George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix, his second career F1 race victory, after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris picked up punctures while fighting for the lead
George Russell absolved Max Verstappen of blame over the collision which cost both the Dutchman and Lando Norris victory at the Red Bull Ring.
Verstappen led comfortably for most of the Austrian Grand Prix but a slow pit stop put Norris in his rear view mirrors. And the Briton fought tooth and nail to get past the Red Bull, growing ever more frustrated with the way his rival was defending.
Norris accused Verstappen of moving under braking, which is against the rules, several times. In the end, they collided at turn three and both picked up punctures which forced them into the pit lane and left the door wide open for Russell to take full advantage.
The Briton secured Mercedes’ first race win since his own maiden victory in the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix. And, speaking afterwards, reflected on the incident which allowed him to do that.
Verstappen got a 10-second time penalty from the stewards who felt the Dutchman was the one at fault for causing the collision. But Russell saw things differently and said: “Seeing the incident back, it was no-one’s fault. It was just one of those things, that’s racing sometimes. They both deserve to be on the podium, but oh well, it happens.”
Verstappen also felt that accusations against him of moving under braking were unfair. That was despite Martin Brundle being one of those on Sky Sports who said during the live broadcast that they felt he had gone too far in his defending against Norris.
But the bullish racer insisted: “From the outside, it’s hard to see where I brake. In the past, that has always been a bit of a complaint, but now I always move my wheel before I brake and then brake in a straight line. That’s always easy to say from the outside, that I was moving under braking, but I think the guy in the car knows best what he’s doing.”
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