With ten laps to go during the Austrian Grand Prix, very few Formula 1 fans would have predicted that Mercedes driver George Russell would be standing on the top step of the podium.
George Russell was in the right place at the right time ever since the end of the Sprint Race on Saturday.
The Brit benefitted from a marginal track limits call for Oscar Piastri in qualifying to move up to third on the grid.
He then drove a strong race to retain that position ahead of the Austrian, his teammate Lewis Hamilton – who briefly overtook at the beginning of the race – and Carlos Sainz who had a strong Grand Prix.
Russell was joined by Piastri and Sainz on the podium and the trio, via Sky Sports F1, could be seen reflecting on the key events of the Austrian Grand Prix.
They finally saw the most important moments from the battle between the top two drivers and how it eventually ended.
Martin Brundle had already given his verdict on Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’s conduct and shared the conclusion he reached when listening to their conversation.
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George Russell gives verdict on Max Verstappen and Lando Norris crash at the Austrian Grand Prix
The trio on the podium are watching the race highlights in the cooldown room and see the collision between Norris and Verstappen from the onboard angle on the McLaren.
As they see the contact between the two drivers, Russell and Sainz start laughing and the Brit says: “Oh no way!” and when Norris tries to turn in again with Verstappen making no effort to return to the track, he says again, “Oh!”
In the background, Norris’s teammate Piastri can be seen shaking his head, while Russell adds: “We shouldn’t laugh.”
Sainz then says, “It was always going to happen at some point,” before Piastri adds, “Even yesterday [in the Sprint Race] it was…” before Russell acknowledged that it was a cool fight to watch and admitted that Norris was fired up.
Reflecting on what he had just seen, Martin Brundle then added: “Yeah, if I read them correctly, they thought it was a little bit unfair, not right what Max did there heading into turn three and the inevitable contact.”
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Max Verstappen and Lando Norris both lose out after Austrian Grand Prix collision
It was a very close battle between the two quickest drivers on the grid right now but Verstappen’s unrelenting style got him in trouble in the past.
During the 2021 season, he and Lewis Hamilton crashed on several occasions and he was unwilling at any stage to take any real responsibility on those occasions.
Both drivers were moaning on the team radio that the other was acting in an unfair manner.
And while Norris was eventually given a penalty for track limits, it was Verstappen who the stewards deemed was at fault on this occasion.
George Russell will hope that Verstappen and Norris continue to battle in this manner when he’s sitting right behind them.
Mercedes may not have a car that’s always capable of battling for victories but it is fast enough to keep the two Ferrari drivers behind when necessary and Russell has been surprised by its recent improvement.
On this occasion, that earned Russell the second win of his Formula 1 career and Lewis Hamilton might be wondering what could have been after a frustrating pit lane infringement cost him a potential podium.
The post ‘Oh no way’: George Russell immediately reacts to Austrian GP crash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris appeared first on F1 Oversteer.
