Austrian Grand Prix: F1 Race Results

Austrian Grand Prix: F1 Race Results

Red Bull’s home Grand Prix weekend has been dominated by Max Verstappen, topping every F1 session so far

Hannah May 10 min read

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Verstappen takes his 40th pole position for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, his fifth consecutive Red Bull Ring pole.

Red Bull McLaren Max Verstappen Lando Norris
Max Verstappen in P1 and Lando Norris behind in P2 during lap 19 of the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix. (Image Credit: @redbullracing on X)

Championship leader, Max Verstappen has performed for his team’s home race weekend. The Dutchman topped the timesheet in FP1, qualified on pole during Sprint Qualifying, raced to victory in the Sprint, and put himself on pole position in Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying.

However, despite Verstappen’s clean sheet, McLaren has been close behind during each session. Oscar Piastri finished FP1 in P2, Lando Norris qualified for the Sprint in P2 with Piastri in P3, and Piastri overtook his teammate for P2 in the Sprint Race to Norris’ P3.

In Grand Prix Qualifying, Norris qualified in P2 on the front row alongside Verstappen. Initially, Piastri’s final lap time of 1:04.786 was good enough to secure the Australian P3 on the starting grid. However, the 23-year-old’s lap was deleted by race control due to exceeding track limits at Turn 6. Thus, he dropped from P3 to P7 on the starting grid for today’s race.

McLaren protested this deletion, hoping for the decision to be reversed. However, the stewards rejected the Woking-based outfit’s protest, judging it “inadmissible”.

Starting grid

The starting grid for round 11 of the championship is as follows:

Zhou Guanyu starts the race from the pitlane due to Sauber making changes to his C44. All drivers were on medium tyres except Zhou, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, and Logan Sargeant.

Lights out

The race kicks off with a clean start from Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz went wheel to wheel in a battle for P4. Norris was defending hard from George Russell for P2. Oscar Piastri was forced out wide and lost positions on the gravel.

Leclerc was called into the pits due to contact in the first corner. He had front wing damage and was followed into the pits by Sargeant’s Williams.

Verstappen already had a second over Norris. On lap two, the top ten were Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Sergio Perez, Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, and Kevin Magnussen. Norris set the fastest lap on lap two.

At the start of lap three, Hamilton passed Russell. However, Russell regained the position shortly after thanks to DRS.

Race stewards noted an incident between Sainz and Hamilton for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. However, no further action was taken. Hamilton’s mechanics let him know to allow Sainz through, which may be why the stewards took no action.

With Leclerc’s pitstop he was 40 seconds off the lead. The Monégasque will be hoping for a safety car. McLaren confirmed they were happy with Piastri’s car, despite his gravel detour.

By lap seven, Sainz and Hamilton were battling fiercely for P4, while Perez and Piastri fought for P6. Sainz held P4 and Piastri moved past Perez for P6. Verstappen had increased his lead from Norris to over three seconds.

Both Haas drivers had a decent start to the Austrian Grand Prix. On lap nine, Hulkenberg was in P8 and Magnussen in P10 – both in points positions. A DRS train was forming behind Hulkenberg, from P8 down to Daniel Ricciardo in P12.

First to pit

Magnussen and Ricciardo were the first to pit, switching their medium compound tyres for the hards between laps 11 and 12. On lap 12, Hulkenberg entered the pits along with Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martin team managed a 2.4-second stop, while Haas was a second slower for Hulkenberg with a 3.4-second stop.

When Hulkenberg rejoined the race, he battled with his teammate, Magnussen. The Danish driver managed to get ahead of the German for P15. Alex Albon then entered the pits, putting both Williams cars at the back of the field in P19 and P20.

By lap 14, Verstappen was over five seconds ahead. The Haas battle continued, this time Hulkenberg made it past his teammate. The team told Magnussen to save his tyres, and the Dane replied by asking if Hulkenberg was told the same. On lap 15, Albon passed Leclerc for P18 demonstrating the high degradation for tyres. A lot of drivers were switching to a three-stop strategy in light of this.

On lap 17, Leclerc boxed for a second time with a 2.5-second stop. He re-entered the race just ahead of the race leader, a lap behind the action. Then, Hulkenberg passed Zhou for P13. Shortly after, his Haas teammate also passed Zhou putting Magnussen in P14 and Hulkenberg in P13.

On his fresh set of medium tyres, Leclerc passed Sargeant for P19. The hard tyres looked poor at this stage and McLaren reminded Norris that they had extra sets over Red Bull.

Picking up penalties

Ocon was the next out, feeding out into P17. Zhou then lost a place to Ricciardo, getting a punt from Alonso and forced into the run-off area. Albon then passed the Chinese driver for P13.

Hamilton pitted with a 2.5-second stop. Mercedes put the hard compound tyres on his car and the Briton re-entered the race in P6. Piastri reported that Hamilton crossed the white line on pit entry. In the replay, it showed him struggling with some oversteer on entry. The incident was noted for investigation by race control.

Sainz and Russell both pitted, the Ferrari driver re-entering in P5 and the Mercedes driver in P4. On lap 23, both Verstappen and Norris were called into the pits. Red Bull’s stop was 2.7 seconds and McLaren’s was 2.6. Verstappen was released from the pits into the path of Norris entering. This incident was noted by race control for an unsafe release.

Alonso, currently in P11, was handed a 10-second penalty for the earlier incident with Zhou.

Then, Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty for the pitlane entry infringement.

Halfway point

Russell had the fastest lap of the race by lap 25. Then Piastri came into the pits, rejoining in P6.

On lap 28, the top 10 were Verstappen in first, followed by Norris, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Piastri, Perez, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, and Ricciardo in P10. Nine of these drivers were on the same strategy, with one – Russell – doing something different with his last stint likely to be the hard tyres.

Verstappen was being talked through some gear issues by Red Bull mechanics over the radio. Ferrari mechanics then told Leclerc in P18 that he was projected to come up into the points, even without a safety car.

By lap 31, the wind began to pick up. Meanwhile, the Alpine drivers were battling for P12, with Ocon ahead of Gasly in P13 with DRS. Perez was noted for speeding in the pitlane and handed a five-second penalty. The RB driver, Ricciardo led a DRS train from his position in P10 to Gasly in P13.

Norris set the fastest lap for lap 33. The McLaren driver was 7.8 seconds behind Verstappen. On lap 34, Gasly asked that Ocon pick up the pace as he felt that he could push Alonso for P11.

Leclerc entered the pits for the third time on lap 35 with a 3.2-second stop. There was no further action for the unsafe release investigation between Verstappen and Norris. Hamilton was told that his car may have floor damage from a kerb.

Midfield battles

On lap 36, both Alpine drivers passed Alonso – Ocon moving up to P11 and Gasly to P12. Gasly also briefly passed Ocon, but Ocon fought back and Gasly complained that he was pushed off the track.

Alonso then entered the pitlane, serving his time penalty before changing tyres to the hard compound. Yuki Tsunoda passed Albon for P13. Ricciardo had a 2.2-second pitstop and re-joined in P16.

Magnussen entered the pits for his second stop and re-entered in P15 on the hards. On lap 40, Verstappen told his mechanics that his tyres were suddenly “really bad”. He still had an eight-second lead on Norris.

Lap 41 saw the other Haas car pit and rejoin in P13. Meanwhile, the battle for P8 between the Alpine drivers continued. After a fierce scrap, Gasly finally managed to pass his teammate and had a 19-second gap ahead to Perez in P7. Ocon managed to keep on Gasly’s tail.

The gap between the race leader and Norris in P2 dropped to just under seven seconds, perhaps due to Verstappen’s tyre struggles. On lap 43, Albon was noted for crossing the pit entry line. Next, Gasly and Bottas pitted.

Ocon lost a part of his Alpine, carbon fibre flying off into the grass. He then came into the pits on lap 45 along with Lance Stroll. Albon was handed a five-second time penalty for the pitlane entry infringement.

Tyre struggles

Russell entered the pits on lap 47 and exited in P6 on the hard compound tyres. His medium tyres were destroyed and he was losing pace, so entered the pits at an opportune time.

Sainz pitted on lap 48, having it cancelled on the previous lap. His stop was 2.4 seconds. Then, Verstappen reported, “I can’t hold this much longer” on the radio. Next, Piastri passed Hamilton for P3 as the Mercedes driver struggled with his tyres. Russell then picked up the fastest lap on his fresh tyres.

Red Bull was reluctant to pit Verstappen as he would re-enter into busy traffic. Meanwhile, Leclerc was trying to catch Ricciardo in P10. Then, Norris ran wide with Gasly and Leclerc squabbling behind him and Verstappen reported his tyres were done.

Verstappen and Norris entered the pits on lap 52. It was a slow stop for Red Bull at 6.5 seconds due to the left rear tyre not coming off. Norris’ stop was 2.9 seconds and the two left the pits close together. However, Verstappen had a six-second gap ahead of Norris which helped him keep the lead.

Piastri also pitted, followed by Perez. Perez had an 8.5-second stop, clearly an issue at Red Bull. Verstappen locked up and nearly went off the track into Turn 4 as he made his way through traffic.

On lap 53, Hamilton entered the pits. Meanwhile, Norris was on his second strike for track limits.

Verstappen vs. Norris

With the gap closing, Norris had DRS on Verstappen and the race was on. There are three DRS zones around the Red Bull Ring for a seven-tenths advantage. Norris attempted an overtake into Turn 3 with a late braking move, echoing his Sprint Race manoeuvre. However, he could not make it stick. Norris reported that Verstappen reacted to his move in the braking zone.

With 15 laps remaining, Verstappen reported that something was wrong with his car – he felt that he had “no grip”. His one-second gap decreased, giving Norris DRS again. Norris was not close enough to pass, Verstappen had enough battery to fend off an attack.

Norris was handed a black-and-white flag warning for track limit violations. On lap 59, Norris made a late move on Verstappen and got past for the lead of the race. However, the McLaren driver locked up and ran wide, leaving the track. He was still ahead but was required to let Verstappen back through to P1.

Race control then noted Norris for track limits. On lap 61, Verstappen defended against another move from Norris. However, he made a double move which Norris reported on the radio. Meanwhile, Piastri was closing in on Sainz in P4 and Perez was catching Hulkenberg in P7.

Another move from Norris on lap 63 into Turn 3. Verstappen went off the track defending and kept the place. However, Norris complained that Verstappen should hand him the position. Verstappen told Red Bull mechanics that he was forced off by Norris.

A new race leader

On lap 64, there was contact between Verstappen and Norris. Norris took the lead due to Verstappen picking up a puncture from the contact. However, it soon became clear that Norris also got a puncture and was also handed a five-second penalty. This incident gave Russell the lead.

Verstappen and Norris head into the pits, a disaster for Red Bull and McLaren. On lap 65, Piastri overtook Sainz on the outside for P2 of the race.

Verstappen was back into the race on soft compound tyres in P5. However, Norris’ stop was slow and they ended up retiring the car.

On lap 66, the Virtual Safety Car came out. Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal was heard on the radio to Russell telling him that he “can win this”.

Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision due to veering left and making contact with Norris. Currently, Verstappen is in P5 and 12.2 seconds ahead of Hulkenberg in P6 so would retain his position after the penalty.

With three laps to go, Russell was in P1 and 2.6 seconds ahead of Piastri in P2. Sainz in P3 was 2.4 seconds behind the McLaren driver. On lap 69, Verstappen picked up the fastest lap of the race.

Leclerc was in P12, 0.7 seconds behind Ocon in P11. The Ferrari driver may not be able to pick up any points this race, despite his team’s predictions.

George Russell crossed the line to win the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix. This is his first race victory since his maiden F1 at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Piastri picked up P2 and Sainz completed the podium in P3.

Grand Prix classification

Featured Image Credit: @Ludzigg on X

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