Giles Richards's race report
Thank you very much for joining me. Giles Richards’ report will be winging its way to you soon
Norris: “I am disappointed, nothing more than that. It was a good race. I was looking forward to a strong, fair battle but I wouldn’t say that it was in the end. I did a mistake-free race but I was taken out.
“You are not allowed to react, he did it three times out of three, two times I avoided it. The third time he ran into me. He ruined his own race, as much as he ruined mine. It was not my own fault.
“I just need to keep doing what I did today which was good enough for the win. I can’t do anymore. I got letdown today.
“If he says he did nothing wrong, I will lose a lot of respect for that. If he admits to being a bit stupid and a bit reckless, I will lose a small amount of respect because it is tough to take.”
The incident.
It's a 10 SECOND PENALTY for Max Verstappen for causing a collision with Lando Norris! ⏱⚠ pic.twitter.com/zf0eHYl5mY
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 30, 2024
God Save the King plays. Zimmer has not reworked it.
The champagne bottles are being readied as the top three head out to the podium.
Verstappen is not happy with being blamed for the collision. Red Bull also blame Norris. All a bit odd as it was Verstappen’s fault.
Russell: “Incredible. I think it was a tough fight at the beginning of the race. I saw Max and Lando was tight. We were in the fight and picked up the pieces.
“They were going for it and I couldn’t believe how close I was to Lando and Max. I thought there was possibility. We have had an amazing past three races, there’s more to come.
“We are always putting ourselves in third and if anything happens upfront, we are there.”
Piastri: “A lot of what ifs and maybes. I know this is only my fourth podium in F1 but is so close to a win, it hurts a little bit.”
Sainz: “Quite an eventful race upfront. We were trying to keep up with George. This weekend has not been easy for us, to come away with 15 points is a good result.
“We are not there to fight for the win yet but we are doing our best. We will keep pushing flat out to stay in the fight.”
The track invasion begins as the fans descend.
Well, that all got quite interesting late on. It looked like a decent battle between Verstappen and Norris, with a few bits of stewards inquiries. It shows what can happen in a split second.
“Wooooooo, yabadabadoo,” comes the shout from Russell. “It is not over, till its over.”
Top six
1 George Russell (Mercedes)
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari
4 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
George Russell wins Austrian Grand Prix
The crash between Norris and Verstappen has gifted victory to Russell who enjoyed a smooth race and made the most of his competitors’ misfortune.
Updated
Lap 70/71: Russell just needs to play safe here. Piastri does not have enough track to get close enough to the Brit.
Lap 69/71: The difference between first and second is two and a half seconds but Piastri is chipping away.
The good news for Verstappen is he now has the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 68/71: Russell has been gifted first but Piastri will be going for it, having been offered a shock chance to go first. Verstappen is currently sitting fifth behind Hamilton but is given a 10-second penalty for the incident with Norris.
Lap 67/71: Russell is told by his team “you can win this”.
We will now have to work out who was at fault for the contact between Verstappen and Norris. Looks like Verstappen is to blame, moving to the left in front of him.
Lap 66/71: Piastri moves into second, almost three seconds behind Russell.
Norris is out of the race!
Lap 65/71: Russell is leading with a comfortable gap to Sainz in second. Verstappen will be angry with Norris. Verstappen is out of the pits but Norris barely makes it in.
Lap 64/71: Norris makes contact with Verstappen. The Red Bull has a puncture and Norris takes the lead but he also has a puncture. This has been ludicrous. Both cars are creeping to the pits. Russell is in first!
Lap 63/71: Norris dives down the inside and forces Verstappen wide. It looks like he is in front but the Dutchman comes out ahead in the end. The stewards are looking at a few incidents now.
Lap 62/71: Norris needs to get get past Verstappen very soon if he wants to build a five-second lead in front of the Red Bull.
Russell very comfortable in third and looks set for a podium finish.
Lap 61/71: Norris is doing his best to get into first as he thinks he could then get five seconds ahead. Verstappen holds off Norris with a double move. This is all quite tetchy.
Lap 60/71: Norris, in the meantime, is giving Verstappen hell. Norris says Verstappen is being dangerous by moving after he has moved.
Norris’ track limits issues has been noted by the stewards.
Lap 59/71: Black and white flag for Norris over track limits. He cannot get another one of those. Norris goes past Verstappen but goes a long way off the track and has to give the place back. That could be a five-second penalty for Norris. Is that the end of this contest?
Lap 58/71: Norris is back behind him, the lead around 0.33 seconds. Verstappen is in defensive mode.
Updated
Lap 57/71: Verstappen says he has no grip. Norris will be able to sniff the uncertainty he is so close.
Lap 56/71: Verstappen gets back to being a second ahead. Maybe he has won this mini-battle for now. Norris will come back at him who has the fastest lap to his name.
Lap 55/71: Norris gets right up behind him but is held off by Verstappen. At turn four he decides against another overtake.
Norris accuses of Verstappen of reacting to his move in the braking zone. Spicy.
Lap 54/71: Norris has cut the lead to less than a second. He will be confident when he gets into a DRS zone.
Lap 53/71: Norris is cutting down the Verstappen lead. The Brit will think he has a little chance here. He has DRS on his rival and puts his foot down.
Lap 52/71: Verstappen is back out and still in the lead on the medium compound tyre. Norris is doing the same. Is this significant?
Verstappen is only 1.8 seconds ahead of Norris after a poor and slow pit stop. Verstappen is fuming. This could actually be interesting. Both have to make their way through traffic.
Lap 51/71: Verstappen really is unhappy with his tyres. Time to go in, Max? Yes!
Norris seems to be fighting his wheels, too. Not a great time at the front. Norris follows Verstappen in.
Lap 50/71: Leclerc is up to 11th as he looks to reach the top 10. Will he be able to avoid a fourth pit? I doubt it.
Lap 49/71: Russell’s tyre change pays immediate dividends with the fastest lap of the grand prix thus far.
Lap 48/71: Sainz pits in what seems like an important spell in the race.
Verstappen bemoans: “I can’t hold this much longer.”
Lap 47/71: Russell heads out on the hard tyres but finds himself in sixth at the moment, although knows his competitors need to pit.
Lap 46/71: Albon is the latest to get a five-second penalty for crossing the line at the pit entrance.
Russell is struggling for grip at the moment. He heads in for a second pit.
Lap 45/71: Norris is trying to overtake/lap Leclerc as keeps trying to chase down Verstappen. He has cut the lead in recent times and might sniff an opportunity.
Lap 44/71: Gasly celebrates a good few laps by pitting and having a medium tyre.
Should mention, Hamilton still needs to observe his five-second penalty.
Lap 43/71: Hamilton is doing well to hold onto fifth in front of Piastri who will think he has a sniff against the Brit.
Lap 42/71: Alpine will be happy to have their drivers in the top 10.
Norris is worried about overheating tyres, too. No one is happy with their rubber at the moment.
Lap 41/71: Gasly and Ocon are having really pushing each other, reaching eighth and ninth after the Frenchman put his foot down.
Lap 40/71: Verstappen says his tyres are “really bad”. He is still breezing at the front, so they can’t be too, can they?
Lap 39/71: Leclerc is down in 17th and is still being told he can get up to 10th. I look forward to seeing how he plans to achieve this, especially with another stop likely.
Lap 38/71: Norris is in second, eight seconds clear of Russell. He has had no issues in this and would be very happy with this result if he can hold on.
Lap 37/71: Alonso takes his 10-second time penalty and then there is a change of tyres.
Piastri is chasing down Hamilton for fifth. That could be the most interesting duel in the top sixth.
Lap 36/71: We are halfway through this race and it is going as everyone expected: Verstappen is laughing at the front.
Alonso is in 13th after Ocon and Gasly moved past him. The Spaniard heads into the pits.
Lap 35/71: Hamilton might have some floor damage. He’s had a bit of an irksome race thus far, that will irritate him more so.
Lap 34/71: Norris has bettered his fastest lap. He knows speed does that lad.
Leclerc in for his third pit!
Lap 33/71: Ocon and Gasly are enjoying a Alpine battle down at 12th and 13th. There is almost some contact as fight for position.
Lap 32/71: Everyone has pitted, with Leclerc and Sargeant already on two.
Perez gets a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Lap 31/71: The wind is picking up, making conditions a little trickier for the drivers. They will need to keep things balanced amid the gusts.
Lap 30/71: Leclerc is picking up speed and Ferrari think if he carries on like this, he will pick up some points. He is currently 18th.
Lap 29/71: Sounds like Verstappen is nursing a problem, allowing his team to analyse it.
Lap 28/71: Verstappen seems to be having some gear issues and is told to leave it in seventh.
Lap 27/71: In case you were wondering, Verstappen is breezing at the front.
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren)
3 George Russell (Mercedes)
4 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Lap 26/71: Piastri pits and settles back into sixth place.
Hamilton apologies for his bookable offence. He knows it was his fault.
Stewards are having a look at the Verstappen release and whether it was unsafe when he nipped in front of Norris.
Lap 25/71: Norris is unhappy that Verstappen came out of his pit stop right in front of him. Was it safe? I am sure someone will tell us.
Alonso gets a 10-second penalty for bumping Zhou.
Lap 24/71: Verstappen, Russell and Norris go into the pits. They come out behind Piastri, who is yet to pit.
A five second penalty for Hamilton for his indiscretion by the sounds of it.
Lap 23/71: Hamilton under investigation for crossing the white line upon pit entry. Will he be punished for a momentary lapse in concentration?
Lap 22/71: The stewards will look at the Zhou-Alonso incident.
Hamilton heads into the pit and comes back out with hard tyres. A risk worth taking?
Lap 21/71: Verstappen is cruising along at the front. The cameras are barely bothering to check on him because everyone knows how this is ending.
Alonso bumps Zhou off the track. “What the f*** is he doing?” bemoans the Sauber man.
Lap 20/71: Ocon pits and comes out in 17th after a gloriously routine session with the mechanics.
Lap 19/71: The two Haas cars breeze past Zhou. Magnussen and Hulkenberg look keen to do some racing here.
No one seems too happy with the hard tyre. Will everyone be eager to get the mediums on?
Lap 18/71: Leclerc comes out in last place and looks set to be lapped by Verstappen very soon. Not a great day for the Ferrari driver.
Lap 17/71: Leclerc looks like he needs a second pit. Hopefully he will be able to sort out any issues from the earlier contact. He is back out on the mediums.
Lap 16/71: This front three are going to breeze to being covered in champagne later.
Lap 15/71: Leclerc is struggling at the back and has been overtaken by Albon. That Ferrari should be doing better.
Lap 14/71: Russell was hoping podium today and he is looking good in third, three seconds ahead of Sainz.
He will not be finishing first, however, because Verstappen is already five and a half seconds up on Norris.
Lap 13/71: Magnussen and Hulkenberg are now in a battle for 15th. Who will win?
Lap 12/71: Haas look like they have a plan involving a three-stop strategy as Hulkenberg also comes in.
Lap 11/71: Some pits already happening. Magnussen and Ricciardo come in for a meet and greet with the mechanics, exiting on hard tyres.
Lap 10/71: Despite being unable to keep up with Verstappen, Norris currently has the fastest lap.
Lap 9/71: Track conditions seem to be causing a bit of understeer making things a little trickier for drivers.
Hamilton let Sainz through to avoid any further action on an incident at turn one.
Lap 8/71: Verstappen is more than three seconds ahead of Norris now. Really does look like it will be a straightforward day out for the Dutchman.
Lap 7/71: Hamilton is looking to get beyond Sainz. He is right behind him and is pushing him on every turn. Sainz is battling away to fend him off the man who will replace him at Ferrari next season.
Lap 6/71: Stewards are looking at the incident between Piastri and Leclerc.
Lap 5/71: Perez has earned himself a couple of places, otherwise we are as you were at the start.
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren)
3 George Russell (Mercedes)
4 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
Lap 4/71: Leclerc is back out way down in 19th. He made contact with Piastri who might still have a bit of damage to his car.
Verstappen seems to be growing his lead every lap.
Lap 3/71: Hamilton is chasing down Russell … and he goes past him but then Russell does the same. What a fun few seconds that was.
Lap 2/71: Leclerc has to get into the pit to get a front wing change. That has gone badly.
Verstappen is over a second ahead of Norris. Very much seems like Verstappen needs to make a mistake to give away the lead.
Lap 1/71: Verstappen gets off to a great start and maintains his first position. Hamilton and Sainz almost make contact a little way back but everyone seems to get through unscathed. Nope, Leclerc has lost a bit of his front wing.
Lights out
And away we go!
The Austrian national anthem and a few military helicopters. We must be close to race time. It sounds like a Christian rock song at this stage.
Jos Verstappen on Max: “He knows what to do, I don’t get involved.”
Martin Brundle gets onto the grid for a little wander. Hans Zimmer says “I am just about to ruin Mozart forever. If you come here, you might as well go for broke.” Something to look forward to.
“If you take Max out of the race, this would be compelling,” say Sky Sports. It’s not exactly a big sell.
The cars are on the track as the drivers make their final preparations for the race. The wind is picking up in Austria.
Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu is starting the race from the pit lane after making a few adjustments to his car.
We have a whopping 71 laps today. That makes pitting strategy crucial. This is the sort of race that can be won or lost in the pits. The pressure is on.
Where will Verstappen go next?
A day where you need a hat that provides shade.
Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda has been fined €40,000 after he called a fellow Formula One driver “f****** retarded” in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Tsunoda, who competes for Red Bull’s junior team, RB, took aim at Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu over the radio after he believed he was obstructed in the pit-lane. “These guys are f****** retarded,” he yelled.
Tsunoda, 24, was hauled before the stewards who slapped him with a 40,000 EUR (£33,901) fine - with half of the sanction suspended until the remainder of the season.
A statement from Formula One’s governing FIA read: “He contended that his understanding of the words was different, but acknowledged that this should not be considered as an excuse for what he did.”
Updated
Sport pricing out its fans? Never!
George Russell fancies getting a on the podium today. It is a hot day in Austria which will make things a little less fun for the drivers.
Preamble
Max Verstappen in on pole so, in theory, everything is as it should be. There are, however, a few issue swirling around the Red Bull garage. Papa Verstappen and Christian Horner do not see eye-to-eye at the moment, making the backdrop to this grand prix more fun. Naturally, Verstappen will probably win this race and another title this season but that will only be part of the story.
The starting grid:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren)
3 George Russell (Mercedes)
4 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
10 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
11 Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
12 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
13 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
14 Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
15 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
16 Alex Albon (Williams)
17 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18 Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)
19 Logan Sergeant (Williams)
20 Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)
