The Mercedes driver took advantage of a lap-64 crash involving Max Verstappen and Lando Norris to take an unexpected win.
George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix for Mercedes after Red Bull’s three-time world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris collided late in the race while battling for the lead.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished second while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on Sunday.
The win was the first for Mercedes since November 2022, when Russell won in Brazil, and the second of the Briton’s career.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” said the winner after taking the chequered flag in a race whose excitement lasted until the final 20 laps, when the battle between Verstappen and Norris boiled over.
A 6.5 second slow pit stop for Verstappen on lap 52 brought Norris back into range, and the ensuing chase saw the McLaren car benefit from the drag reduction as Norris sought to overtake.
“The team has done a fantastic job to get us into this race. You’ve got to be there at the end and put the pieces together and we were there,” Russell said before finishing on top of the podium.
“We were only 12 seconds behind and I knew it (a collision) was a possibility. You’re always dreaming.”
Russell started third, with Verstappen on pole and Norris alongside him on the front row, but he won after leading 64 of the 71 laps.
Both leading drivers suffered punctures, Norris limped into the pits and retired, while Verstappen rejoined and finished fifth behind Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
The stewards gave the Dutch driver a 10-second penalty for the collision, but this did not affect Verstappen’s result and he extended his championship lead over Norris to 81 points.
Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth for Haas, a huge achievement for that team, while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was seventh and Kevin Magnussen was eighth for Haas.
Daniel Ricciardo gave RB two points in ninth and Pierre Gasly took the final point for Renault-owned Alpine.
