Verstappen bites the dust, Norris on the street, Russell the winner and Sainz on the podium
George Russell, against all odds, I have took victory in the Austrian GP, the second it has achieved in F1 after Brazil 2022.
It was actually found the British from Mercedes, who took advantage of the accident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, protagonists, this time of an epic duel and true (not like in Imola), where both They went over and over and it ended with both cars being de-tyred..
Carlos Sainz, with a very limited Ferrari all weekend, takes the podium, the fifth of the season, saving the furniture for the Scuderia, since Leclerc was 11th, outside the points.
Max fourth and more leader
Verstappen, despite the accident and a 10-second penalty for kicking Lando off the tracksurvived, changed wheels and could finish the race fifthso despite biting the dust for the first time in a direct fight since 2021 or any with Checo in 2023, leaves Spielberg as more of a leader of the World Cup.
Verstappen reaches 81 points ahead of Norris, while Carlos rises to fourth in the championship, just 15 behind Leclerc, with a less disputed career… Sainz is exciting because of his tenacity and dedication… and without complaints or whining.
Without water on the track and without major incidents, Verstappen was very troubled from the second stop, after a mistake of his own. He had been warning himself that the walks were over and with one mistake everything changes now. Max is mortal, although you have to kill him three times for him to hit the ground and even then. There is no World Cup, but there is a spectacle and above all, the same person does not always win, as they say, although in other sports they almost always do.
Alonso, penalized, 18th and fastest lap
Fernando had everything in his career. He rose to 11th from 15th, with an aggressive strategy. Was Penalized for kicking Zhou out of the pit, only to fall to the bottom and in the end he took the fastest lap of the test.
He doesn’t tell her, because finished 18th, outside the top 10, but was taken away from Verstappen in extremis, to leave the mark. Points were impossible, but he wasn’t that far away at one point in the race.
Austrian GP 2024
1º G. Russell (D) Mercedes 71/71
2nd O. Piastri (M) McLaren + 1″906
3rd Carlos Sainz (M) Ferrari + 4″533
4º L. Hamilton (M) Mercedes + 23″142
5º M. Verstappen (B) Red Bull + 37″253
6º N. Hulkenberg (D) Haas + 54″088
7º S. Perez (M) Red Bull + 54″672
8º K. Magnussen (D) Haas + 60″355
9º D. Ricciardo (D) RB + 61″169
10º P. Gasly (M) Alpine + 61″766
11º C. Leclerc (M) Ferrari + 67″056
12º E. Ocon (M) Alpine + 67″325
13º L. Stroll (D) Aston Martin + 1 lap
14º A. Albon (D) Williams + 1 vuelta
15th Y. Tsunoda (D) RB + 1 turn
16º V. Bottas (D) Stake + 1 vuelta
17º G. Zhou (M) Stake + 1 vuelta
18th Fernando Alonso (D) Aston Martin + 1 lap
19º L Sargeant (m) Williams + 2 laps
20th L. Norris (M) McLaren Retired
Start: (V1/71): Verstappen kept the first and Sainz passed on the outside
Max came out perfect and from behind, Hamilton passed Carlos by going outside for many meters and on purpose so as not to lose speed and leave in front. It was a very clear sanction.
Leclerc, injured, went into the pits to change the front wing and returned to track 19. Alonso gained two places at the start with Gasly and Tsunoda, but the Japanese gave it back to him on lap 2.
Hamilton passed Russell on lap 3, but Russell gave it back very intelligently and Sainz was waiting.
Hamilton returned position to Carlos (V7)
The one he had taken illegally was left to him again and Carlos was fourth. And Piastri made an outside of Checo, to take sixth place.
Verstappen already had 3.1 seconds on Norris in that lap.
Lap 12. The massive pit stops began
Due to the degradation of the media. Sainz approached Russell and separated from Hamilton. Spanish very good.
Alonso entered his first stop on lap 13 and placed medium again.
Leclerc could not pass Albon, who kept him behind in 19th place. The Monegasque entered for the second time on lap 18, with a very low pace on the hard one. It was a bad omen for when it was Carlos’s turn.
Alonso clashed with Zhou and was investigated (V21)
The Asturian touched the rear wheel of the Sauber in turn 3 and everything indicated that he would be penalized. Fernando was 12 at the time. He received a 10-second penalty, when the normal time is 5. in that type of maneuvers.
Hamilton He stopped on lap 22 to attempt the undercut on Sainz.
Carlos (V23) stops and maintains his place
Hamilton couldn’t handle the Spaniard and also stepped on the white line of the pir and received a 5-second penalty.
Verstappen investigated for unsafe start.
He had 5 seconds on Norris, but during his stop (V25) he made Norris who was in the pit lane brake. They warned him of the possibility of being sanctioned and Max, with his tough game, began to push as hard as he could.
Verstappen left (V35) and without sanction
He went up to 8.1 seconds and it was announced that he would not have a sanction for ‘unsafe’. He had the victory in his pocket and almost his fourth World Cup, or so it seemed.
Alonso, passed by Gasly and Alonso with new tires, was called to the box and entered his second stop. After paying the 19-second penalty for Zhou, the Asturian was 19th, only ahead of Sargeant.
Sainz was fourth, 4.2 seconds behind Russell.
Russell stopped to defend himself (V47) and Sainz copied him
The overwhelmed Englishman tried to change the tires, but he had a set of hard ones left, which were not the best for this track. Carlos copied him, but in his case he put mediums and came back 4.5 seconds behind the Mercedes.
Behind him, without stopping, Piastri passed Hamilton, who was beginning to decline.
Verstappen y Norrris al box (V52)
There were 19 left to go, but everything was decided for victory, with 7.6 seconds for Max. Bad stop for McLaren, 6.5 seconds. Although he overbraked and Norris was 1.7 seconds behind.
Lando was 0.2 behind Max on lap 55, but with two laps, the leader caught some air. “I have no grip,” he shouted into the radio.
On lap 58, Lando hit the number 1 Red Bull again, but Max defended himself well in sector 2. He suffered more than in Imola, that’s for sure.
On lap 59 he passed Remus, but off the track, so he had to return the position again.
Norris to commissioners
And in the middle of the scrubbing, Lando was warned of his fourth off-track, which would be a 5-second penalty, which was noted.
The fight was impressive and they both touched each other on lap 62, and ended up knocked out.
Sainz, third after Russsell and Piastri (V65)
The Englishman was the leader, Sainz second and Piastri third, but he was passed by the fastest Australian. After a Virtual safety car there were 4 laps left to decide the winner.
Max was fifth and had a 10-second penalty.
The final laps did not change anything and Russell took his second victory of the season, with Piastri second and Sainz on the podium, when it seemed impossible.
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