Russell masters Austrian GP for second win of season

The British driver led from pole and withstood a strong charge from Max Verstappen to win by 1.6s, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli completed the podium.

Verstappen looked the most likely to challenge Russell throughout the afternoon, closing to within a second of the Mercedes in the middle phase of the race.

But Russell ultimately had the pace and strategy to maintain control, taking his second win of the season and seventh of his career.

More importantly, the result moved him back to second in the drivers’ championship, 40 points behind Antonelli and six ahead of Hamilton.

Antonelli put on a late charge for second and closed onto the back of Verstappen on the final lap, but was unable to find a way past the Dutchman.

The result still marked a strong rebound for the Mercedes driver after his disappointing retirement two weeks ago in Barcelona.

Oscar Piastri drove a strong race from seventh on the grid to fourth, finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fifth and the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar in sixth.

Lando Norris had a quiet afternoon on his way to seventh, while Charles Leclerc struggled, dropping from the front row to finish eighth after another disappointing race.

Liam Lawson came home ninth for his fourth consecutive points finish, while Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad followed him home in the final points-paying position.

Russell said he was delighted with his victory after such a long time away from the top step of the podium.

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

 

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“A lot of hard work with my team to get us back on track. Obviously there’s a tricky run of form at one point.

“Max and Red Bull were incredibly quick this weekend, so kudos to them.

“But thanks to everyone. Thanks to the fans. It was pretty toasty out there. So looking forward to a drink now.”

He said the race had gone smoothly, despite a late moment when he ran wide while attempting to maintain his gap to the drivers behind.

“I was having to push every single lap and when you push those boundaries, there’s bound to be a small mistake or two in there,” he said.

“And I knew just how quick the guys were behind. Obviously Kimi been extraordinarily quick this whole season, so every lap I was looking at the timing board. We pitted on the early side.

“I knew it’s gonna be a long stint, but the team timed it to perfection.”

Russell added he had been tested over the last few races after a drop in form, and was hopeful of continuing his uptick at his home race in Britain next weekend.

“The tough races definitely test you psychologically. And these last two weekends for me have been vitally important to remind myself I can do it,” he said.

“Single lap race pace was very strong this weekend and on a track that is probably not very well suited my style.

“So looking forward to heading to Silverstone next week, and seeing all the home fans. I’m sure it’s gonna be great.”

Verstappen said it had been a strong weekend for him, and was happy to come home with his best result of the season.

“I think it was a very good race for us,” he said.

“The first few laps were quite fun. And then it was like basically just trying to manage your tyres. And honestly I think the car was in quite a good window for half of the race.

“And then we just picked up a few issues with the car which then prevented me from basically finding that nice rhythm.

“But still to be second, that close to a win, I think is extremely positive for us.

“So in that sense for sure I’m very happy.”

The Dutchman added he had no lingering effects from his qualifying crash on Saturday, despite initially appearing to emerge from his Red Bull looking slightly shaken.

“I knocked my knees. You hit the bones. It’s not very nice,” he said.

“But today was okay so that was the most important.”

Antonelli, meanwhile, said he had a messy start to the race, which saw him take to the run-off area several times, before eventually finding his rhythm as the race developed.

“I was a bit too excited in the first few laps and definitely didn’t drive well. Did too many mistakes. And even in the first stint on the medium I lost three or four seconds with mistakes,” he said.

“I was struggling with the brakes. But after I changed tyres I reset and the pace at the end was very strong.

“It was a shame that I joined the party a bit too late.”

With track temperatures climbing beyond 50 degrees celsius, the race began in scorching conditions, with all drivers starting on mediums apart from Gabriel Bortoleto and Carlos Sainz on softs.

Russell made a clean launch from pole to lead into Turn 1, while Leclerc settled into second before Hamilton swept past his teammate into Turn 4.

Antonelli endured a messy opening phase, twice taking to the run-off on the opening lap before running wide again in an attempted move on Leclerc at Turn 1 on Lap 2.

That left the Mercedes driver exposed to Verstappen, who quickly cleared both Antonelli and Leclerc to move into third.

Piastri had moved ahead of Norris to run sixth, while Bottas became the race’s first retirement on Lap 2 after reporting his brakes were on fire and returning to the Cadillac garage trailing smoke.

Lawson also reported a fire aboard his car on Lap 4 but continued, losing eighth to Hadjar after getting ahead of the Red Bull driver at the start, before Perez joined teammate Bottas in retirement a lap later with smoke in the cockpit.

Antonelli recovered from his early errors by closing back onto Leclerc and passing the Ferrari into Turn 9 on Lap 7, with Piastri then moving onto Leclerc’s gearbox.

At the front, Verstappen quickly reeled in Hamilton, who reported handling issues as Russell stretched his lead to 2.8s.

Verstappen attacked Hamilton on Lap 11 and briefly took second, only for the Ferrari driver to fight back into Turn 4 as the pair continued wheel-to-wheel through the rest of the lap.

Hamilton pitted a lap later for hard tyres, with Verstappen staying out until Lap 19, though the Ferrari had done enough with the undercut to emerge almost two seconds ahead.

Russell stopped a lap later and returned behind the yet-to-stop Antonelli and Norris, while Piastri and Lawson also pitted on Lap 20.

Verstappen then closed back onto Hamilton to resume their fight, forcing his way past at Turn 3 before Hamilton reclaimed the place at Turn 4.

The Red Bull driver finally made the move stick with a late-braking pass into Turn 6 to take net second before slowly pulling clear.

 

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Sainz then triggered a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 25 when he pulled his Williams to a halt on the main straight with a technical issue, with the timing hurting Antonelli the most.

The Italian had stopped just before the VSC was activated and dropped back behind Leclerc, while Hamilton used the neutralisation to pit for used soft tyres before the pit lane was closed.

Racing resumed on Lap 27 with Russell 4.9s clear of Verstappen, while Antonelli quickly recovered by passing Leclerc into Turn 4 on Lap 30 as Hamilton moved ahead of Hadjar for sixth.

A tight battle for fourth soon developed between Piastri and the two Ferraris, with the McLaren forcing his way past Leclerc at Turn 3 on Lap 37 as the pair banged wheels, leaving the Ferrari with apparent minor front wing damage.

Hamilton then followed Piastri past his teammate into Turn 4 before Leclerc pitted at the end of the lap for his second stop.

That left Hamilton to continue his charge, with the Ferrari driver soon closing to within a second of Piastri.

Up front, Verstappen also began to close on Russell, setting the fastest lap and reducing the gap to 1.3s by Lap 40 before the final phase of stops began three laps later.

Piastri and Hamilton were the first of the front runners to pit, with the McLaren again emerging ahead of the Ferrari.

Russell stopped a lap later and returned behind teammate Antonelli in third as Verstappen took the lead for the first time.

Fresh tyres gave Piastri renewed pace, the Australian setting the fastest lap as he quickly reeled in Leclerc to reclaim fourth and extend his gap over Hamilton.

Verstappen pitted from the lead at the end of Lap 49 and rejoined three seconds behind Russell, while Antonelli returned to the front before making his final stop two laps later.

The Italian rejoined behind Russell and Verstappen but ahead of Piastri, taking the fastest lap from the Australian in the late stages of the race.

Hamilton passed Leclerc for fifth on Lap 52 as he continued to push towards Piastri and Antonelli in the fight for the final podium place.

A second VSC was deployed on Lap 53 after Alex Albon clipped a bollard and left it on the track, with marshals quickly clearing the debris before green flag racing resumed.

A late battle between Hadjar and Leclerc briefly added to the action, with Hadjar forcing his way past the Ferrari into Turn 4 on Lap 57 as Leclerc quickly complained about the condition of his tyres.

Leclerc eventually fell behind Norris into eighth before making a late stop for fresh tyres, with enough of a gap to Lawson behind to retain his position.

Up front, Russell continued to hold a sizeable lead, though he had a brief scare at Turn 1 on Lap 58 when he ran wide into the run-off before returning unscathed.

Despite a late push from both Verstappen and Antonelli, he maintained his advantage across the remaining 13 laps to take the chequered flag and claim his second win of the season.

Formula 1 returns next weekend with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Results: Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix