It was perhaps meant to be an another race win for Max Verstappen, already a four-time winner at the venue.
By the looks of it and the way it largely unfolded, it was meant to be another fight until the very end between Verstappen and Norris, two of the quickest current drivers.
And yet, the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix became a contest where only one of the these drivers managed a top five finish while the other ended at the very rear end of the pack.
The most recent Formula 1 event was an contest that was fast paced, surprising, action packed and perhaps even one where the ultimate winner didn’t really seem to be the one that was always expected to ace the race.
So what key moments defined the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix?
George Russell’s surprise win
George Russell is now a two-time race winner and he has 13 podiums to his name.
His growing success chart owes itself to a stellar current stint with the Mercedes team, which is not only his present but also his racing future.
And a few hours back, the King’s Lynn-born notched up a rather surprising but hugely productive moment with the Woking-based side when he emerged the unlikely winner of the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.
Russell had been running in third in the final stages of the Spielberg-bound contest when out of a miscalculated and desperate scrap on the part of then race-leader Verstappen to avoid Norris, the Dutchman impacted both his and the Briton’s race.
Not only was Verstappen, who soon found himself out of the lead, earn a ten-second penalty, his brash move on Norris saw the latter register a DNF, which was rather unfortunate.
Having said that, Russell, resultantly, jumped two places up to gain the lead and soon crossed the checkered flag for the first time in his career in Austria.
Points finish for both Haas drivers
The Austrian Grand Prix of 2024 was a memorable result for the struggling Haas drivers- Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.
The European pair scored exciting race finishes of sixth and eighth, respectively, with Haas’s in-form driver Hulkenberg scoring 8 vital points.
On the other hand, Magnussen, seventeenth at Spain and previously, twelfth at Canada, experienced a pleasant change in fortunes.
The driver who had so often been reporting to the FIA stewards owing to skirmishes and faulty moves, soaked in the joy earned by a fighting eighth.
On the whole, 12 points for Haas from a single race was indicative of a rare, as also, surprisingly good performance from the shortest racing event on the calendar.
Another Podium for Sainz
Carlos Sainz, who is still very much without a racing job next year, had been struggling a bit in the last two races. And there wasn’t much of a doubt about that.
Prior to setting foot at Austria, Sainz scored a lukewarm sixth at his home Grand Prix in Spain and before that, a DNF at Canada.
But on qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, he was able to put his car on fourth, which was two grid places ahead of his teammate Leclerc, the latter managing a sixth.
However, thanks to the surprising and perhaps even baffling contact between the two front runners Verstappen and Norris, Sainz was able to jump into the podium places.
While he did try as best as he could to pass Piastri, the gap between the two in the last two laps being just around 2 seconds, the stronger machinery at the Australian’s disposal didn’t really allow the Madrid-born driver to launch ahead.
Even then, the 29-year-old’s effort at Spielberg was good enough to ensure that Ferrari achieved at least something worth remembering.
A fighting, if also fortuitous, P3 in the end meant that while Sainz captured a 23rd podium of his career, Leclerc, on the other hand, had to contend with a race to forget. The early skirmish with Perez and Piastri totally compromised the much-loved driver’s race and from thereon, the Austrian Grand Prix became a tiring and hectic exercise for Leclerc.
The fastest lap set by a driver who didn’t score points
The Styrian hills were certainly alive to the sound of racing engines and the boundless thrill that only a Formula 1 Grand Prix could offer. But it could be said, none of it seemed like music to a certain Fernando Alonso, undoubtedly, the most experienced racing driver on the grid.
While on the one hand, Alonso was nowhere near the race pace of his opponents contending in the Ferraris or even the struggling midfielders, the Spanish samurai was in no mood to relent without some fight.
While the man with no fewer than 388 Grand Prix starts, scored a disastrous P18, it wasn’t without him putting something special to remember. The fastest lap of the race belonged to the Aston Martin of Alonso, who registered a gutsy 1:07:694 on the final lap of the race (lap 70).
While evidently frustrated at seeing the twin Alpines jogging ahead of his underperforming car, it could be argued, Alonso still managed to put up some fight for his team.
Source– F1 Chronicle