Door wide open for the podium
The accident that occurred in the final phase of the Austrian GP between Lando Norris e Max Verstappen did not only have the effect of infuriating the English driver and risking ruining the relationship between the two friends-rivals. In fact, there are those, like George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz, who have drawn great benefit from bumper cars at the summit. The Mercedes standard-bearer found himself handed the second victory of his career on a silver platter, while the Australian and the Spaniard grabbed a podium that would otherwise have been impossible.
Replays and smiles
It is therefore not surprising that the three of us in the ‘cool down room’ before the awards ceremony commented with a certain lightheartedness on what happened in the duel for first place. “It was a good fight, a really good fight”, commented Russell, reviewing the highlights of the match that ended with the accident. At that point it was Piastri, Norris’ boxing partner, who pointed out to Russell that his opinion wasn’t exactly disinterested: “Well, you just won the race because of it!“.
“We shouldn’t laugh”
Then commenting on the images of the accident, with the first contact and then the further closure of Verstappen on Norris, all three first place winners let out a few amused laughs. An understandable reaction and ‘recognised’ by Russell himself, who then concluded this particular episode by trying to bring the two colleagues back to order with a ‘useless’ “we shouldn’t laugh“.
