Introduction
Mercedes’ George Russell claimed a considerably sudden victory within the 2024 System 1 Austrian Grand Prix after a massively dramatic finish to the race. Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided within the battle for the lead, dropping Verstappen down the order and forcing Norris to retire.
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Whereas Verstappen had made a powerful begin from pole place to carry P1 for a lot of the race, an exciting duel with McLaren driver Norris unfolded when each made their closing pit stops on Lap 52 of 71, the place Pink Bull suffered a uncommon slower cease resulting from a difficulty with the left rear wheel.
With the hole between them at lower than two seconds, Norris was scorching on his rival’s tail and made a couple of try to grab P1. But it surely all got here to a head on Lap 64 when the pair made contact, inflicting each to limp again to the pits with punctures.
This allowed Russell – who had lengthy been working in third – to brush by means of to take the lead within the Mercedes, which he held till the chequered flag to say the second race win of his F1 profession.
In what could have been a small comfort for McLaren, Oscar Piastri took P2 forward of the lead Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in third. There was then a sizeable hole again to the Silver Arrows machine of Lewis Hamilton in fourth, whereas Verstappen crossed the road in fifth, a place he stored regardless of being handed a 10-second penalty for the incident with Norris.
Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen marked a powerful efficiency for Haas by taking sixth and eighth, respectively. Sergio Perez’s Pink Bull was sandwiched between them in seventh. Daniel Ricciardo claimed two factors for RB within the ninth, and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine rounded out the highest 10.
It was an eventful day for Charles Leclerc, who recovered from a first-lap incident with Piastri to work his means as much as P11 through 4 pit stops within the Ferrari. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon adopted in P12, having earlier loved an in depth battle with teammate Gasly.
Lance Stroll was the lead Aston Martin in P13 on what proved to be one other powerful day for the squad, forward of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in P14 and the Williams of Alex Albon in P15.
Kick Sauber’s wait for his or her debut factors of 2024 continues, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu crossing the road in sixteenth and seventeenth, respectively.
Fernando Alonso set the quickest lap on his closing tour however ended the day in P18. All through the occasion, he struggled for tempo within the Aston Martin and was penalised for pushing Zhou off the observe earlier within the afternoon.
Logan Sargeant was the ultimate categorised runner for Williams in nineteenth, whereas Norris – carrying a five-second time penalty for exceeding observe limits – finally retired within the pits following the injury sustained in his conflict with Verstappen, ending a day that had been crammed with promise in an sad vogue.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
Whenever you least anticipate it, the sparks fly! The primary two-thirds of the race have been typically linear; it solely took a small downside at Verstappen’s second pit cease to convey collectively on observe the 2 excellent drivers of this weekend, thus triggering an exciting on-the-limit duel. It produced an exhilarating finale which, ultimately, labored out to the advantage of George Russell, who was subsequently capable of safe his second-ever Grand Prix win: congratulations to him and Mercedes! Total, there was a variety of overtaking on this race, a few of it spectacular.
From our finish, there have been no curveballs. The tyres carried out precisely as we had anticipated, aligning with our pre-race simulations and the information evaluation from Friday and Saturday. Our technique predictions have been largely on level, with the Medium and Onerous tyres being the first decisions for the race. The Medium, particularly, confirmed a slight edge, particularly on the extra aggressive vehicles. Regardless of having two units of Hards at their disposal, the Pink Bull duo opted for the C4 for the third stint, a choice influenced by the efficiency of their rivals on this part of the race.
However, the C3, which suffered barely much less from degradation, labored properly for individuals who opted to run a really brief first stint on the Medium earlier than exploiting the higher consistency of the white-banded tyres. Thus, they managed to get into the factors, as did the Haas pair of Hulkenberg and Magnussen and Ricciardo (Racing Bulls).
The day on the observe:
As anticipated, the best technique was a two-stop: those that did three or extra – Verstappen, Leclerc, Alonso and Sargeant – did so for unexpected circumstances, not by selection. All of the drivers lined up on the grid on Medium tyres whereas ranging from the pit lane; Zhou went with the Onerous. The C4 and the C3 have been the undoubted protagonists of this race, with the C5 solely placing in an look on the finish, utilized by Verstappen for the final seven laps after his enforced cease and by Alonso, who was making an attempt for the race’s quickest lap, which he did certainly set.
Daniel Ricciardo drove the longest stint of the race, finishing a 34-lap third and closing stint on the Onerous tyre. The prize on Mediums goes to Pierre Gasly, who did 29 laps, and on this case, too, the French Alpine driver did it in his closing stint.
What’s subsequent?
This was Pirelli’s busiest weekend of the yr, working as sole tyre provider on the Austrian Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Spa and Rally Poland. The System 1 season continues apace, with the basic British Grand Prix at Silverstone subsequent weekend. Racing across the Northamptonshire observe may also be the System 2 and System 3 vehicles. That very same weekend, there’s one other motor racing basic, with the DTM championship spherical on the Norisring, together with the ADAC GT4, for which, as soon as once more this yr, Pirelli is the only real provider. And that’s not all, as Pirelli may also be on the European Rally Championship spherical in Estonia and Suzuka for the GTWC Asia.
2024 System 1 Austrian Grand Prix Race Outcomes
PosNoDriverCountryTeamTimePointsOverall
1.63George RussellGreat BritainMercedes-AMG Petronas1:24:22.79825111
2.81Oscar PiastriAustraliaMcLaren Racing+1.906s18112
3.55Carlos SainzSpainScuderia Ferrari+4.533s15135
4.44Lewis HamiltonGreat BritainMercedes-AMG Petronas+23.142s1285
5.1Max VerstappenNetherlandsRed Bull Racing+37.253s10237
6.27Nico HulkenbergGermanyHaas F1 Staff+54.088s814
7.11Sergio PerezMexicoRed Bull Racing +54.672s6118
8.20Kevin MagnussenDenmarkHaas F1 Staff+60.355s45
9.3Daniel RicciardoAustraliaVisa Money App F1 Staff+61.169s211
10.10Pierre GaslyFranceAlpine F1 Staff+61.766s16
11.16Charles LeclercMonacoScuderia Ferrari+67.056s0150
12.31Esteban OconFranceAlpine F1 Staff+68.325s03
13.18Lance StrollCanadaAston Martin F1 Staff+1 lap017
14.22Yuki TsunodaJapanVisa Money App F1 Staff+1 lap019
15.45Alexander AlbonThailandWilliams Racing+1 lap02
16.77Valtteri BottasFinlandKick Sauber F1 Staff+1 lap00
17.24Zhou GuanyuChinaKick Sauber F1 Staff+1 lap00
18.14Fernando AlonsoSpainAston Martin F1 Staff+1 lap041
19.2Logan SargeantUSAWilliams Racing+2 laps00
20.4Lando NorrisGreat BritainMclaren Racing+7 laps0156
2024 Constructor Standings
PosTeamPoints
1.Pink Bull Racing355
2.Scuderia Ferrari291
3.McLaren Racing268
4.Mercedes-AMG Petronas196
5.Aston Martin F1 Team58
6.Visa Money App F1 Team30
7.Haas F1 Team19
8.Alpine F1 Team9
9.Williams Racing2
10.Kick Sauber F1 Team0
Listed below are the team-by-team highlights:
