Between two quarrelsome drivers, the third one enjoys. It is right to say so, because in the Austrian Grand Prix the one who won the victory was the one who best knew how to exploit the incidents in front, in particular between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, forced to return to the pits after a contact with only seven laps to go.
The Briton, who up until that point had driven an excellent race, always keeping Carlos Sainz at a distance with his Ferrari, thus took advantage of it, achieving not only his first success this season, but also his second triumph in his career. .
A golden opportunity that Russell knew how to exploit to perfection. Undoubtedly, starting from third place, benefiting from the cancellation of Oscar Piastri’s time in qualifying, was an important advantage, especially considering that the Australian actually finished less than two seconds from the top. However, it is also true that on certain occasions, when a stroke of luck happens, you have to be ready and you can’t blame Russell for anything at all.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Effective in the sprint race, where he managed to take a good fourth place ahead of the Ferrari, third on the starting grid taking advantage of the cancellation of Piastri’s time and first at the finish line, although circumstances clearly helped. In all of this, however, the main aspect of the matter is that Russell has always been ready to exploit opportunities, always positioning himself as a reference behind McLaren and Red Bull.
“It’s incredible. I think it was a tough battle at the start of the race, I was trying to hold onto third place. Then I saw on the big screens that Lando and Max were fighting and I knew Lando wanted to win. But the team did an amazing job to put us in this fight. You have to be there to pick up the pieces and we were there,” Russell explained at the end of the race, also highlighting the battle with teammate Lewis Hamilton in the early laps.
“They [Verstappen e Norris] they were going all out in that fight. I couldn’t believe how close we were to Lando and Max. We were only 12 seconds behind and I knew it was possible something could happen. You always dream.”
![George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YW7nd4kY/s1000/george-russell-mercedes-f1-w15.jpg)
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“I’m proud to be back on the top step. The team has worked very hard and we’ve made a lot of progress since the start of the season. The last few races have been incredible. It’s no secret that Red Bull with Max and McLaren with Lando are still a little ahead, but we always put ourselves in third place in the last two races. Obviously, if that happens, we will have to be ready to take advantage of the situation, but I’m really proud of everyone,” added the Briton.
Russell also wanted to highlight another aspect, namely the steps forward made by Mercedes in the last races which, even if they were not the key element of the victory today, played their role, putting the Star ahead of Piastri and Ferrari: “These last three races have been incredible. I think realistically we could have won the race in Canada, so that probably makes up for a couple of mistakes on my part and I’m really proud to be back on the top step”.
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