The race in Austria was a wild affair with a dramatic twist at the end.
George Russell, displaying impressive skill akin to a wicket-keeper with his gloves on, managed to secure a hard-earned and somewhat solitary third place. He ultimately clinched victory after clumsy maneuvers cost both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris their chances at the win. Russell became the fifth different driver to win in 11 races this season, and Mercedes was the fourth different constructor to take a victory. Despite the thrilling and unpredictable nature of the race, I left with a sense of disappointment in one area.
It was another hectic Sprint weekend, featuring only a single 60-minute practice session before Sprint Qualifying on Friday. This was followed by the Sprint and main race Qualifying on Saturday, and the Grand Prix on Sunday. To add to the challenge, each driver had one fewer set of tires than usual, with only 12 sets of slick dry tires to manage across five key sessions, including two qualifying formats, on a track with high tire degradation.
The Sprint provided an exciting preview for the main event. Verstappen led the 24-lap Sprint from the start, initially challenged by Norris. However, Norris’s aggressive move into turn three allowed Max to counter-attack successfully into turn four, a move Norris should have anticipated. Consequently, Norris lost two places as Oscar Piastri skillfully moved into second place.
Unfortunately for Piastri, he received a harsh track limits penalty during qualifying, which demoted him from third to seventh and likely cost him his first GP victory. New gravel strips and realigned track-defining white lines helped resolve the track limits issue over the weekend. Compared to last year’s absurd 1200 violations, this year’s race had just 16, five of which were from Norris.
The proximity of the gravel and the existing yellow-painted sausage curbs at turns one and three were intended to be self-policing, as drivers would naturally lose time if they encountered them. However, track limit lines were still closely monitored. McLaren was furious, claiming that the images used were blurred and the protocol was inconsistent with other incidents that day and on previous occasions. Nonetheless, the decision against Piastri remained unchanged.