Russell claims Austrian GP win despite late Verstappen surge

George Russell claimed a narrow victory ahead of a fast-finishing Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Russell got the perfect getaway to lead into the first corner, but behind him a mighty scrap was unfolding for the right to challenge him.

Charles Leclerc launched strongly from second and got a strong run out of the first turn to have a look down Russell’s inside at Turn 3, but when the Briton shut the door, Leclerc lost momentum. It left the Monegasque driver vulnerable to teammate Lewis Hamilton, and the seven-time champion dispatched him ruthlessly through Turn 4.

Kimi Antonelli attempted to punish Leclerc further with a move at the first turn, but the Italian ran wide executing the pass. He gave the position back, but the exchange brought Max Verstappen into the mix. The Dutchman cruised past the slowed Antonelli on the run down to Turn 4 and then got a better exit than Leclerc from the same turn to pass the Ferrari down the right-hand side.

Verstappen was a driver on the move, and he was soon attached to the back of Hamilton’s Ferrari, which had been shadowing Russell by around 2s during the opening laps. Despite complaining about “bad brake pulling,” Verstappen engaged his 2021 title rival in a memorable scrap for position from lap 11, passing him down the inside at Turn 3 but being repassed on the run to Turn 4, where he locked up attempting to defend the position.

Remarkably he managed to hold his line nonetheless, and he hauled himself alongside Hamilton through Turn 5 and kept himself there around the outside of Turn 6 before running out of room through Turn 7, conceding the place. It was music to Russell’s ears, the Briton able to stretch his advantage beyond 5s, giving him crucial breathing space.

Ferrari, seeing the writing on the wall, pitted Hamilton on the following lap to retain track position with the undercut. Verstappen held his nerve for six more laps before diving into the pits. He rejoined behind Hamilton but with a handy tire advantage, which he used expertly in a forceful move down the Ferrari driver’s inside at Turn 6 to confirm himself in second place.

The gap to Russell, who had pitted by then, was down to just over 3s. It briefly expanded but then shrank unstoppably over the final 10 laps of the Briton’s stint until it was just 1.2s on lap 43, when Mercedes hauled the leader in to pre-empt the undercut.

Red Bull kept Verstappen on track for six laps longer to generate a tire offset, but Russell managed his out-laps well, and the gap between them was 11s when the Dutchman rejoined the race. He chipped away relentlessly for the final 21 laps but ran out of time to catch Russell, who coolly managed the gap to take the checkered flag with a 1.6s advantage for his first win since the season-opening Australian Grand prix.

“Incredible to be back on the top step,” he said. “It’s been a little while, so I’m definitely going to enjoy this one this evening.

“Max and Red Bull were incredibly quick this weekend, so kudos to them. We pitted on the early side. I knew it was going to be a long stint, but the team timed it to perfection.”

The victory reduced Russell’s championship deficit to 40 points.

Verstappen was pleasantly surprised by his car’s pace to claim his best finish of the season.

“It was a very good race for us,” he said. “The first few laps were quite fun, then it was basically trying to manage your tires.

“The car was in quite a good window for half of the race, then we picked up a few issues with the car, which then prevented me from finding that nice rhythm. Still, to be second, that close to a win, I think is extremely positive for us.”

Antonelli came close to reducing that damage further with a more strongly offset strategy from fourth in the opening stint. At both pit windows he was the last of the front-runners to switch tires, on laps 24 and 51 – remarkably, he missed what would have been massively beneficial virtual safety cars by just one lap at both stops – which gave him an eight-lap advantage over Russell and two-lap advantage over Verstappen at the beginning of his final stint, which he started around 5s behind the Dutchman in third.

Antonelli started the last lap of the race just 0.6s behind the Red Bull Racing car but couldn’t launch a move, leaving him to finish third by just 0.375s.

“I was a bit too excited in the first few laps and definitely didn’t drive well,” he lamented. “After I changed tires, I reset and the pace at the end was very strong. It was a shame I joined the party a bit too late.”

Oscar Piastri finished a strong fourth after passing teammate Lando Norris on the opening lap, making him the first of Norris’s teammates to beat the Briton when both have seen the checkered flag.

Hamilton’s challenge faded after being passed by Verstappen, triggering Ferrari into a tactical switch that saw him make an extra stop, taking advantage of the first virtual safety car after Carlos Sainz’s Williams stopped on the start-finish straight. The extra stop left him with too much to do, however, and his pace anyway faded at the end of his last stint, leaving him 5s adrift of Piastri.

Isack Hadjar was sixth, up from eighth on the grid, ahead of Norris, who lost time twice trying to extend stints, and Leclerc, who lacked pace throughout the race.

Racing Bulls teammates Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completed the points-paying places in ninth and 10th.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly, Oliver Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso finished outside the points.

Lance Stroll joined Sainz on the retirement list late, while Cadillac teammates Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas retired within four laps with overheating brakes.

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