Russell Takes Advantage of Verstappen-Norris Chaos to Take Iconic Victory
After Max Verstappen and Lando Norris went over the limit and cost both of each other massively, it was George Russell who took advantage to take his second-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix Victory! Oscar Piastri came home a close second whilst Carlos Sainz rounded out the Podium in what was a crazy Austrian Grand Prix!
The Biggest Talking Points
Max Verstappen led Lando Norris into Turn 1 as Charles Leclerc picked up damage in an incident with Oscar Piastri (whilst Sergio Perez was on his inside) which ultimately cost him any chance of points. Just a few corners later and Oscar found himself in the gravel after Checo failed to give him much racing room. The field then started to spread out, with Max clearing out in front whilst Lewis Hamilton had to let Carlos Sainz back through for 4th. Whilst there wasn’t much going on out front, there was definitely action behind as Fernando Alonso completely wiped out Zhou Guanyu whilst the two Alpine’s got pretty “testy”, with Pierre Gasly finally clearing Esteban Ocon after multiple near-calls. The thing I found interesting about this Race was because of the different strategies, there were parts of the Grand Prix where the lapped cars were quicker than the drivers in front of them simply due to their better tyres.
And then, Max Verstappen had a pretty slow pitstop and followed it up with a lock-up on his out lap which meant Lando Norris was right on the back of him in the fight for the win! These two came close multiple times, with Lando adamant that Max moved under braking whilst Verstappen claimed that Norris forced him off the track. In the end, it all got a bit too much with the two star drivers making contact at Turn 3 which resulted in both guys picking up a puncture. Both guys eventually made it back to the pits, Verstappen came out in P5 (and ultimately got a 10-second time penalty) whilst Norris was forced to retire! Utter chaos! What this meant was George Russell took advantage and moved into the lead as Oscar Piastri cleared Carlos Sainz for second whilst Nico Hulkenberg managed to hold on to beat Sergio Perez to a mightily impressive P6!
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out three 10’s for today’s Austrian Grand Prix and the first one is obviously for George Russell! No matter how it happened, George was in the right position at the right time and deserved to win today! The second driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Oscar Piastri because Oscar went from 7th to second and was ultimately pretty unfortunate to miss out on the win given everything that happened (Qualifying included). The final driver I’ve given a perfect 10 to is Nico Hulkenberg and fair play to The Hulk because P6 in a Haas is absolutely brilliant! I also thought that Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, and Daniel Ricciardo had strong days whilst Pierre Gasly can be pleased with a points finish!
Drivers Who Had a Shocker
In total, I’ve given out three 1’s for today’s Race, and the first one is for Max Verstappen. After looking completely dominant, things just went away for Max towards the end, and he ultimately caused the contact between himself and Lando Norris. The second driver I’ve given out the lowest possible grade to is Fernando Alonso who had an absolute shocker and punted Zhou Guanyu off the track in a very odd moment. The other driver I’ve given a 1 to is Logan Sargeant who is just far too slow and it’s frankly unacceptable! I also wasn’t impressed by Lando Norris as whilst the final incident wasn’t his fault, I think Lando went over the edge today, and that final contact was always going to happen.
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
George Russell: 10
Oscar Piastri: 10
Carlos Sainz: 9
Lewis Hamilton: 7
Max Verstappen: 1
Nico Hulkenberg: 10
Sergio Perez: 4
Kevin Magnussen: 9
Daniel Ricciardo: 9
Pierre Gasly: 8
Charles Leclerc: 5
Esteban Ocon: 5
Lance Stroll: 4
Yuki Tsunoda: 4
Alex Albon: 4
Valtteri Bottas: 3
Zhou Guanyu: 3
Fernando Alonso: 1
Logan Sargeant: 1
Lando Norris: 2 (DNF)