Austrian Grand Prix: Russell - Verstappen - Antonelli
Sunny. Dry. Air +35...34°C, track +47…51°C
The hot weather became one of the factors of the weekend in Spielberg. The air temperature throughout the weekend did not drop below thirty, and the asphalt under the cloudless sky heated up to fifty, which affected tire wear and reliability. The FIA issued an official heat warning on Thursday, allowing drivers to use cooling vests, while those who refused received an equal weight ballast.
In the short series of laps, Mercedes drivers led. On Friday, Kimi Antonelli topped the protocol twice, while George Russell set the best time in the third practice and qualifying on Saturday. The advantage was not overwhelming, but at the right moment, someone from Mercedes found themselves at the top of the protocol.
In the final minutes of qualifying, Max Verstappen crashed his car. Those behind, including Kimi Antonelli, were shown double yellow flags, forcing them to significantly reduce speed, but George Russell managed to slip through under single flags, only slightly lifting his foot off the throttle – and pole position was awarded.
Starting from the front row of the grid were Russell and Leclerc, from the second row were Hamilton and Antonelli, and from the third row were Verstappen and Norris.
There were questions regarding tire wear over the distance. The asphalt in Spielberg is abrasive, cars slid on the hot surface, and the tires overheated, so Pirelli did not rule out three pit stops, adding intrigue.
Pirelli brought a "soft" trio of compounds for the stage – C3, C4, and C5, serving as Hard, Medium, and Soft. In the race, Bortoleto and Sainz started on Soft, while the others chose Medium.
On the way to the grid, Lando Norris complained about the brake pedal having too long a travel, and the mechanics disassembled the unit and checked everything. They also checked Piastri's car just in case.
At the start, Russell maintained the lead. Hamilton overtook Leclerc, Piastri overtook Norris, and Lawson overtook Hadjar. Ocon gained three positions, while Gasly lost two.
On the 2nd lap, Verstappen passed Leclerc and Antonelli.
The top ten on the 2nd lap: Russell - Hamilton - Verstappen - Leclerc - Antonelli - Piastri - Norris - Lawson - Hadjar - Lindblad.
On the 3rd lap, Bottas pulled into the pits – his car was smoking, and the mechanics used fire extinguishers.
On the 4th lap, Hadjar overtook Lawson in the battle for eighth place.
On the 5th lap, Perez stopped his car in the pits – his car was also smoking. A double retirement for Cadillac at the very start of the race.
On the 7th lap, Antonelli overtook Leclerc in the fight for 4th place.
On the 11th lap, Verstappen attacked Hamilton and moved ahead, but Lewis counterattacked and regained the position.
On the 13th lap, Hamilton changed tires, on the 14th – Leclerc and Gasly, on the 15th – Sainz.
On the 17th lap, Hülkenberg overtook Ocon in the battle for 12th place.
On the 18th lap, Bortoleto made a pit stop, on the 19th – Verstappen, Hadjar, Lindblad, Albon, and Ocon, on the 20th – Russell, Piastri, and Lawson, on the 21st – Colapinto, on the 22nd – Norris.
On the 22nd lap, Verstappen overtook Hamilton, Lewis fought back, but Max moved ahead again.
On the 24th lap, Sainz's car stopped on the track. The race director announced a virtual safety car mode. Antonelli, Berman, Alonso, and Stroll changed tires.
Alonso exceeded the speed limit in the pit lane, receiving a five-second penalty.
On the 25th lap, Hamilton changed tires.
On the 28th lap, a restart was announced.
The top ten on the 29th lap: Russell - Verstappen - Leclerc - Antonelli - Piastri - Hadjar - Hamilton - Norris - Lindblad - Lawson.
On the 30th lap, Antonelli overtook Leclerc in the battle for third place, while Hamilton overtook Hadjar in the fight for sixth.
On the 35th lap, Ocon made a pit stop.
On the 37th lap, Piastri and Hamilton overtook Leclerc – in the battle with Oscar, Charles lost the endplate of his front wing and pulled into the pits to change tires.
On the 39th lap, Albon made a pit stop, on the 40th – Gasly, on the 41st – Hadjar, on the 43rd – Hamilton and Piastri, on the 44th – Russell, on the 45th – Bortoleto, on the 46th – Lawson, on the 47th – Hülkenberg, Berman, and Lindblad, on the 48th – Norris.
On the 48th lap, Piastri overtook Leclerc in the battle for fourth place. By the engineer's command, Stroll stopped his car in the pits and retired from the race.
On the 50th lap, Verstappen changed tires.
On the 51st lap, Colapinto overtook Albon in the battle for 16th place. Antonelli made a pit stop.
On the 52nd lap, Hamilton overtook Leclerc in the battle for fifth place.
On the 53rd lap, the VSC mode was activated – it was necessary to remove the plastic bollard knocked down by Albon.
The top ten on the 53rd lap: Russell - Verstappen - Antonelli - Piastri - Hamilton - Leclerc - Hadjar - Norris - Lawson - Lindblad.
On the 57th lap, Hadjar overtook Leclerc in the battle for sixth place.
On the 59th lap, Norris overtook Leclerc in the battle for seventh place.
On the 60th lap, Leclerc changed tires.
On the last lap, Antonelli reduced the gap to Verstappen to one second and attacked, but Max maintained his position – they finished just three tenths apart.
George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix, achieving his seventh career victory and second of the season.
Max Verstappen climbed to the second step of the podium – this is the 299th podium in Red Bull Racing's history and the second of the season.
Kimi Antonelli finished the race in third.
The battle will continue next week in Silverstone.
Race results
Driver
Team
Time
Speed
Pit
1. G. Russell
Mercedes
1:26:37.979
212.639
2
2. M. Verstappen
Red Bull
+1.611
212.573
2
3. K. Antonelli
Mercedes
+1.986
212.557
2
4. O. Piastri
McLaren
+21.809
211.750
2
5. L. Hamilton
Ferrari
+26.393
211.564
3
6. A. Hadjar
Red Bull
+29.399
211.443
2
7. L. Norris
McLaren
+31.505
211.358
2
8. C. Leclerc
Ferrari
+45.659
210.787
3
9. L. Lawson
Racing Bulls
+1 lap
209.026
2
10. A. Lindblad
Racing Bulls
+1 lap
208.878
2
11. G. Bortoleto
Audi
+1 lap
208.427
2
12. N. Hülkenberg
Audi
+1 lap
208.102
2
13. P. Gasly
Alpine
+1 lap
208.071
3
14. O. Berman
Haas
+1 lap
207.145
2
15. F. Colapinto
Alpine
+1 lap
207.028
2
16. E. Ocon
Haas
+2 laps
205.621
2
17. A. Albon
Williams
+2 laps
205.536
2
18. F. Alonso
Aston Martin
+3 laps
203.461
2
Fastest lap: Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 1:10.374 (59 lap,
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