn 1 and then clashed with the Red Bull at Turn 4.
But Piastri pressed on and extended both his stints to be able to overtake Carlos Sainz to take second, although his grid demotion cost him a probable maiden F1 win.
Charles Leclerc: 5
Sprint Position: P10, Sprint Finish: P7
Grand Prix Position: P6, Race Finish: P11
Leclerc departed Austria with minimal points as his Sprint prospects were hampered when he was unable to participate in the SQ3 stage due to an anti-stall moment.
The Monegasque recovered with a strong start to seventh and looked on course to secure a positive starting spot until several errors positioned him sixth on the grid.
Leclerc’s miserable weekend continued as he was sandwiched at Turn 1 and incurred damage, which issued him with an uphill task as he crossed the finish line 11th.
Carlos Sainz: 8.5
Sprint Position: P5, Sprint Finish: P5
Grand Prix Position: P4, Race Finish: P3
Sainz had a well-rounded weekend to avoid the mistakes that his team-mate committed to be in a position to inherit a podium when much quicker cars ahead tangled.
Despite being unable to resist Piastri’s advances in a faster McLaren machine on newer rubber, the Spaniard drove a measured race to return to the podium with third.
George Russell: 9.5
Sprint Position: P4, Sprint Finish: P4
Grand Prix Position: P3, Race Finish: P1
Russell was in exceptional shape all weekend long to edge team-mate Lewis Hamilton to earn the right to be the driver who picked up the pieces come the main race.
The Briton passed Sainz’s Ferrari to deliver the maximum in the Sprint and was running a comfortable third when Norris and Verstappen gave him an improbable win.
With the accident between the two, Russell took the lead with only Piastri behind as a thread, but could ultimately see the chequered flag to secure his second F1 win.
Lewis Hamilton: 6.5
Sprint Position: P6, Sprint Finish: P6
Grand Prix Position: P5, Race Finish: P4
Hamilton has never fared that well around the Red Bull Ring and that was the case this season as the seven-time champion branded his weekend as “pretty shocking”.
The Briton’s race prospects were hampered when he picked up floor damage – worth 0.25s per lap – but a penalty for crossing the pit lane entrance was his own doing.
Considering the race outcome with the other Mercedes on top, Hamilton was right to lament a missed chance to end his elongated wait to attain an elusive 104th win.
Fernando Alonso: 4
Sprint Position: P13, Sprint Finish: P15
Grand Prix Position: P15, Race Finish: P18
Aston Martin kept his downward trajectory in Austria, with a specially weak Alonso. The Spaniard lost to his teammate during both sessions of the Sprint and the Sunday race, which is highly unusual.
In the race, he also made an uncharacteristic mistake crashing into Zhou on an incident when he was clearly the one to blame, receiving a 10-second time penalty.
Lance Stroll: 4.5
Sprint Position: P12, Sprint Finish: P10
Grand Prix Position: P17, Race Finish: P13
Stroll did everything he could with the machinery he was giving, consistently outscoring Alonso in both the Sprint and the race.
Qualifying was, by far, the weakest point for him as he got knocked out in Q1 while his teammate made it to Q2.
The Canadian driver was relatively close to the points, finishing 13th in the race and 10th in the sprint.
Esteban Ocon: 7
Sprint Position: P8, Sprint Finish: P11
Grand Prix Position: P10, Race Finish: P12
While Ocon seemed to have the edge on his teammate during the build-up to the Sunday race, Gasly ultimately came on top.
They starred another hard (but clean this time) battle during the race that ended with the departing Alpine driver outside of the points while Gasly scored for the team and himself.
Pierre Gasly: 7
Sprint Position: P9 Sprint Finish: P12
Grand Prix Position: P13, Race Finish: P10
Gasly was behind Ocon both in the Sprint sessions and the qualifying, but ultimately got the better result for Alpine with another much needed point added to the standings.
He also fought the position with his teammate during the race. Ultimately, Gasly was able to sweep Ocon and keep moving forward to reach the points.
Nico Hulkenberg: 9.5
Sprint Position: P17, Sprint Finish: P19
Grand Prix Position: P9, Race Finish: P6
Hulkenberg is our MVP of the weekend, with a stellar performance during both the qualifying and, especially, the race on Sunday.
If Hulkenberg doesn’t have a 10 this weekend is mainly due to his Sprint performance, where he was significantly behind teammate Kevin Magnussen.
A perfectly well-managed race from him and Haas saw him securing a big haul of points and finishing the race in front of much faster cars like Perez in the Red Bull.
Kevin Magnussen: 9
Sprint Position: P11, Sprint Finish: P9
Grand Prix Position: P12, Race Finish: P8
Magnussen was also very good this weekend, having a clear edge over Magnussen on the Sprint sessions and finishing the sprint race just outside of the points.
He was able to get that objective the day after after a risky strategy call from Haas that paid off and a good management of its drivers to not lose unnecessary time.
Yuki Tsunoda: 5.5
Sprint Position: P14, Sprint Finish: P13
Grand Prix Position: P14, Race Finish: P14
Tsunoda had a very poor weekend compared to his teammate, who achieved a points finish on Sunday.
It’s true that the Japanese finished ahead during the Sprint, but got no points from the result at the end, as he reached the finish line in 13th
Daniel Ricciardo: 7.5
Sprint Position: P16, Sprint Finish: P14
Grand Prix Position: P11, Race Finish: P9
Another solid weekend for Ricciardo, who was able to add two more points for both RB and himself during the race.
The strategic gamble to stop early from RB paid off, despite the Australian describing the race as “tough” due to the amount of defending he has to pull out.
Overall, a good weekend from Ricciardo without any major mistakes.
Logan Sargeant: 3
Sprint Position: P15, Sprint Finish: P16
Grand Prix Position: P19, Race Finish: P19
Sargeant was one of the surprises of the Sprint day, as he finished ahead of teammate Alex Albon in both sessions.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t the same for the Grand Prix where Albon had the edge again. Sargeant finished the race in last with a Williams that is still seriously lacking pace.
Alex Albon: 5
Sprint Position: P19, Sprint Finish: P17
Grand Prix Position: P16, Race Finish: P15
Albon’s weekend wasn’t anything anywhere near perfection, but he did nothing wrong during the Sunday race with the car he was given.
Still, it was unusual to see him behind Sargeant for two sessions in a row.
Valtteri Bottas: 5
Sprint Position: P18, Sprint Finish: P18
Grand Prix Position: P18, Race Finish: P16
Sauber keeps being clearly the slowest team on the grid and the only one without a single point yet. Car performance aside, Bottas did nothing wrong during the weekend and convincingly had the edge over his teammate at every session of the Grand Prix.
Guanyu Zhou: 4
Sprint Position: P20, Sprint Finish: P20
Grand Prix Position: P20, Race Finish: P17
It was another completely anonymous race from Zhou, who struggled compared to his teammate a bit more than usual.
Zhou started the race from the pit lane after trying to make some changes to the setup of his car, but could only finish ahead of DNF’d car, Sargeant, and a penalized Fernando Alonso.
