A Surprise Win While Tensions Boil Over
Image: Mercedes-AMG F1
With Lando Norris and McLaren applying more pressure on Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance in Formula One, the 42nd running of the Austrian Grand Prix provided us with some excellent wheel-to-wheel battles and interesting permutations for the driver’s and constructor’s championship thanks to that crash.
Sprint
This season’s second sprint weekend was business as usual, with Verstappen edging Norris and Oscar Piastri to the Sprint pole. However, Verstappen claimed another Sprint pole by a margin of 0.093 seconds from Norris. Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon were among those who were knocked out in SQ1 and both Aston Martin cars struggled yet again to fail to make the top ten.
The sprint race was enthralling to watch as the McLaren pair set after Verstappen in a bid to take a second sprint race win for the team. It was also a great start for Charles Leclerc who made his way up to seventh after making three positions in the space of five corners.
The first half of the sprint race was pretty tense, with Norris impatiently diving down the inside of Verstappen only for the Dutchman to regain the lead despite Norris having the benefit of DRS. Norris missed out on another victory, having been bested by Verstappen for another time, potentially damaging the Brit’s confidence.
Norris on his Sprint performance:
“I don’t think we could have gone with Max. I don’t think we quite had his pace today but tomorrow is another day.”
Qualifying
Image: Aston Martin F1 Team
Qualifying was a similar affair with Verstappen in a class of his own as he set the pace at the front whilst the two McLarens fought between them to fend off the Mercedes and Ferraris for the top three grid slots. The Mercedes drivers, who displayed a resurgence in Montreal and Barcelona, put the pressure on at the top of the timing sheets too.
Alex Albon had yet another poor performance in the Williams leaving him out of Q1 including both Sauber cars and Lance Stroll. Fernando Alonso struggled to place his Aston Martin any higher than 15th as the Spaniard is lost for words regarding his team’s recent results. Daniel Ricciardo lost his place in Q3 by just 15 milliseconds, proving that the VCARB team has improved its pace over the last few races.
The final qualifying session was tense as usual as the gap from Norris in second to Hamilton in fifth was just 0.185 seconds. It was Verstappen who claimed his 40th career pole and a fifth straight pole position at the Red Bull Ring, becoming the fourth driver in F1 history to take five consecutive poles at a circuit.
Another record was broken during Qualifying during Q1. The gap between Zhou Guanyu in P20 and Verstappen in P1 was 0.798 seconds at the end of the first qualifying session which was the closest gap between first and last in Q1 ever in the history of the sport. If you apply the same margin to the leader for qualifying for the 1999 Austrian Grand Prix, that time would have been good for P3 on the grid. This shows just how close the grid is despite the backmarker teams seeming lightyears away.
Frenemies
Image: Formula One
Since the British Grand Prix last year, McLaren has consistently looked to be in the top three teams, challenging Red Bull for the win. Lando Norris has been stuck to the gearbox of Max Verstappen for the last few races, even beating the Dutchman in Miami.
It’s said that McLaren has a quicker car than Red Bull at the moment, as shown by the rapid pace of Norris. However, the first two-thirds of the race demonstrated that Red Bull still had a lot of pace to give, with Verstappen disappearing down the road, creating a five-second gap to Norris.
Red Bull pitted the three-time world champion for soft-compound tyres towards the end of the race, with a nine-second gap to Norris. The pit stop was a slow one, reducing the gap between the top two to around 2 seconds.
With some pace in hand, Norris quickly caught up to Verstappen and started to apply pressure by attempting to divebomb the Red Bull at Turn 3. Verstappen and Norris displayed a rare show of aggressive driving towards each other, reminiscent of the titanic 2021 wheel-to-wheel battles.
However, this classic battle was soured on Lap 64 when Verstappen’s rear left collided with Norris’ front wing, giving both drivers a puncture.
Both drivers went into the pits with Norris eventually retiring from the race and Verstappen receiving a ten-second time penalty. This penalty didn’t alter the Dutchman’s results as he came out the pits 16 seconds ahead of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg.
Whilst many have blamed Verstappen for the crash, fans took to social media to express their disappointment that Norris was impatient to make a move for the lead. Whatever you think, the dynamic between the two drivers is now a tense one with neither driver accepting responsibility for the clash.
If you’d prefer to hear our thoughts on this crash, listen to the latest episode of the Race Reaction Podcast here:
Haas-terplan
Image: Haas F1 Team
The Haas team always go well around Austria but the 2024 running of the race has been especially rewarding for the Kannapolis outfit.
With Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen qualifying well in both the sprint and race qualifying sessions, it was clear Haas could score some valuable championship points. Hulkenberg in particular was exceptional with a strong performance in the race, overtaking the Red Bull of Sergio Perez to claim P6.
This being Hulkenberg’s highest finish since 2019, Haas had every reason to celebrate this result. With Magnussen coming home in P8, Haas took a massive step to cement themselves in seventh in the constructors’ standings.
Magnussen on his race:
“Nico P6, myself P8, good bunch of points for the team. Couldn’t be happier, back in the game for P7 in the championship, and just great to be back.”
The double-points haul meant that Haas could further its gap to Alpine in P8 and edge closer to RB in P6, with just 21 points separating the three teams. It’s clear that Haas’ newfound pace is thanks to team principal Ayao Komatsu, who has arguably revolutionised the team since his arrival.
Yabadabadoo!
Image: Mercedes-AMG F1
It’s been a tough few seasons for Mercedes. Since the nightmare of Abu Dhabi 2021, the Brackley outfit has never really been the same. Despite struggling for most of the 2022 season, George Russell managed to claim his maiden victory in Brazil that year. Mercedes remained winless for over a season until Russell’s shock win in Spielberg last weekend, which has given team boss Toto Wolff a much-needed confidence boost.
Russell’s win in Austria now means that both his wins have come as a result of Verstappen crashing with his closest championship rival – Hamilton collided with Verstappen in Brazil 2022.
With Lewis Hamilton coming home in P4, it was a great day in the office for Mercedes, who move closer to 3rd place McLaren in the constructors’ championship.
Whether both Mercedes drivers can have a similar result at their home race in Silverstone this weekend will depend on how close they can get to McLaren and Red Bull. We’ll be covering the latest from this week’s British Grand Prix right here on Race Reaction.
Final race classification
1 - George RUSSELL
2 - Oscar PIASTRI Lando NORRIS
3 - Carlos SAINZ
4 - Lewis HAMILTON
5 - Max VERSTAPPEN
6 - Nico HULKENBERG
7 - Sergio PEREZ
8 - Kevin MAGNUSSEN
9 - Daniel RICCIARDO
10 - Pierre GASLY
11 - Charles LECLERC
12 - Esteban OCON
13 - Lance STROLL
14 - Yuki TSUNODA
15 - Alexander ALBON
16 - Valtteri BOTTAS
17 - ZHOU Guanyu
18 - Fernando ALONSO
19 - Logan SARGEANT
20 - Lando NORRIS
