F1: The battle for victory ended with a crash between Verstappen and Norris, George Russell rose to victory

Formula 1:n For a long time, the Austrian GP seemed to be running perfectly Max Verstappenin under the heel of. Red Bull’s ace dominated the race more than halfway.

Then McLaren’s Lando Norris rose to the Dutchman’s position thanks to Verstappen’s failed pit stop. A fierce battle for the win began, where Norris tried again and again to dive past Verstappen, but Verstappen repeatedly blocked the attempts.

On lap 64, Norris tried to pass the outdoor season in a tight three-corner. Verstappen covered the attempt, but the Briton’s front wing hit the Dutchman’s rear wing. Both cars were damaged in the crash.

Verstappen finished fifth after the pit stop. Norris had to interrupt.

Kisan the victory was inherited by Mercedes, which was in third place George Russell, who had fallen far behind the leading duo. The win was the team’s first since the 2022 season.

“I saw on TV that they crashed. You have to be in the right place to benefit from such a situation. Now we were and we won the race,” Russell said after the race.

Norris’ teammate drove second Oscar Piastri, who failed to close enough of Russell’s lead in the final laps of the race to attempt an overtake. Ferrari took third place Carlos Sainz.

“This race involves a lot of ‘what if’ thoughts from yesterday. The first F1 victory was really close. It hurts a little, but we collected a lot of points today”, thought Piastri.

The Australian set the third fastest time in qualifying, but was disqualified after qualifying for violating the track limits. Piastri ended up in the seventh square and used the majority of the race to improve his ranking past e.g. Sergio Perezin, Lewis Hamilton and Sainz. Up to Russell, the pace was not enough.

Verstappen received a 10-second time penalty for his part in the crash with Norris, but it did not affect his final position.

“Of course. Absolutely ridiculous. What should I have done in that,” Verstappen hissed on the team radio after the race.

Despite everything, Verstappen increased his lead in the Drivers’ World Series. The second one Charles Leclerc remained without points, so Verstappen’s 10 points from the first place and one point from the fastest lap increased the Dutchman’s World Championship lead to 42 points.

Valtteri Bottas the race was difficult. He was 16.

The F1 season continues next weekend at Silverstone in England.