Russell begins the hunt for Antonelli with a victory in Austria against Verstappen

The British driver George Russell (Mercedes) achieved a solid victory this Sunday in the Austrian Grand Prix race, the eighth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, ahead of the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who resisted harassment in the final laps from the leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), while the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) finished last and Carlos Sainz (Williams) could not finish due to an electrical problem in his car.

At the Red Bull Ring, Russell, the smartest in the class in Saturday’s controversial classification, controlled the race without problems to secure his second victory of the year, which places him 40 points (131) overall behind his teammate and championship leader (171), who climbed to the third step of the podium after Verstappen survived his attacks on the last lap.

All in another dramatic weekend for the Spanish drivers. Sainz said goodbye to the fight on lap 25, when his car stopped on the main lap due to an electrical problem, while Alonso finished last among the 18 drivers who managed to finish the race after another performance weighed down by a five-second penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pitlane.

Once the traffic lights were turned off at the Red Bull Ring, Russell maintained his position ahead of Charles Leclerc who tried to pass him on the outside but saw his teammate Hamilton beat him to the punch. The seven-time world champion settled on the edge of the overtaking zone with Russell, while Antonelli also managed to pass the Monegasque.

The stops in Spielberg began very soon, with Hamilton, already harassed by Verstappen, giving the starting signal on lap 13. The Briton’s passage through the pits revealed the strategy three stops behind the ‘Scuderia’, which also ordered Leclerc to stop. In turn, Race Direction noted an investigation into Verstappen for his fight with Hamilton.

Both returned to star in the activity on the track after the Dutchman’s first stop on lap 20. The four-time champion attacked the ‘Prancing Horse’ twice, but the appearance of the ‘virtual safety car’ after Carlos Sainz’s car stopped in the middle of the straight during lap 25 interrupted the fight.

Hamilton took advantage of the moment to enter the pits and install the soft tire, rejoining the track seventh. The other Ferrari, Leclerc’s, suffered from the harassment of Antonelli, who in turn 4 during the thirtieth lap overtook him to be third. Furthermore, his ‘Scuderia’ teammate arrived behind him, with newer tires, to delay him one position; The Monegasque’s agony began.

Already on lap 43, Hamilton made his third stop to reach the end on hard tires, and ahead of him Verstappen remained in front of the race after Russell entered the pits. With less than a third of the test remaining, the strategy became decisive.

The Dutchman changed tires on lap 49, and with the entry of Antonelli on lap 52 he was left alone behind Russell, who pushed in the final laps to avoid problems. The leader, meanwhile, also pushed hard to try to overtake Verstappen, who defended himself as best he could, heroically in a last lap in which he was able to breathe after seeing the checkered flag.

In addition, the Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) was fourth and Hamilton closed the ‘Top 5’. The Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), the British Lando Norris (McLaren), Leclerc, the New Zealander Liam Lawson (RB) and the British Arvid Lindblad (RB) completed the points zone in Austria.