2024 F1 Round 11, Austrian GP race: Verstappen and Norris collide and both suffer punctures as Russell takes his first win since 2022, Piastri second

Round 11 of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Austrian Grand Prix, took place at the Red Bull Ring on the evening of 30 June China time (UTC+8). After a dramatic contest, Mercedes’ George Russell took his first Grand Prix victory since 2022. Race leader Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided with eight laps remaining and both suffered punctures, allowing Russell to take advantage and cross the line first. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda finished 14th.

The turning point came at Verstappen’s second pit stop on Lap 51. He had been seven and a half seconds ahead of Norris, but a delay changing the left-rear wheel as he switched to medium tyres stretched his stop to 6.5 seconds. Norris, who fitted fresh mediums on the same lap, rapidly closed in, with the gap down to 1.7 seconds after they rejoined. Once within DRS range, Norris briefly passed Verstappen at Turn 3 on Lap 59 but ran off the track and had to give the place back. That excursion also brought him a five-second penalty for his fourth track-limits infringement of the race. Verstappen, meanwhile, complained over the radio that there was “something wrong with the car” and that he had no grip.

After several laps of close combat, the tension finally boiled over. At Turn 3 on Lap 64, Norris and Verstappen collided, puncturing Norris’s right-rear and Verstappen’s left-rear tyres. As the two damaged cars limped on, Russell moved into the lead. Verstappen returned to the track on soft tyres and, despite a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, finished fifth. Norris’s car was too badly damaged, and he retired after struggling back to the pits.

Before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear debris, Piastri passed Sainz around the outside of the fast Turn 6 to take second and began chasing Russell hard. He ultimately finished 1.906 seconds short of victory. Sainz completed the podium, 4.533 seconds behind the winner, while Hamilton was fourth after receiving a five-second penalty for crossing the white line at pit entry on his first stop. On his first visit to the Red Bull Ring podium, Russell lifted the second Grand Prix winner’s trophy of his career, ending a run of 33 races without a win since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Behind the battle at the front, Haas delivered an excellent strategy performance at the Red Bull Ring, where tyre degradation was severe. Repeated early stops helped Hulkenberg hold off Perez for sixth and Magnussen finish eighth, putting both cars in the points. Ricciardo used the same approach to bring RB two points for ninth. Gasly won an intense battle with team-mate Ocon, during which the pair came close to contact several times, and finished 10th.

Ferrari’s Leclerc collided with Piastri at Turn 1 on the opening lap, damaging his front wing and forcing an immediate stop for a replacement that dropped him to the back. He fought back to 11th, just missing the points. Tsunoda was passed by Alonso at the start but retook the place at Turn 1 on Lap 2, then ran behind team-mate Ricciardo. He made his first stop on Lap 21 for hard tyres and rejoined in 16th, ultimately finishing 14th, one lap behind the winner.

The race ran for 71 laps in sunny conditions, with an air temperature of 29°C and a track temperature of 48°C at the start. All drivers started on mediums except Zhou Guanyu, who began from the pit lane on hard tyres after a breach of parc ferme rules. Several time penalties also affected the order behind the leading group: in addition to Verstappen and Hamilton, Perez received five seconds for speeding in the pit lane and finished seventh.