Up until ten laps from the end it looked like the Austrian GP would once again be a Max Verstappe affairn, but a team radio and the message that the tyres were finished changed everything; first the hook by Norris, then a no holds barred duel, led Lando to retire and the reigning champion to slip to fifth place and with a 10-place penalty for the contact with the Englishman.
George Russell took advantage of the head-to-head and brought Mercedes back on the top step of the podium after an absence starting from the 2022 Brazilian GP; Behind him came a combative Oscar Piastri on McLaren, quick to overtake the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz as soon as the green flag was given following the safety car due to the collision between the two litigants.
Fourth place for Lewis Hamilton who initially engaged in a battle with his teammate and subsequently set back for a 5 second penalty for having crossed the white entry line into the pit lane.
The surprise of the day was the two Haas cars, both in the top ten, with Nico Hulkenberg sixth and Kevin Magnussen eighth, closing in on the Red Bull of an always anonymous Sergio Perez. A good ninth was Daniel Ricciardo in the Racing Bulls, ahead of the Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, who had been engaged in a series of wheel-to-wheel clashes with teammate Esteban Ocon, twelfth.
Charles Leclerc was really unlucky this weekend, eleventh, after three pit stops, but above all after having to recover from the back of the grid after a contact with Piastri at the start.
