Russell resists Verstappen for first victory since season opener

George Russell kept a charging Max Verstappen in the upgraded Red Bull at bay to win Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix, his first Sunday victory since the season opener in March.

Verstappen quickly appeared to be Russell’s biggest threat as Ferrari, which started second and third, didn’t show the pace that took Lewis Hamilton to victory at the Barcelona GP a fortnight ago.

Red Bull put Verstappen on an offset strategy to Russell with an extended second stint, meaning he had a six-lap tyre advantage in the final stint over Russell.

Verstappen came out of the pits 11s behind Russell with 22 laps to try to wipe that out. He ultimately came up short, crossing the line 1.6s behind Russell.

It marked Russell’s first grand prix victory since he won the Australian Grand Prix in March and moves him back into second in the drivers’ championship, now 40 points behind Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli looked to have the pace to challenge for victory, but he lost too much time early in the race. He, like Verstappen, had fresher tyres than Russell in the final stint but ended up just 0.3s short of Verstappen and 1.9s off Russell.

Oscar Piastri drove a quiet but effective race to fourth for McLaren, having struggled for race pace at Barcelona.

He finished ahead of the lead Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, who was battling Verstappen early in the race, but ended up on a three-stop strategy along with team-mate Charles Leclerc (but unlike the rest of the top 10).

Isack Hadjar was sixth in the second Red Bull ahead of Lando Norris and Leclerc; all three were a step behind their team-mates on Sunday.

The Racing Bulls dominated the midfield fight with Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounding out the points scorers in ninth and 10th.

Lindblad was running ahead of Lawson before Lawson was able to undercut Lindblad at the final pitstop.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11.2s away from a point in 11th.

Both Cadillacs quickly wilted in the extreme Austrian heat, with their brakes overheating (and catching on fire in the case of Valtteri Bottas), leading to a double retirement within the first five laps.

Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin retired with a suspected ERS issue, while Carlos Sainz’s Williams broke down on the start/finish straight with a suspected electrical issue.