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5 Winners and 5 Losers from Austria – Who took advantage in an action-packed Spielberg blockbuster?
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As George Russell and Mercedes toasted an unlikely win at the Red Bull Ring, title rivals and friends Max Verstappen and Lando Norris left Austria wondering what might have been after they collided in sensational fashion when fighting for the lead. Lawrence Barretto picks his winners and losers from the Austrian Grand Prix.
Winner: George Russell
This was vintage 2024-spec George Russell, the Briton doing a stellar job to run third in the Grand Prix and that put him in the perfect position to seize his moment when Norris and Verstappen collided.
It was Russell’s first victory of the season, his second podium in three Grands Prix and Mercedes’ first triumph since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which incidentally was Russell’s first and only other victory.
In triumphing at the Red Bull Ring, Mercedes became the fourth different constructor to win in 2024 – joining Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren – with Russell extending his lead over team mate Lewis Hamilton to 26 points in the drivers’ standings.
Austria win makes up for ‘missed opportunity’ in Canada – Russell
Loser: Max Verstappen
The Austrian GP weekend had been going swimmingly for Verstappen, the three-time world champion following up Sprint pole and victory with pole position for the main event.
However, he was unhappy with the performance of his RB20 throughout the Grand Prix and then saw his lead slashed courtesy of a rare pit stop delay that put Norris on his tail.
He defended the McLaren bullishly but they ultimately collided at Turn 3, leaving both with punctures. The Dutchman recovered to the pits and rejoined, holding on to fifth place despite picking up a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision with his friend.
So, while he did lose what would have been his eighth victory of the season, the fact he scored while Norris didn’t means he extends his championship lead over the Briton to 81 points.
The Austrian GP weekend had been going swimmingly for Verstappen, until Lap 64 of the race
Winner: Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri – who finished the Sprint a superb second after taking advantage of a squabble between Norris and Verstappen – was disappointed after having his best qualifying time deleted for track limits.
He fought back impressively for seventh, but the podium looked out of reach until team mate Norris collided with Verstappen. Suddenly he found himself in second and, while he chased down Russell, he ultimately ran out of laps.
This was the second time he has finished second in a Grand Prix and his second podium of the season. The Australian is now just six points behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Loser: Lando Norris
You could argue Lando Norris was the fastest driver of the weekend in Austria, however in battling Verstappen in the Sprint for the lead, he lost a position to Piastri to end up third.
He followed up his Sprint front row start with second on the grid for the Grand Prix and armed with a fresh set of mediums to Verstappen’s used set in the final stint, the Briton piled the pressure on the Dutchman, launching multiple attacks.
In colliding with Verstappen, he suffered damage so significant, he had to retire. That’s his first DNF of the season and ends his run of being the only driver to have scored in every single Grand Prix so far this season.
2024 Austrian Grand Prix: High drama as Norris and Verstappen collide after titanic battle for the lead
Winners: Haas
American team Haas snatched back seventh in the constructors’ championship from Alpine and reignited the battle with RB for sixth with their second double points finish of the season.
Nico Hulkenberg secured his best result since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix with sixth and equalled the team’s best result since Mick Schumacher finished sixth at the same track in 2022.
Kevin Magnussen scored his second points finish of the season with eighth, generating a haul that moves them to within 11 points of RB while pushing them 10 clear of rivals Alpine.
Loser: Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez’s mediocre run continued in Austria as the Mexican failed to reach the podium for the sixth race in succession.
The Red Bull driver followed up a lacklustre eighth in the Sprint, which his team mate won, by qualifying nearly nine tenths of a second behind Verstappen for the Grand Prix.
Damage from contact with Piastri early in the race hampered him – and the best he could deliver was seventh, one place higher than he started. He now trails Verstappen by 119 points and sits fifth in the standings behind both Ferraris.
Sergio Perez's poor run of form continued in Austria
Winner: Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo delivered his second points-scoring finish in three Grands Prix with a battling drive to ninth in Austria.
He used the undercut to great effect to jump the Alpines and then showed strong pace with minimal mistakes to score two points.
The RB driver has been under pressure to deliver results, having been outperformed by Japanese team mate Yuki Tsunoda for much of this year, with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko suggesting his future is under threat.
However, sources say that isn’t the case and he will have the chance to prove he deserves to stay – and performances like this will only help his cause.
Losers: Aston Martin
Aston Martin’s difficult run continued into Austria as the Red Bull Ring’s high-speed corners highlighted their car’s weaknesses.
Lance Stroll was hampered by damage he picked up early on and while he made a couple of passes, points proved a step too far.
Alonso was hit with a 10-second penalty after sliding into the Sauber of Zhou
Team mate Fernando Alonso locked up and slid into Zhou Guanyu, when opportunistically trying to slide through behind Ricciardo, earning him a 10-second time penalty.
The Spaniard said it didn’t really change the result, though, as they simply didn’t have the pace to score.
Winner: Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly marked the signing of a new multi-year deal with Alpine by scoring the final point (which was also the 400th of his career) in a battling drive to 10th.
Not for the first time this year, Gasly had an intense battle with team mate Esteban Ocon with the former coming out on top.
This was his fourth consecutive points finish, which is his best streak since early in the 2021 season. That pulls him level with Ollie Bearman – who scored seventh in Saudi Arabia in his one and only F1 race so far – in the drivers’ standings.
Gasly and Ocon had another intense battle on track
Loser: Charles Leclerc
This was a bumpy weekend for Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver leaving the Red Bull Ring with just two points.
He missed the chance to set a lap in SQ3 when “everything switched off” as he trundled towards the pit exit and then ran off the road when pushing too hard in qualifying for the Grand Prix.
Contact with Piastri at the start forced a first-lap pit stop for a new front wing – and that dropped him to the back of the field. He fought back impressively, but ended up just outside the points in 11th.
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