Russell wins Austrian GP, Verstappen holds P1 after collision/5th place finish

30 June 2024
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA — The famed Red Bull Ring delivered great action Sunday as World Champion and defending Austrian GP winner Max Verstappen tangled with Mclaren’s Lando Norris late in the race, handing the victory to Mercedes driver George Russell. Russell qualified P3 and held onto 3rd place through the race, inheriting the lead after the Verstappen/Norris collision, and holding that lead to the checkered flag.

George Russell wins the Austrian GP after leaders Verstappen and Norris tangled late in the race. (Image Credit: formula1 TV)

KEY MOVE OF THE RACE: The gap between Verstappen and Norris was less than two seconds. On Lap 64 of 71, the pair made contact, causing both to puncture tires and limp back to pit road.

Russell — who was running in third — took the lead, which he held to the end to claim the second race win of his F1 career.

Mercedes’ George Russell claimed a somewhat unexpected victory in the Austrian Grand Prix (Image Credit: formula1.com)

GFT F1 AI Driver Rankings after the Austrian GP

Go Full Throttle Formula 1 AI Driver Rankings following the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix on June 30 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria (Image Credit: GFT Digital)

Verstappen easily holds onto his Number 1 ranking with the massive points lead he has amassed with 7 wins and 443 laps led. However, as the season nears the midpoint, Lando Norris has made steady progress in the F1 Driver Points to move into the 2nd spot in Points and the GFT rankings.

Verstappen able to continue …
After the collision, Verstappen was able to make it to pit road without significant damage to the Red Bull Racing №1 and reenter the race finishing 5th and collecting 10 points. Lando Norris did not fair as well. The damage to Norris’ car was substantial enough that he could not return to the race and retired the car for a 20th-place finish, his first DNF of the season.

Norris retired from the race following his collision with Verstappen (Image Credit: formula1.com)

Winner’s quote

“Incredible,” said Russell. “I think it was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race just to hold onto that P3.

“I saw on the TV that Max and Lando were going pretty hard, I knew Lando would want to try and get that race win, but the team have done an amazing job to get us in this fight. You’ve got be there at the end to pick up the pieces, and that’s where we were.”

Next Race

The next race on the 2024 F1 is the British Grand Prix at the famed Silverstone Circuit.