F1 Austrian GP live updates: George Russell wins after Norris, Verstappen chaos
Auf Wiedersehen from Austria!
So long, farewell, it's been a heck of a weekend here in Spielberg. Remember the Sprint race? That happened!
Check out our race takeaways and analysis in the posts below, then get some rest, because we'll be right back here in a few days' time for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
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The Athletic's race takeaways
The paddock is headed to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix next weekend, the final race of the triple-header, but first, here are our Austrian GP takeaways.
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F1 Austrian GP takeaways: A familiar Verstappen returns, Haas hits it big
'Inevitable'
Lando Norris snared victory in Miami, closed late on Verstappen at Imola, and could have won in both Canada and Spain only for small errors to cost him. At no point had he truly raced Verstappen. Their friendship, sharing flights and padel courts, has stayed strong.
But on Sunday at the Austrian Grand Prix, the inevitable happened: Verstappen and Norris raced for real, raced hard, and it ended in a collision that will surely test the bonds between them.
“It’s just a bit reckless,” Norris said in the media pen after the race, downbeat from having a shot at victory snatched away. “It seemed like (it was) a little bit desperate from his side.”
Get our full race analysis below.
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‘Inevitable’: Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’s first true F1 fight ends in tears
Friendship over?
For years, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have been good buddies, but their newfound on-track rivalry will test that bond — especially after the last-minute collision that cost both a chance to win today.
Asked if they can remain close after that, Norris put the onus on Verstappen: “It depends what he says."
A great day for Haas
Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
Coming into today, Haas had just seven points, one fewer than Alpine and good for P8 in the constructors' championship. But after Hülkenberg finished sixth and Magnussen eighth in today's GP, they've got 19 total and are 10 ahead of the French team.
“Hell of a race,” said Hülkenberg, who crossed the line half a second ahead of Red Bull's Segio Pérez. "It was touch and go, I was pushing hard to keep Checo behind." He noted he almost lost the car at Turn 10 in the closing laps, touching the gravel, and that in a slightly longer race he might not have held onto the position.
But hold on he did.
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Updated points
The constructors' standings after today's race:
- Red Bull, 355
- Ferrari, 291
- McLaren, 268
- Mercedes, 196
- Aston Martin, 58
- RB, 30
- Haas, 19
- Alpine, 9
- Williams, 2
- Sauber, 0
And the drivers' standings:
- Max Verstappen, 237
- Lando Norris, 156
- Charles Leclerc, 150
- Carlos Sainz, 135
- Sergio Pérez, 118
- Oscar Piastri, 112
- George Russell, 111
- Laewis Hamilton, 85
- Fernando Alonso, 41
- Yuki Tsunoda, 19
- Lance Stroll, 17
- Nico Hülkenberg, 14
- Daniel Ricciardo, 11
- Ollie Bearman, 6
- Pierre Gasly, 6
- Kevin Magnussen, 5
- Esteban Ocon, 3
- Alex Albon, 2
- Zhou Guanyu, 0
- Valtteri Bottas, 0
- Logan Sargeant, 0
Horner defends his driver
MAX SLOVENCIK/APA/AFP via Getty Images
Speaking with F1TV after the race, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was quick to accuse Lando Norris of repeatedly "divebombing" Max Verstappen in his efforts to take the lead, calling him "over-ambitious."
Horner described the 10-second penalty on Verstappen "harsh," then took a swing at being gracious. "That’s racing sometimes. Congratulations to George, who inherited the win.”
Verstappen's focus elsewhere
Mark Thompson/Getty Images
As in, on the team's performance rather than the collision that snuffed out his and Lando Norris' chances at a win.
“We did so many things wrong throughout the race, we put ourselves in a position like that,” Verstappen said. Chief among them will be a slow pit stop that took four seconds out of his lead on Norris, setting up the ultimately disastrous battle.
'A good race until then'
JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
“I thought it was a good race until then," Lando Norris told F1TV after a majorly disappointing race in which he did not finish. The blame for the collision that took him out along with Verstappen appears to be firmly the Red Bull driver's fault (and Verstappen received a 10-second penalty for it).
Asked whether he'll talk to Verstappen about the incident, Norris demurred. “It’s for him to say something," he said. "I did nothing wrong.”
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'A bit of a wave'
Mark Thompson/Getty Images
After his second career F1 win, George Russell acknowledged that Red Bull and McLaren remain the strongest teams, but that Mercedes has made the necessary upgrades to get right behind them, ready to pick up the pieces after the kind of chaos that turned this grand prix on its head.
Russell caught some of the Verstappen-Norris fight on the big TV, he said, and knew there was a possibility they could knock themselves out. "You're always dreaming," he said.
“The team’s done an amazing job to get us in this fight, you gotta be there at the end to pick up the pieces," he said, adding that this unexpected win makes up for his mistakes in Canada, where he felt he could have won.
Team leader indeed
What a good time to read Luke's story about how Russell is growing into his new position as Mercedes' lead driver.
The key quote from George: “It definitely feels like something has clicked."
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George Russell prepares for life as Mercedes F1 team leader – memes and all
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