Introduction
Mercedes’ George Russell claimed a somewhat unexpected victory in the 2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix after a hugely dramatic end to the race. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided in the battle for the lead, dropping Verstappen down the order and forcing Norris to retire.
Click here to subscribe to our print edition!
While Verstappen had made a strong start from pole position to hold P1 for much of the race, a thrilling duel with McLaren driver Norris unfolded when both made their final pit stops on Lap 52 of 71, where Red Bull suffered a rare slower stop due to an issue with the left rear wheel.
With the gap between them at less than two seconds, Norris was hot on his rival’s tail and made more than one attempt to snatch P1. But it all came to a head on Lap 64 when the pair made contact, causing both to limp back to the pits with punctures.
This allowed Russell – who had long been running in third – to sweep through to take the lead in the Mercedes, which he held until the chequered flag to claim the second race win of his F1 career.
In what may have been a small consolation for McLaren, Oscar Piastri took P2 ahead of the lead Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in third. There was then a sizeable gap back to the Silver Arrows machine of Lewis Hamilton in fourth, while Verstappen crossed the line in fifth, a position he kept despite being handed a 10-second penalty for the incident with Norris.
Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen marked a strong performance for Haas by taking sixth and eighth, respectively. Sergio Perez’s Red Bull was sandwiched between them in seventh. Daniel Ricciardo claimed two points for RB in the ninth, and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine rounded out the top 10.
It was an eventful day for Charles Leclerc, who recovered from a first-lap incident with Piastri to work his way up to P11 via four pit stops in the Ferrari. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon followed in P12, having earlier enjoyed a close battle with teammate Gasly.
Lance Stroll was the lead Aston Martin in P13 on what proved to be another tough day for the squad, ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in P14 and the Williams of Alex Albon in P15.
Kick Sauber’s wait for their debut points of 2024 continues, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu crossing the line in 16th and 17th, respectively.
Fernando Alonso set the fastest lap on his final tour but ended the day in P18. Throughout the event, he struggled for pace in the Aston Martin and was penalised for pushing Zhou off the track earlier in the afternoon.
Logan Sargeant was the final classified runner for Williams in 19th, while Norris – carrying a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits – ultimately retired in the pits following the damage sustained in his clash with Verstappen, ending a day that had been filled with promise in an unhappy fashion.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
When you least expect it, the sparks fly! The first two-thirds of the race were generally linear; it only took a small problem at Verstappen’s second pit stop to bring together on track the two outstanding drivers of this weekend, thus triggering a thrilling on-the-limit duel. It produced an exhilarating finale which, in the end, worked out to the benefit of George Russell, who was therefore able to secure his second-ever Grand Prix win: congratulations to him and Mercedes! Overall, there was a lot of overtaking in this race, some of it spectacular.
From our end, there were no curveballs. The tyres performed exactly as we had anticipated, aligning with our pre-race simulations and the data analysis from Friday and Saturday. Our strategy predictions were largely on point, with the Medium and Hard tyres being the primary choices for the race. The Medium, in particular, showed a slight edge, especially on the more competitive cars. Despite having two sets of Hards at their disposal, the Red Bull duo opted for the C4 for the third stint, a decision influenced by the performance of their rivals in this phase of the race.
On the other hand, the C3, which suffered slightly less from degradation, worked well for those who opted to run a very short first stint on the Medium before exploiting the greater consistency of the white-banded tyres. Thus, they managed to get into the points, as did the Haas pair of Hulkenberg and Magnussen and Ricciardo (Racing Bulls).
The day on the track:
As expected, the most effective strategy was a two-stop: those who did three or more – Verstappen, Leclerc, Alonso and Sargeant – did so for unforeseen circumstances, not by choice. All the drivers lined up on the grid on Medium tyres while starting from the pit lane; Zhou went with the Hard. The C4 and the C3 were the undoubted protagonists of this race, with the C5 only putting in an appearance at the end, used by Verstappen for the last seven laps after his enforced stop and by Alonso, who was trying for the race’s fastest lap, which he did indeed set.
Daniel Ricciardo drove the longest stint of the race, completing a 34-lap third and final stint on the Hard tyre. The prize on Mediums goes to Pierre Gasly, who did 29 laps, and in this case, too, the French Alpine driver did it in his final stint.
What’s next?
This was Pirelli’s busiest weekend of the year, working as sole tyre supplier at the Austrian Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Spa and Rally Poland. The Formula 1 season continues apace, with the classic British Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend. Racing around the Northamptonshire track will also be the Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars. That same weekend, there’s another motor racing classic, with the DTM championship round at the Norisring, along with the ADAC GT4, for which, once again this year, Pirelli is the sole supplier. And that’s not all, as Pirelli will also be at the European Rally Championship round in Estonia and Suzuka for the GTWC Asia.
2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 1:24:22.798 | 25 | 111 |
| 2. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +1.906s | 18 | 112 |
| 3. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | +4.533s | 15 | 135 |
| 4. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +23.142s | 12 | 85 |
| 5. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +37.253s | 10 | 237 |
| 6. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +54.088s | 8 | 14 |
| 7. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +54.672s | 6 | 118 |
| 8. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +60.355s | 4 | 5 |
| 9. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australia | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +61.169s | 2 | 11 |
| 10. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +61.766s | 1 | 6 |
| 11. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | +67.056s | 0 | 150 |
| 12. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +68.325s | 0 | 3 |
| 13. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 17 |
| 14. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 19 |
| 15. | 45 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | +1 lap | 0 | 2 |
| 16. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 17. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 18. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 41 |
| 19. | 2 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Racing | +2 laps | 0 | 0 |
| 20. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +7 laps | 0 | 156 |
2024 Constructor Standings
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Red Bull Racing | 355 |
| 2. | Scuderia Ferrari | 291 |
| 3. | McLaren Racing | 268 |
| 4. | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 196 |
| 5. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 58 |
| 6. | Visa Cash App F1 Team | 30 |
| 7. | Haas F1 Team | 19 |
| 8. | Alpine F1 Team | 9 |
| 9. | Williams Racing | 2 |
| 10. | Kick Sauber F1 Team | 0 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
The post 2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix Highlights appeared first on Paddock Magazine.