The news of the Austrian GP
One could hardly have imagined a winner other than Max Verstappen in Red Bull’s home grand prix, even more so after the Dutchman’s impeccable performances over the weekend. And instead, against all expectations, comes the First seasonal success for George Russell and Mercedes. A victory, which had been missing since the 2022 Brazilian GP, made possible mainly by the fight between the reigning world champion and Lando Norris in the finale. A battle between the two friends that ended badly, with a contact and a double puncture that cancelled out the possibility of a further ‘double’. A twist that gives a small consolation to McLaren, with 2nd place Oscar Piastristill the protagonist of a nice overtaking in turn 6 up Carlos Sainz, who enters the top-3 on a difficult day for Ferrari. A race in which the Rossa itself can redeem itself from the problems suffered by Charles Leclerc at the start, forced to return to the pits after a contact with Piastri in turn 1 after the start.
The words of the top 3
George Russell (1st, Mercedes): “Incredible! It was a tough battle at the end of the race, I was holding third but then I saw on TV that sparks were flying between Max and Lando, and then I saw what happened. We did a great job and in the end we managed to pick up the pieces, and it’s the ideal position for us. Of course I couldn’t believe how close Lando and Max were, we were a dozen seconds behind and it was still a good result for us. When there’s an opportunity you always dream of taking it, and I’m very proud of the work of the team. We’ve made huge steps since the start of the season, and the last two races have been incredible in terms of the results we’ve achieved. It’s no secret that Red Bull and McLaren are still a little bit ahead with Max and Lando, but we’re holding on to third, and then if something happens up front we’re there to seize the opportunity. I’m proud of everyone. We’ve been on a roll lately, we could have realistically won the race in Canada and that makes up for the mistakes I made there, and I’m proud to be back on the top step of the podium.”
Oscar Piastri (2nd, McLaren): “There are a lot of ‘ifs’, starting from yesterday. I know it’s my fault, but we came very close to the win and it would have been my first in F1, but I’m happy with the comeback we made and we were quite quick in the race. I’m happy with another podium, but once you come so close to the win you inevitably have some regrets. We have good memories at Silverstone, hopefully we can be at the front again. I didn’t see what happened between Lando and Max, but the numbers were quite similar at the front, so we can still be in the fight. I’ve always liked Silverstone and I’m looking forward to going there.”
Carlos Sainz (3rd, Ferrari): “It was quite a busy race up front, for us it was all about keeping pace with George. We knew that today the Mercedes could have a small advantage on the race pace, but we tried everything to stay close, then Oscar came very fast at the end. Third place I think is a good result and we can be quite happy and proud of what we did because it wasn’t an easy weekend for us, and to bring home third place and 15 points is a good result. The fact that there was so much action is a good day for F1, we missed seeing some good battles. Unfortunately we still come from a couple of races where we don’t have what it takes to fight for the wins, but we are doing everything we can as a team to get back in shape at Silverstone and in the next races to make sure that next time we are up front to capitalise. The podium is always a good result and we will continue to push to stay in the fight.”
#Russell #chance #dream
