F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Russell wins after Verstappen and Norris collide – as it happened

Thank you very much for joining me. Giles Richards’ report will be winging its way to you soon

Norris: “I am disappointed, nothing more than that. It was a good race. I was looking forward to a strong, fair battle but I wouldn’t say that it was in the end. I did a mistake-free race but I was taken out.

“You are not allowed to react, he did it three times out of three, two times I avoided it. The third time he ran into me. He ruined his own race, as much as he ruined mine. It was not my own fault.

“I just need to keep doing what I did today which was good enough for the win. I can’t do anymore. I got letdown today.

“If he says he did nothing wrong, I will lose a lot of respect for that. If he admits to being a bit stupid and a bit reckless, I will lose a small amount of respect because it is tough to take.”

The incident.

God Save the King plays. Zimmer has not reworked it.

The champagne bottles are being readied as the top three head out to the podium.

Verstappen is not happy with being blamed for the collision. Red Bull also blame Norris. All a bit odd as it was Verstappen’s fault.

Russell: “Incredible. I think it was a tough fight at the beginning of the race. I saw Max and Lando was tight. We were in the fight and picked up the pieces.

“They were going for it and I couldn’t believe how close I was to Lando and Max. I thought there was possibility. We have had an amazing past three races, there’s more to come.

“We are always putting ourselves in third and if anything happens upfront, we are there.”

Piastri: “A lot of what ifs and maybes. I know this is only my fourth podium in F1 but is so close to a win, it hurts a little bit.”

Sainz: “Quite an eventful race upfront. We were trying to keep up with George. This weekend has not been easy for us, to come away with 15 points is a good result.

“We are not there to fight for the win yet but we are doing our best. We will keep pushing flat out to stay in the fight.”

The track invasion begins as the fans descend.

Well, that all got quite interesting late on. It looked like a decent battle between Verstappen and Norris, with a few bits of stewards inquiries. It shows what can happen in a split second.

“Wooooooo, yabadabadoo,” comes the shout from Russell. “It is not over, till its over.”

Top six

1 George Russell (Mercedes)
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari
4 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

The crash between Norris and Verstappen has gifted victory to Russell who enjoyed a smooth race and made the most of his competitors’ misfortune.

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Lap 70/71: Russell just needs to play safe here. Piastri does not have enough track to get close enough to the Brit.

Lap 69/71: The difference between first and second is two and a half seconds but Piastri is chipping away.

The good news for Verstappen is he now has the fastest lap of the race.

Lap 68/71: Russell has been gifted first but Piastri will be going for it, having been offered a shock chance to go first. Verstappen is currently sitting fifth behind Hamilton but is given a 10-second penalty for the incident with Norris.

Lap 67/71: Russell is told by his team “you can win this”.

We will now have to work out who was at fault for the contact between Verstappen and Norris. Looks like Verstappen is to blame, moving to the left in front of him.

Lap 66/71: Piastri moves into second, almost three seconds behind Russell.

Norris is out of the race!

Lap 65/71: Russell is leading with a comfortable gap to Sainz in second. Verstappen will be angry with Norris. Verstappen is out of the pits but Norris barely makes it in.

Lap 64/71: Norris makes contact with Verstappen. The Red Bull has a puncture and Norris takes the lead but he also has a puncture. This has been ludicrous. Both cars are creeping to the pits. Russell is in first!

Lap 63/71: Norris dives down the inside and forces Verstappen wide. It looks like he is in front but the Dutchman comes out ahead in the end. The stewards are looking at a few incidents now.

Lap 62/71: Norris needs to get get past Verstappen very soon if he wants to build a five-second lead in front of the Red Bull.

Russell very comfortable in third and looks set for a podium finish.

Lap 61/71: Norris is doing his best to get into first as he thinks he could then get five seconds ahead. Verstappen holds off Norris with a double move. This is all quite tetchy.

Lap 60/71: Norris, in the meantime, is giving Verstappen hell. Norris says Verstappen is being dangerous by moving after he has moved.

Norris’ track limits issues has been noted by the stewards.

Lap 59/71: Black and white flag for Norris over track limits. He cannot get another one of those. Norris goes past Verstappen but goes a long way off the track and has to give the place back. That could be a five-second penalty for Norris. Is that the end of this contest?

Lap 58/71: Norris is back behind him, the lead around 0.33 seconds. Verstappen is in defensive mode.

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Lap 57/71: Verstappen says he has no grip. Norris will be able to sniff the uncertainty he is so close.

Lap 56/71: Verstappen gets back to being a second ahead. Maybe he has won this mini-battle for now. Norris will come back at him who has the fastest lap to his name.

Lap 55/71: Norris gets right up behind him but is held off by Verstappen. At turn four he decides against another overtake.

Norris accuses of Verstappen of reacting to his move in the braking zone. Spicy.

Lap 54/71: Norris has cut the lead to less than a second. He will be confident when he gets into a DRS zone.

Lap 53/71: Norris is cutting down the Verstappen lead. The Brit will think he has a little chance here. He has DRS on his rival and puts his foot down.

Lap 52/71: Verstappen is back out and still in the lead on the medium compound tyre. Norris is doing the same. Is this significant?

Verstappen is only 1.8 seconds ahead of Norris after a poor and slow pit stop. Verstappen is fuming. This could actually be interesting. Both have to make their way through traffic.

Lap 51/71: Verstappen really is unhappy with his tyres. Time to go in, Max? Yes!

Norris seems to be fighting his wheels, too. Not a great time at the front. Norris follows Verstappen in.

Lap 50/71: Leclerc is up to 11th as he looks to reach the top 10. Will he be able to avoid a fourth pit? I doubt it.

Lap 49/71: Russell’s tyre change pays immediate dividends with the fastest lap of the grand prix thus far.

Lap 48/71: Sainz pits in what seems like an important spell in the race.

Verstappen bemoans: “I can’t hold this much longer.”

Lap 47/71: Russell heads out on the hard tyres but finds himself in sixth at the moment, although knows his competitors need to pit.