Austria is traditionally a good race set at a boring race. There were no celebrities on the grid and nothing had happened since the last two days of full reporting to be discussed.
So on to the race, Verstappen got away well. The Mercedes hustled behind him, Russell trying to overtake Norris with Hamilton and Sainz jostling behind. Le Clerc lost some of his front wing, coming together with Piastri (he later blamed Perez for the first corner incident), and had to go to the pits for a new one. He would have come out last were it not for Sargeant also pitting, we didn't find out why.
By Lap 3, Hamilton overtook Russell for third place, although with DRS, Russell took it straight back. This was a defining feature of the weekend and they need to reconsider where the zones are for the next season. Hamilton subsequently lost a place to Sainz.
LeClerc trundled around at the back of the pack, with even a Williams overtaking him. It became clear that the Medium tyres did not last well.
There were all sorts of things happening up and down the pack. Alonso shunted into the back of Zhou, unaccountably. Norris was stuck in launch mode and had to try and reboot his car. Hamilton was given a five second penalty for crossing the white pit line and was given a pep talk by Wolff.
The stewards were busy handing our penalties left, right and centre.
Verstappen was treated to an extraordinarily slow pit stop of six and a half seconds. He was still out ahead of Norris, who pitted at the same time but the battle was closer.
Then, with less than ten laps to go, it all went wrong between the best buddies. There was contact between Verstappen and Norris, having had a few battles around the previous corners. They were busy on the radio arguing, for the stewards' benefit about who had pushed who off the track. Norris was pushing it for getting a penalty for exceeding track limits. Both cars ended with shredded rear tyres, going off the track. Norris boxed and told the team to retire the car as he also received a penalty for going off the track too much.
Russell was now in the lead of the race. Piastri went around Sainz for second place. Verstappen was able to pit and come out in fifth but received a ten second penalty for causing the collision.
A Virtual Safety Car was called to clear the track but no one benefited from it.
The top three held their positions to the end. It was initially frosty in the green room, as Sainz and Piastri discussed the damage the McLaren sustained. Russell broke the ice and there was some banter and sympathy when they saw Lando's episode.
It was only Russell's second win in F1. Norris claimed that he had led a blame-free race which wasn't true when you look at track limits. I wonder if the pair will recover their friendship by next weekend? For Norris it was a question of fairness and owning up to it. Verstappen took the pressure from the British press on the chin but placed the blame fairly at Lando's door, partly also blaming the shape of the curb.
Gasly finished in tenth and was able to beat his team mate, who finished in twelfth. Ricciardo finished in ninth and also trumped his team mate, Tsunoda was 14th and this is a small victory he needs. Magnussen was the lowest finishing Haas in eighth; Hulkenberg in sixth made a great points haul for the team. Perez was seventh and should have been nearer the top to take the victory for Red Bull when Verstappen couldn't. The wisdom of resigning him seems dubious. Hamilton was fourth and will probably be ruing the lost opportunity. LeClerc had been promised a points finish by the team but came home in eleventh.
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