The upcoming sprint weekend of the 2024 season did not particularly spoil the fans with intrigue in the possible fight for victory. Max Verstappen won both qualifying and the sprint quite confidently. However, Sunday’s race, unlike previous competitions in Spielberg, at least promised us an interesting tactical fight. From the point of view of Lando Norris’ prospects, that he was to start from the front row together with Verstappen, a lot depended on the start of the race…
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The first half of the race was soporific.
And this start turned out to be rather calm. Verstappen confidently won the race until the first corner, and Norris fell asleep a little at the beginning and almost let George Russell take the lead. Charles Leclerc had problems: the Monegasque got into a “box” with Piastri and Perez and broke his front wing.
On the fifth lap, positions were exchanged in the leading group: Sainz overtook Hamilton in the fight for fourth place. Lewis was told from the pits to regain his position after cutting on the first lap so as not to receive an additional penalty. Piastri behind was able to get ahead of Pérez again.
The race went smoothly, with everyone waiting for the pit stops. The second half of the pack tried to undercut, stopping early, but the leaders tried to delay it as much as possible with the first pit stop.
The first of the leaders to pit on lap 22 were Hamilton and Perez, with Checo still suffering from sidepod damage. Russell and Sainz followed to get fresh tyres, and Mercedes decided to change the drivers’ tactics: Hamilton switched to “hard” and Russell to “medium”. Verstappen and Norris started on the same lap, but Hamilton was given a penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane entrance. Lewis had to defend this penalty at the next pit stop.
The situation on the track stabilised again and the race finally moved into its tactical phase, although the Alpin drivers entertained the spectators with another round of uncompromising fighting. Surprisingly, in the end Gasly passed Okona cleanly, without contact, although Pierre managed to complain about his teammate beforehand.
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Unexpected end
During the second wave of pit stops, Verstappen had a serious problem with the left rear wheel and, after leaving the pits, he also blocked the tyre. Because of this, Norris, with a parallel pit stop, closed to within a second of Max, running after the Dutchman. Suddenly there is intrigue!
Norris was hanging on Max’s tail and even attacked on lap 59, but the dive bomb was too optimistic and Lando went off the track, overtaking Verstappen; he had to give back the position. At the same time, Norris had previously been given a black and white flag, so leaving the track immediately put the Briton under investigation by the judges.
On lap 64, Norris tried to attack Verstappen from the outside, but Max moved there too – a collision! Lando hit Max’s left rear and suffered a puncture himself. George Russell took the lead in the race and both duelists were forced to make pit stops. Norris, who was just then informed of a five-second penalty for trespassing, retired from the race. Verstappen received 10 seconds for the collision with Norris, having declared Max guilty of moving into his opponent while braking.
George Russell led the race to victory, which was awarded to him by Max and Lando. This victory was Mercedes’ first since 2022 and Russell’s second of his career. Oscar Piastri finished second, wonderfully beating Carlos Sainz’s outside radius. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and Max Verstappen fifth. Also in the top ten were Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Pérez, Kevin Magnussen, Dan Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly. The Haas German became the hero of the final segment, during which he held off Pérez for a long time, and after Checo failed on the last lap, he managed to counterattack him.
The results of the race in Austria were extremely unexpected. Verstappen made a stupid move that cost him the race in first place and only Norris in second place. If Max had let Lando lead, he would still be the winner, taking into account the subsequent penalty to Norris. But it is in these mistakes that the beauty of motorsport lies, and it is these mistakes that we have often been lacking in Formula 1 lately. We are undoubtedly witnessing the most interesting season of the last three years! And it will continue in a week in the United Kingdom.
