(Credit: Richard Pardon, Mercedes AMGF1 Media)

F1 Review: George Russell Holds Off A Resurgent Max Verstappen, Wins Austrian Grand Prix; Kimi Antonelli Third

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Mercedes’ George Russell started on pole and overcame the race-long challenge of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to win the Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday (June 28th), gaining valuable championship points on teammate Kimi Antonelli, who finished third. The win was Russell’s second of the season, and first since the season opener in Australia.     

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fourth, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton taking fifth, followed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. McLaren’s Lando Norris finished seventh, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crossed the line in eighth, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was ninth, and teammate Arvid Lindblad took the final points-paying position of 10th.

“Incredible to be back on the top step,” said Russell. “It’s been a little while, so I’m definitely going to enjoy this one this evening. A lot of hard work from my team to get us back on track. Obviously, there was a tricky run of form at one point. Max and Red Bull were incredibly quick this weekend, so kudos to them, but thanks to everyone, thanks to the fans. It was pretty toasty out there, so looking forward to a drink now.” 

In the driver standings, Antonelli leads Russell by 40 points, 171 to 131. Hamilton is third with 125 points.

In the constructors standings, Mercedes upped their lead over Ferrari to 98 points, 302 to 204. McLaren holds third with 159 points. 

The Race

Russell held serve at the start, and the two Ferraris battled for second, with Hamilton taking the spot. Antonelli dropped to fifth after running wide on several corners.

While Russell was leading and into tire management mode, Antonelli was in fifth and chasing Leclerc’s Ferrari, with the young Italian looking to minimize the points damage should Russell win the race.  

Hamilton and Verstappen entertained with a spirited battle in the first stint, with the Red Bull eventually gaining the upper hand after the two nearly made contact. Verstappen was forced to avoid damage by putting his tires in the gravel.

Once clear of Hamilton, Verstappen, with an obviously faster Red Bull buoyed by a number of upgrades, chased down Russell midway through the race, which led to the pivotal final pit stops for the two.

Russell made his second and final stop on lap 44, at a time when Verstappen was breathing down his neck. Red Bull countered by leaving Verstappen out for six laps, and sending him out on a set of hard tires, with the deficit to Russell about 11 seconds. 

Antonelli pitted two laps later and came out four seconds behind Verstappen. Verstappen’s six-lap tire advantage was not enough, and although he cut Russell’s lead to under two seconds near the end, he never threatened to overtake the Mercedes and did well to hold off Antonelli’s charge for the runner-up spot. 

Russell took the checkered flag with a 1.6-second gap over Verstappen, denying the Dutchman a win at the Red Bull Ring.   

The Bad 

Is the honeymoon phase over for Lewis Hamiton after his landmark win in Spain on June 14th? Hamilton’s Ferrari wasn’t on point like it was in Spain, and of course, Hamilton used his signature snark to let Ferrari know that he was not happy. Just like that, radio communication between Hamilton and Ferrari is back to being testy.  

When told by Ferrari midway through the race that his car needed to be in “TS” mode, Hamilton replied, “What’s TS mode?” Now, I’m no expert, but Hamilton is, and so are his engineers, so I’m guessing that Hamilton knows every car mode available to him. And I’m also guessing that Ferrari engineers are supremely confident that their driver, in a car designed and tweaked specifically to said driver’s liking, would expect that driver to know how to place the car in any mode available. Or they wouldn’t ask.

I don’t mean to single Hamilton out, because all F1 drivers are “fair weather” radio communicators, in that they are all polite and gung-ho when things are going great, but get sour and attitudinal the minute things are not going well.

By the way, “TS” mode refers to a temperature setting used when the car is overheating. 

So Fernando Alonso is sad that Aston Martin is getting bullied on social media, behavior the Spaniard labeled “borderline abuse.” This is one time I’ll condone and advocate for online abuse. 

Look, Fernando, if losers online want to criticize the Aston Martins, cars of which, I may add, are inanimate objects and not persons, then let them. I’m sure you’re aware that F1 cars have no feelings. Now, when you call your car “unresponsive,” that doesn’t refer to the empathetic abilities of your Aston Martin; it refers to your car being so bad that it finished three laps down in Austria. And you’re right, Fernando, that car should not be bullied online, but the company employing the people who designed and built it should be bullied, unmercifully, online and to their faces.

This is a great opportunity for Alonso to speak out and condemn online bullying of real people. I think he’d be good at it. Heck, I think Alonso might be the best at it. If he is, he could finally hark back to his glory days decades ago and say he’s the “leader” at something.

After reeling off five consecutive wins, Kimi Antonelli has now gone two races without a victory. To put that into perspective, two is one less than the number of World Cups that Antonelli’s beloved Italian national team has missed consecutively. So, don’t be discouraged, Kimi. Sure, you’re winless in two races, but at least you competed in those two races. And your four poles this year make you totally authorized to speak to the Italian soccer team about “qualifying.”

The Good

Mercedes played the right strategy by pitting Russell on lap 44, just as Verstappen had closed the gap to one second. With their decision made, Mercedes forced Red Bull to contemplate two competing strategies: 1) pit Verstappen immediately for hard tires and hope that Verstappen could again chase down Russell, and 2) leave Verstappen out long enough so he could put on a set of mediums and hope those mediums held up while he pursued Russell on hard tires.

Red Bull chose the latter, and in hindsight, it was the wrong decision. Red Bull should have pitted Verstappen immediately after Russell, thereby giving their ace driver a much smaller gap to Russell (it would likely have been about three seconds). And Verstappen would have been on hard tires, the same as Russell, the same tires he closed the initial gap to Russell in the first place.

Even pitting Verstappen before Russell would have been more advantageous for ted Red Bull.

Mercedes’ brilliance was in at least making Red Bull consider two options. Had Mercedes kept Russell out for another five or so laps, Red Bull surely would have followed suit and immediately responded, and Russell would have had to deal with Verstappen’s killer instinct on his exhaust pipe for the duration of the remaining laps. As it happened, Verstappen never got close enough to make Russell worry. Red Bull’s ultimate decision took the pressure off of Russell entirely.  

George Russell was the talk of the drivers’ parade when he sported a posh Mercedes-branded “cooling jacket” that made him look a bit like a fashionable, albeit pantsless, Michelin Man. And if there was ever a term that screamed “oxymoron,” it’s “cooling jacket.” 

Did I see Charles Leclerc spritzing his hair on the grid prior to the start of the race? I think I did, and like any red-blooded human who appreciates a cool, light mist on and around the forehead, I swooned. I have a feeling that Leclerc spritzes his hair often, and this was just the first time it was televised. And I bet Leclerc spritzes often, never with tap water, and always with Evian.

You hear the word “upgrade” thrown around in Formula 1 all the time, and often, these so-called upgrades do little to improve car performance. You also hear “huge upgrade package” thrown around in F1, probably more often than not uttered by an intoxicated Lando Norris exercising his right to entertain his bro’s with crude, juvenile humor.

But especially for Verstappen, Red Bull’s changes implemented for Austria truly were a “huge, upgrade package.” Before the Austria weekend, just getting on the podium seemed to be a major accomplishment for Verstappen, and his Red Bull lacked the qualities that have put Mercedes’ and Ferrari drivers exclusively atop the podium so far.

That changed. Verstappen finished second and, with a slightly modified strategy, could easily have won the race. And that was from a start of fifth on the grid, a qualifying effort that could have been front-row worthy if not for a mysterious spin and crash in Q3 on Saturday (June 27th).

It’s easy to assume Verstappen’s and Red Bull’s performance will continue to improve, and what we saw in Austria is just a taste of what the four-time world champion is capable of this season. But nothing is given in F1; success can be fleeting. Just ask Lewis Hamilton his thoughts on that over the last 2-3 weeks. And upgrades that were successful at one track don’t always translate to success at another track.

But I think it’s safe to assume that Verstappen likes what he sees from RB’s upgrades, and when Verstappen is actually enjoying racing, it usually means he knows he can win. Verstappen will impact the drivers championship, one way or another. Can he win it? Doubtfully, unless Mercedes has an unprecedented meltdown over the course of the remainder of the season. Last year, Verstappen was written off as a championship contender before a late-season push, and McLaren meltdown (luckily for them, it wasn’t an unprecedented one) nearly put him over the top.

Things happen, and often, Verstappen makes things happen.  

Notice to directors of the F1 TV feed: give us more drone views of battles for position. I’m not sure if Austria was the first time these views were shown, but in any case, keep doing it. It’s a spectacular view of the racing, especially when the drone is following the cars engaged in battle. 

I foresee a future of more and more drone views in F1; I also foresee a future of heated recruiting battles for top drone pilots between Formula 1 and militaries across the globe.

Grid Walk Moments

The pre-race grid at Austria is unlike most F1 grids, like Monaco and Miami, for example, in that movement throughout the grid is not heavily restricted by non-essential personnel, like celebrities. I don’t believe F1 TV’s Alex Brundle was looking for celebrities on the Austria grid, which is good, because there weren’t any. 

Brundle’s Grid Walk was heavy on technical information and totally devoid of celebrity presence. I say that in a totally complimentary fashion. Now, an F1 grid can have celebrities yet still be totally devoid of celebrity presence, or general coherence, for that matter (see Martin Brundle’s Grid Walk interview with Machine Gun Kelly at the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix).  

Alex Brundle’s only interview was with Audi racing director Allan McNish, and it was informative, as McNish said he expected his drivers, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg, to contend for points. And he was right, as Bortoleto and Hulkenberg finished 11th and 12th, respectively, just outside of the points.

And it’s that type of insight, from both Brundle and McNish, that viewers would rather digest, rather than hear from a celebrity which team is hosting them.

The Driver

Few, if any, drivers could go from a crash in Q3 to a second-place finish the following day. Verstappen did that and made it look, shall I say, “routine.” As in, no one seemed to be that shocked or surprised by it.

Verstappen’s efforts in Austria were by far his best of the season. He finished second and could have won the race. It was a statement result for Verstappen. No, a four-time world champion doesn’t need to state “I’m back.” But given his dissatisfaction with his car and F1’s rules package, and his threats to leave F1, Verstappen’s implied statement post-Austria is “I’m staying.” That’s good news for the Red Bull organization and bad news for anyone who may have overlooked Verstappen as a threat to win races.

F1 Glossary Word Of The Day

*Apple TV: subscription TV streaming service that owns the United States broadcasting rights to F1, starting with the 2026 season. Apple TV hopes to lead F1 into the next decade, without leading viewership into the previous decade.

The Results

(Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring)
Pos.No.DriverTeamLapsTime / RetiredPts.
163George RussellMercedes711:26:37.97925
23Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing71+1.611s18
312Kimi AntonelliMercedes71+1.986s15
481Oscar PiastriMcLaren71+21.809s12
544Lewis HamiltonFerrari71+26.393s10
66Isack HadjarRed Bull Racing71+29.399s8
71Lando NorrisMcLaren71+31.505s6
816Charles LeclercFerrari71+45.659s4
930Liam LawsonRacing Bulls70+1 lap2
1041Arvid LindbladRacing Bulls70+1 lap1
115Gabriel BortoletoAudi70+1 lap0
1227Nico HulkenbergAudi70+1 lap0
1310Pierre GaslyAlpine70+1 lap0
1487Oliver BearmanHaas F1 Team70+1 lap0
1543Franco ColapintoAlpine70+1 lap0
1631Esteban OconHaas F1 Team69+2 laps0
1723Alexander AlbonWilliams69+2 laps0
1814Fernando AlonsoAston Martin68+3 laps0
NC18Lance StrollAston Martin45DNF0
NC55Carlos SainzWilliams23DNF0
NC11Sergio PerezCadillac4DNF0
NC77Valtteri BottasCadillac2DNF0
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