The benefits go to the third litigant between the two: The Austrian Grand Prix was won by George Russell. With his second career victory after the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, the Englishman capitalized on the intense duel between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. After the Dutchman’s final pit stop, where he experienced an issue with his left rear tire and lost a significant amount of his lead, the fight broke out. While Norris utilized a fresh set of yellow tires on the same lap, giving him a performance edge. The world champion fitted a pair of old medium tires.
Red Bull Takes Flight in Austrian GP Free Practice 1
The Austrian Grand Prix weekend kicked off, and Friday’s sole free practice session. It offered a glimpse into the potential battles brewing for the rest of the race.
Max Verstappen, the reigning champion and fresh off his Canadian victory, wasted no time showcasing his comfort on the Red Bull Ring. He topped the timesheets in Free Practice 1, putting in a strong showing on his home track. However, his session wasn’t entirely smooth sailing. A suspected software glitch caused a brief red flag as his car came to a halt on the pit straight. Luckily, the issue was resolved quickly, and Verstappen was back on track with minimal disruption.
Mclaren of Oscar Piastri showed a strong performance by securing 2nd place. Scuderia Ferrari had a decent showing, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finishing third and fourth respectively. After a few positive weekends for the Enstone operation, Esteban Ocon led the Alpine assault in sixth place, finishing ahead of Russell, Yuki Tsunoda of RB, and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, who struggled with a steering column issue the whole session.
Fernando Alonso made it two Aston Martins in the top ten. Pierre Gasly and Perez, drivers for Alpine and Red Bull, followed in 11th and 12th, while Lando Norris finished in 13th in his McLaren after a near-failure late lap on softs that was ruined by a tumble through the Turn 4 gravel.
Sprint Qualifying
The battle for the Austrian Sprint grid commenced with a flurry of activity in the sole practice session.
SQ1: As Sprint Qualifying got underway, the tension was palpable. After a quiet initial phase, drivers swarmed the pit lane around the three-minute mark, all sporting the mandatory new medium tires. Hamilton attempted an early lap but found himself facing a deleted time due to exceeding track limits at Turn 1. His teammate Russell, however, managed to snag the provisional P1 spot initially.
The early order saw big names like Ricciardo and Alonso teetering on the edge of elimination alongside Hamilton with his scrubbed lap. As the clock ticked down, most drivers returned to the track in a desperate attempt to secure a spot in Q2. While Alonso and Hamilton managed to improve their times, they could only climb to P11 and P12 respectively, highlighting the competitiveness of the midfield.
On the other hand, Logan Sargeant clawed his way out of the danger zone, reaching P14. However, several drivers weren’t so fortunate. Tsunoda scraped through to Q2 in P15 despite a heart-stopping spin on his final lap, while Ricciardo wasn’t as lucky, bowing out in P16. Similarly, Hulkenberg and the Sauber duo of Bottas and Zhou failed to progress beyond Q1, ending their qualifying runs in P17, P18, and P20 respectively. Albon initially seemed safe but was pushed back into the elimination zone, settling for P19 to round out the bottom five.
Key Eliminations: Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Albon, Zhou.
SQ2: Verstappen and his teammate Perez wasted no time in setting the pace as the ten-minute window for Q2 opened. Verstappen laid down an early benchmark with a 1:05.186s lap, putting him a tenth of a second clear of Russell in P2.
Only eight drivers managed to set initial lap times, all on the mandatory new medium tires. The remaining seven, including Sargeant, Alonso, Gasly, Magnussen, and Tsunoda, joined the fray in the final minutes, with those at risk needing a significant improvement to survive.
Gasly managed to climb to P10, just behind his Alpine teammate Ocon in P9. However, Stroll’s wild moment at Turn 10 saw him plummet into the elimination zone. Magnussen narrowly missed out on Q3, finishing P11 with a time less than a tenth off Gasly’s. Stroll’s misfortune continued as he exited in P12, marking a forgettable day for Aston Martin as Alonso also failed to progress, settling for P13.
Tsunoda (P14) and Sargeant (P15) couldn’t find the pace to advance either, although Sargeant can take solace in out-qualifying his Williams teammate Albon.
Key Eliminations: Magnussen, Stroll, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sargeant
SQ3: The eight-minute Q3 session began with a cautious approach as everyone bided their time in the pits. With just three minutes remaining, the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton broke the silence, heading out first. They were quickly followed by a queue of cars, all on the soft compound tires mandated for this segment.
The drama unfolded for Leclerc as he inexplicably stopped in the pit lane before managing to get his Ferrari going again. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reach the checkered flag in time to set a lap and missed out on the top-10 shootout altogether.
Norris put in a strong showing initially, setting the fastest time among those who had completed their laps. However, Verstappen stole the thunder with a phenomenal 1:04.686s lap on the softs, securing pole position by a narrow margin of 0.093 seconds over Norris.
“It’s great to be first here in front of, basically, my home fans, my home Grand Prix, It was a good day so far.”
-max Verstappen
The other McLaren of Piastri followed in P3, while Russell, Sainz, and Hamilton rounded out the top six. Perez started from P7, with Ocon and Gasly (Alpine) lining up in P8 and P9 respectively. Leclerc’s pit lane mishap left him with a disappointing P10 to start the Sprint race.
Sprint Race
Verstappen Holds Off McLaren Onslaught to Claim Austrian Sprint Glory!
The Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race was a spicy affair, packed with wheel-to-wheel action and a surprise early challenge from the resurgent McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Max Verstappen, starting from pole, fended off a fierce attack from the young guns to secure his second Sprint win of the season.
The race was shortened to 23 laps due to a safety concern with an extra formation lap, but the drama unfolded right from the start. Norris held off a determined Piastri for second, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz got tangled up with a feisty George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen couldn’t shake Norris’ DRS early on, leading to some intense defensive maneuvers at Turns 3 and 4. On lap five, Norris lunged at Turn 3, forcing Verstappen deep. Piastri pounced, stealing second place from his teammate in the following DRS zone.
Despite a slight wobble, Verstappen managed to retake the lead from Norris. Meanwhile, the battle for second became a McLaren duel, with Norris relentlessly chasing Piastri. Russell capitalized on the McLaren fight to snatch fourth from Sainz.
By lap 10, Verstappen broke free from DRS range, putting his Red Bull into cruise control. Norris closed the gap on Piastri but couldn’t find a way past, settling for a podium finish behind his teammate. Russell finished a lonely fourth, with Sainz fending off a determined Hamilton for fifth.
Charles Leclerc’s race took a dramatic turn for the better with a stellar opening lap, jumping from tenth to seventh. Further down the grid, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg is under investigation for a questionable maneuver on Fernando Alonso, potentially forcing the Spaniard off track.
Verstappen’s victory solidifies his dominance on Red Bull’s home turf. However, the real story of the race is the resurgent McLaren. Norris and Piastri’s early challenge and podium finish sends a strong message to the rest of the grid. With the Grand Prix looming, can McLaren continue to threaten Red Bull, or will Verstappen maintain his Austrian reign?
Main Race Qualifying
The Austrian mountains provided a picturesque backdrop, but the real drama unfolded on the sizzling Spielberg tarmac. Here’s the lowdown on the three-part fight for glory:
The lights went green, and the battle for a top-10 spot began. Early favorites like Verstappen and Ferrari’s Sainz lived up to the hype, setting the pace with blistering laps. However, the fight to avoid elimination was fierce. Shockingly, experienced veterans like Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso couldn’t find the pace and were knocked out in Q1. They were joined by Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu, along with Lance Stroll.
Q2 saw Verstappen flex his muscles, laying down a lap time over half a second faster than the rest. The fight for second was tight, with Russell and Sainz setting identical times. However, heartbreak struck for Racing Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian driver, who has struggled this season, couldn’t find the pace and was eliminated alongside Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, and Yuki Tsunoda.
Q3 was briefly delayed as marshals cleared debris from the track. When the action resumed, Verstappen wasn’t done yet. He further improved his time, securing his fourth consecutive Austrian Grand Prix pole position. But surprise challenger Lando Norris stole the show, putting together a phenomenal lap to claim second on the grid, leaving the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton behind.
Adding to the drama, Lewis Hamilton faces an investigation for a clumsy pitlane incident where he knocked over his rear jack. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also had a forgettable session, damaging his car after going off track at Turn 9.
Verstappen continued his Austrian dominance by securing his fifth consecutive pole at the Red Bull Ring, a first for him at any track. Joined on the front row by Lando Norris, mirroring the Sprint race results.
Behind them, the grid saw several interesting stories unfold. George Russell secured his best-ever qualifying at the Red Bull Ring with P3. Carlos Sainz finally out-qualified Charles Leclerc after a seven-race drought. Lewis Hamilton, struggling this season, managed a P5 finish, a rare top-six showing. A mistake on his last lap dropped Charles Leclerc to P6. The Ferrari driver is yet to get a top-four start since his Monaco victory.
The Race
The Austrian Grand Prix 2024 was nothing short of a thriller, filled with intense battles, strategic gambits, and unexpected twists that kept fans on the edge of their seats. George Russell emerged victorious, seizing his second career win amid a race peppered with drama and collisions.
A Frenetic Start and Early Drama
Polesitter Max Verstappen led the charge into Turn 1, quickly establishing a gap over Lando Norris and George Russell. Behind them, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz engaged in a fierce duel. Oscar Piastri forced wide at Turn 4 by Sergio Perez, dropping him to seventh. Charles Leclerc’s race took an early hit as he required a new front wing after contact with Piastri.
As Verstappen pulled away from Norris, Hamilton overtook Russell for third at Turn 3 on lap three, only to be repassed by Russell. Sainz then overtook Hamilton for fourth on lap seven, following team orders. Piastri impressed by passing Perez around the outside at Turn 6 a lap later.
The pit stops added another layer of complexity to the race. Hamilton was the first to pit but received a five-second penalty for crossing line at the pit entry. Perez was also penalized for speeding in the pitlane. Alonso’s race took a downturn as punted Zhou Guanyu off at Turn 3 on lap 20, earning a ten-second penalty.
Verstappen and Norris pitted simultaneously on lap 30, with Verstappen narrowly avoiding a penalty for an unsafe release. This momentarily handed the lead to Piastri, who pitted a few laps later, rejoining in sixth. Verstappen then sprinted to a seven-second lead, but a slow second stop due to a stubborn left-rear tire put Norris right on his tail.
With fresh mediums, Norris closed the gap to Verstappen, and their lead battle exploded on lap 59. Norris lunged ahead at Turn 3 but ran wide and had to give the position back. Four laps later, they collided at Turn 3, resulting in punctures for both and Norris retiring from the race. This incident handed Russell the lead under a virtual safety car.
Russell drove impeccably to maintain a gap over Piastri and Sainz. Hamilton, who had been battling various penalties and challenges throughout the race, managed to hold onto fourth. Verstappen, rejoining in sixth after his collision with Norris, received a ten-second penalty for causing the collision but clawed back.
Russell inherited a 2.6-second victory over Piastri, who impressed with a strong performance. Sainz completed the podium, with Hamilton and Verstappen rounding out the top five. Nico Hulkenberg outperformed Perez in a battle for sixth, followed by Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo, and Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.
This dramatic race at the Red Bull Ring showcased the unpredictability and excitement of Formula 1, leaving fans eagerly anticipating the next round. As the championship battle intensifies, every point and every position counts, promising more high-octane action in the races to come.
Championship Standings
Verstappen extended his championship lead at the top while Leclerc scored 0 points allowing Norris to close the gap to Max.
Final race of the Tripe-Header
The next race in the 2024 Formula 1 season is the British Grand Prix, set to take place at the iconic Silverstone Circuit. The action-packed weekend will run from Friday, July 5th to Sunday, July 7th. The race promises to be a thrilling homecoming for the British drivers. A crucial battleground in the ongoing championship fight. Fans can look forward to practice sessions on Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and the main race on Sunday. All the drivers will push their limits on one of the fastest tracks in the calendar.
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