Unexpected victories: George Russell wins the Austrian Grand Prix

It was an unexpected ending to the weekend as Formula One saw their return to the Redbull Ring in Austria for round 11 of the 2024 season. Coming into this weekend, Lando Norris took 2nd place in the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career, and a recent change in form has been developing for Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton returning to the podium in Spain.

With a return to the Sprint format, the teams had only one Free Practice session to carry out their race runs and prepare for the two qualifying sessions ahead of them – Sprint Qualifying and traditional Qualifying on Saturday.

Sprint Qualifying gave fans a few things to talk about: Logan Sargeant outqualified teammate Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc was unable to set a laptime during SQ3 which left him in 10th, Sergio Pérez ’s out of position Redbull in 7th, and another success story for Alpine as both cars progressed into SQ3. As expected for the team celebrating their home race, Redbull’s Max Verstappen qualified fastest for the Sprint, with the Dutchman sharing the front row with McLaren’s Lando Norris.

The Sprint provided fans with action to watch on-track as an exciting battle for the lead developed over the 24 laps

The Sprint provided fans with action to watch on-track as an exciting battle for the lead developed over the 24 laps. In the end, it was a 10th career sprint victory for Max Verstappen after Lando Norris was unable to keep the lead despite at one point being ahead of Verstappen. Another on-track mistake from Norris cost him P2 which his teammate, Oscar Piastri, capitalised on. As with all Sprints, only the top 8 drivers scored points and it was the top 4 constructors – Redbull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes – who gained the most advantage from the event with all eight of their drivers in point-scoring positions.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix was also not without its highlights. Aston Martin’s poor form continued as Lance Stroll was unable to progress past Q1 while Fernando Alonso couldn’t save himself from elimination in Q2. Meanwhile, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda found himself eliminated in Q1 with his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, just shy of progressing into Q3.

While track limit violations were not an issue across the grid, Australia’s Oscar Piastri was penalised for that very issue; despite setting a time fast enough for P4, this lap was later deleted, and he was demoted to P7. As with Sprint Qualifying, Max Verstappen was fastest on track and qualified on pole for another Redbull success.

While the stewards were not overrun with track limit violations this year, time penalties were in high demand as Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen were all penalised for incidents on the track

Sunday’s race was action-packed from lights out. An opening lap collision between Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, and Sergio Pérez saw Leclerc coming into the pit box for an early stop to change his front wing and left Pérez with lasting damage to the sidepod on his Redbull.

While the stewards were not overrun with track limit violations this year, time penalties were in high demand as Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen were all penalised for incidents on the track. Verstappen, in particular, was penalised for his actions against Lando Norris.

Although Verstappen got a clean start and managed to build his race lead of over 7 seconds with relative ease, the speed of the McLaren meant that he and Lando Norris were fighting for the lead of the race. After a few laps of back and forth, including Norris being shown a black and white flag as well as being given a 5-second time penalty for violating track limits, the pair collided on lap 64. The contact between the two drivers resulted in punctures for both cars and while Verstappen was able to return to the pits, Norris had to retire the car due to extensive damage. Lando Norris’ retirement from this race ended his streak of being the only remaining driver to score points at every round so far this season.

Ultimately, it was a race not to be missed at the Redbull Ring as George Russell became the fifth different race winner in the 2024 season

Enjoying success this weekend was Alpine. With their recent change in fortunes after a disappointing start to the season, the announcement of Pierre Gasly’s multi-year contract was matched by the Frenchman scoring his 400th career point at the Redbull Ring. Despite on-track action between himself and Esteban Ocon, Gasly continued Alpine’s run of four weekends in the points.

Like Alpine, Haas also enjoyed a good run this weekend as both of their cars scored points. This successful weekend allowed them to make a step forward to their closest competitor, RB, in the Constructor’s Championship.

Finally, a moment for the race winner, Mercedes’ George Russell. His return to the top step of the podium ended Mercedes’ thirty-three race run without a victory; it was in Sau Paulo 2022 that Mercedes last won a race where it was also George Russell who claimed his maiden F1 race win on that occasion. Mentions also for Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz who completed the podium this weekend; Piastri’s P2 gave him his 2nd podium of the season and Sainz’s P3 gave him his 5th podium of the season.

Ultimately, it was a race not to be missed at the Redbull Ring as George Russell became the fifth different race winner in the 2024 season, the longest season in the history of the sport. Looking towards next weekend at Silverstone for the final race in this European triple header, all eyes will be on McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell as they return for their home Grand Prix.