Twelve months on from the track limits fiasco, the Red Bull Ring returned with some much-needed alterations to prevent a repeat performance. Whilst the first three-quarters of the race was a rather tame affair, tempers boiled over in the final laps as the top 2 collided. Catch up on all the drama from round 11 of the 2024 season:
Top of the class:
George Russell – Shoutout: 4th | Sprint: 4th | Qualifying: 3rd | Race: 1st
The Mercedes driver was there when it mattered most to pick up his second win in F1. Whilst there was a huge slice of luck, Russell ultimately extracted the maximum out of his Mercedes to ensure he was the one taking the top step of the podium in Sunday’s race.
He had a very good weekend prior, qualifying a solid fourth and finishing in the same place in Saturday’s Sprint race, not really in the fight for the podium but picking up more points.
Sunday’s race started well, Russell withstanding his teammate in the opening few laps to hold on to the podium places and was around 15 seconds off the lead when Verstappen and Norris eventually collided at turn 3 on lap 64.
With both drivers suffering punctures, George swooped into the lead at turn 7, withstanding a VSC restart and getting heat back into his aged hard tyres to take the chequered flag just under two seconds clear of second place.
A haul of 30 points means Russell is just seven points behind Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez in the standings. And with two podiums in his last three races, the #63 side of the garage certainly has the upper hand in the Mercedes team battle.
Haas:
Nico Hülkenberg – Shootout: 17th | Sprint: 19th (demoted from 14th) | Qualifying: 9th | Race: 6th
Kevin Magnussen – Shootout: 11th | Sprint: 9th | Qualifying: 12th | Race: 8th
Austria has been Haas’ best track in F1. They took P4 and P5 here back in 2018, which is their best team result to date. Even with last season’s pretty disastrous campaign, Nico was still able to take P6 in the wet/dry Sprint Race.
The Sprint saw KMAG just miss out on points, but with the four big teams having no issues, the opportunity to score points became near-impossible. Nico didn’t have a strong Sprint Shootout and can feel pretty hard done by with his 10-second penalty for forcing Fernando Alonso off at turn 3.
Sunday’s race was much better as an aggressive three-stop strategy kept Nico and Kevin clear of the DRS trains that formed as other teams in the midfield runners had different strategies.
They were comfortably running in the points before a slow stop for Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez had the Haas team running P6 and P7. The Mexican took P7 off Kevin, but Nico put up a masterful defence to hold onto P6, including re-passing his former teammate at turn 4 on the final lap after letting the Red Bull through at turn 3.
These twelve points more than doubles Haas’ total for the season with the American team moving back ahead of Alpine in the standings, still 11 points off VCARB, but there are still 13 rounds to go.
Oscar Piastri – Shootout: 3rd | Sprint: 2nd | Qualifying: 7th | Race: 2nd
The Aussie will be gutted about the track limits violation that consigned him to P7 on the grid, as he arguably should have hoovered up the race victory on Sunday. Nonetheless, a pair of P2 finishes capped off his strongest weekend of the season.
His Saturday Sprint performance was a particular highlight, seizing on take 1 of the Max vs. Lando battle and sweeping around the outside of his teammate to take P2 on the third lap. He then held off Lando on pure pace to secure another Sprint podium.
Having survived turn 1 contact and a brief trip through the gravel at turn 4, all on the opening lap, Piastri brought himself into race-winning contention but ran out of laps and tyres to seal his first win in F1. However, he has reeled in the likes of Pérez and Sainz in the standings, which will set up a thrilling battle heading into the second half of the season.
Honourable mention of the weekend goes to Daniel Ricciardo. He’s had his fair number of struggles this season, but the Honey Badger returned to form with a P9 finish in Sunday’s race whilst also out-qualifying Yuki Tsunoda. With RB lagging behind its rivals with upgrades, Ricciardo crossed the line to take home some well-needed points.
The struggle bus:
Lando Norris – Shootout: 2nd | Sprint: 3rd | Qualifying: 2nd | Race: DNF
Whilst his race-ending contact with Max at turn 3 on lap 64 was unfortunate, the bottom line is Lando threw away a bucketful of points this weekend. Some very weak defending at turn 4 in the Sprint let Max and his teammate through after having taken the lead just one corner prior.
He was unable to get back ahead and had to settle for P3. Still, he had another golden opportunity in Sunday’s race and fumbled a further three overtaking opportunities before colliding at turn 3.
Unable to challenge for large phases of the race, the cards fell favourably into Lando’s hands, new mediums against Max’s used and an unusually slow Red Bull pit stop (mainly to avoid an unsafe release) saw the 7-second lead fall to three.
Yet even with this advantage, Norris couldn’t make it stick. Running wide at turn 3 and passing Max off track before nudging the Dutchman off on a separate attempt. Whilst he was largely blameless for the contact per the Stewards decision, you can’t help but feel win number two was thrown away as a right rear puncture ended his race. This is in spite of a track limits penalty which he received the final strike for one of the botched moves on Max.
There’s little time to reset as his home race is next, but given how strongly McLaren performed there last season, I’m sure he’ll throw the kitchen sink at a home victory.
Red Bull:
Max Verstappen – Shootout: 1st | Sprint: 1st | Qualifying: 1st | Race: 5th
Sergio Pérez – Shootout: 7th | Sprint: 8th | Qualifying: 8th | Race: 7th
It wasn’t a disastrous home race for the team, but it was far from their best. Max took all the plaudits on Saturday, where he won the Sprint and took pole by four-tenths.
Sunday’s race was a breeze for 50 laps until a slow final stop brought Lando into play. After numerous irate exchanges on the radio from both Max and Norris regarding their battle for the lead, it all came to blows.
The Dutchman was handed a 10-second penalty as he drifted left into the breaking zone which initiated the contact. Though the penalty didn’t impact Verstappen’s finishing position, it was a rare mistake for him. With Lando retiring, his Championship lead actually increased to 81 points.
Whilst Max made some errors, he still secured a decent haul of points, the same can’t be said for his teammate. By getting stuck behind the Alpines in the Sprint Shootout, he ended up nearly eight-tenths off Lewis Hamilton in sixth. Checo finished P8 in the Sprint, and followed up that result with another poor qualifying as the Mexican found himself back on row 4.
Sergio picked up some sidepod damage on race day as he clashed with Piastri on the exit of turn 4 on lap 1 which hampered his progress. An 8.5-second final pitstop put him behind the Haas’ for the final stint, and he could only pass KMAG to finish 7th.
Ultimately, if Max is not winning races it should be Sergio picking up the pieces, and he simply isn’t doing that enough at present. By collecting just 15 points in the last five races, he keeps the chasing pack interested in both Driver’s and Team’s standings.
Charles Leclerc – Shootout: 10th | Sprint: 7th | Qualifying: 6th | Race: 11th
It’s been a pretty miserable time for Charles after his famous victory on home soil. Engine troubles in Canada and Ferrari lacking pace in Spain. Unfortunately, it didn’t get much better in Spielberg.
It was a messy weekend all around, reliability gremlins meant he ran out of time to do his final run in the Sprint Shootout whilst a mistake in qualifying cost the Monégasque at least three places on the grid.
He was effectively over on lap one as he found himself squeezed between Pérez and Piastri, the resulting contact broke his front wing endplate and required a pitstop to change. He would make a further three pit stops on his way to 11th at the chequered flag. The Safety Car he was hoping for never materialised.
Dishonourable mention goes to Aston Martin, whose 2024 campaign slumped to new lows over the weekend as they found themselves seven-tenths slower in qualifying than at the same race in 2023. Neither Lance nor Fernando threatened the points all weekend, and the Spaniard walked away with more penalty points following a collision with Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu at turn 3.
With the dust settled and friendships being strained, the paddock completes the final leg of its latest triple header at the home of F1, Silverstone. The British Grand Prix also marks the season’s halfway stage, with teams looking to build momentum before the summer break at the end of the month.
Qualifying and the race takes place at 3 pm UK time on the weekend of the 6th & 7th of July. Tune in to see if we’ll have the British national anthem on the podium for a second consecutive race or Max returning to the front of the field once again.
