Drama at the Austrian GP as Russell wins
Round 11 of F1 2024 in Austria: What Happened?
An ironic and not serious at all summary of the race.
I concluded my article on Barcelona GP by saying that we would see some beautiful things. Still, I didn’t believe that in nowadays Formula 1 we would witness something like this.
If you missed the Austrian GP, you missed one of the funniest and most absurd twists of recent years. Or just read this article 😉
I think the last time something similar happened was the ’21 Monza GP, when Lewis and Max, potential winners and contenders in that championship show, disappeared towards mid-race due to the Dutchman’s fault.
This time the two main protagonists of this year, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, paid the price. There are many things to say about their fight but let’s go in order. I warn you that I will go a little against the grain of what I am reading online these hours, but I am open to all opinions in the comments.
At the start I was feeling more anxious than usual, I don’t know why. Those two extra seconds of waiting when the traffic lights went off thrilled me.
I thought at that moment “Please, let it start properly this time”, given what had happened in the Sprint Race on Saturday when they had to abort the start due to a photographer on the track. Who knows if they let him enter the circuit on Sunday…
In any case, the start is smooth for everyone. Norris starts slowly once again and fails to bother Max right away. Sainz loses position on Hamilton and the father-son duo Leclerc-Piastri collide, with the “son” damaging the “father’s” front wing.
It’s basically the end of Charles’ race, alas. He pits to replace the front wing but returns on track second-to-last — still ahead of Sargeant. Like it or not, this American is still weak, I’m sorry to say, even when it doesn’t all depend on him.
Russell immediately passes Hamilton and takes P3, while the British 7-time world champion gives Sainz his position back because he had previously overtaken him by leaving the track. But the following lap he tries to attack him, with the Spaniard defending himself well.
Meanwhile, Piastri makes a beautiful overtaking on Perez in turn 6 on the outside. It’s not even worth commenting on the Mexican anymore.
In this initial part of the GP, however, everything remains more or less the same. Indeed the post-Sunday lunch abbiocco (an Italian untranslatable word which more or less means “foodcoma”) began to be felt (in Central Europe it was half past three in the afternoon).
Alonso rams out Zhou on lap 20 and took a 10-second penalty. In the meantime, the first pit stops begin: tyre degradation is very high, also considering the temperatures on the track which are close to 50°C.
Max is 6 seconds away from Norris who is chasing him, while Russell maintains a 4-second gap from Lando. Leclerc instead pits again on lap 16, as the Hard tyre was not performing as well as could be expected with such high deg.
Hamilton, Perez, Russell, and Sainz pit, followed by Max and Lando who enter together on lap 24. A meme moment is when Oscar sees Lewis cross the pitlane line as he enters the pits and immediately snitches. They give Hamilton a 5-second penalty.
But the first drama moment of the GP is a potential unsafe release inside the pitlane when Norris is about to enter his box and Max comes out of him. The thing is noticed, it goes under investigation but the FIA does not proceed.
I tell you: the 5-second penalty for Max would have been fair because Lando actually had to brake, otherwise they would have hit each other (thinking about what happened next makes me laugh).
Furthermore, the telemetry data shows a sudden change in speed in Lando’s car, due to his sudden braking. However, the FIA decided no further action for Max even though it was a clear violation of Article 34.14.
Okay, but let’s move on, the real drama is all in the end. While the two Haas are breathing a bit of fresh air in the points area, as has always been the case in Austria for a few years, the two Alpines battle spectacularly and put on a great show. Alonso who is between the two can only say “WOW”.
In all of this, Leclerc tries to reach the points area, as was predicted by his team to try to encourage him, but alas at the end of the race, he will only finish 11th. Leclerc chapter closed.
Let’s move on to lap 52. The fate of this GP is all concentrated in these handful of laps. Considering how small the beautiful track is surrounded by the greenery of the Styrian Alps, we should have jumped at the end of the race simply in the blink of an eye.
This was not the case. The reason: when the fights focus on the final stages of the race, it is as if time slows down while paradoxically we try to stop it searching for that extra decisive moment.
If there is a point of no return, it is Max and Lando’s pitstop on lap 52. A sort of sliding door. Red Bull strangely makes a very long pitstop for the Dutchman: 6.5 seconds due to a screw that didn’t turn properly in the left rear tyre.
Lando is therefore less than two seconds away. He knows that suddenly fate has given him yet another chance but which, in my opinion still due to a certain immaturity on his part, he is unable to exploit.
Max blocks his tyres in turn 4 and suddenly the giant becomes vulnerable. Lando gains half a second in the first sector alone. The attack is about to become inevitable.
The stage is always in turn 3 but the first act starts on lap 55. Lando tries to overtake him but Max closes and defends himself. The Dutchman distances himself a little from the Brit, helped by the DRS given by the lapped drivers in front of him, managing to breathe for a couple of laps.
Lando, however, is always there and gets dangerously close. He takes over the DRS from Max on lap 57, but shortly after receives a black and white flag for track limits.
Having a warning like that while he is trying to overtake can be frustrating. I have already spoken out against track limits in the past, even though this time the inclusion of gravel helped to avoid absurd penalties that absolutely do not take real racing into account.
When the rules are abstracted from reality they are useless and absurd, but unfortunately, they must be respected otherwise everything is allowed, in some cases. In this case, knowing the situation and the rules, Lando could have invented something different rather than insisting and trying to overtake Max always at the same point.
Here on lap 59, the second act: he tries again on the inside in turn 3 but blocks the tyres and goes out. This was the damned good opportunity, thinking about it now. So he tries two laps later but Max defends himself vigorously.
On lap 63 it’s the third act: he tries once again but this time Max goes long. This reminded me of the overtaking Max himself did on Leclerc in 2019 in that same corner, pushing Charles off-track. It’s dive-bombing.
Yet, I have to find myself defending Max somehow. Yes, I will be the devil’s advocate for a good time.
On lap 64, the breaking point. Lando attacks Max at the damned turn 3, Max moves slightly to the right when braking — an incorrect maneuver and prohibited by the regulations (a rule added among other things precisely because of Max in his first years in F1) — and closes in on Lando.
In the curve, Max widens “slightly” but Lando tightens the steering a little. The two then touch each other: both puncture their tyres. The Brit follows the Dutchman who, however, closes the space on the right and sends him to the grass.
Lando gets a 5-second penalty for track limits. Tell me if it’s not absurd to say to a driver “Hey, I know you were overtaking, but don’t you dare go too far off the track, eh”.
Max drives with a blown tyre and loses positions. Russell suddenly becomes the leader.
Lando retires (he will serve a three-place penalty at Silverstone) while Max replaces the tyre and returns in P5 with a 10-second penalty for the accident: he still placed ahead of Perez, who was unable to pass Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas (as always, the best of the Haas and very underrated driver).
P.S.: In defense of racing
Opinion on Max’s penalty? Very right and fair. These are the rules. But let’s be clear: we are not witnessing the new 2021. That was something else. We had a rampant talented young man who, let’s remember, with force and incorrectness, overthrew a 7 time world champion.
In my opinion, we are just experiencing a Formula 1 that is no longer used to real clashes. We are too soft, too used to duels with velvet gloves. Maybe we’ve become a little too “woke” here too.
F1 should be this instead: fights at the end of the race, accidents, twists, and unexpected winners like George Russell.
Did Max defend himself viciously? Yes, that maneuver was extremely incorrect and he should be slapped. He has committed many misconducts in the past, we know that. It seems we have gone back to the years 2016–2019.
But Lando? He wasn’t able to do a damn decent overtaking despite having the best car. And at the end of the race he even dared to say:
“I’m a friend of Max only if he admits he made a mistake, I no longer have respect for him if he doesn’t apologise”.
It looks like a “kindergarten F1”. Lando has always idolized Max too much, always dominated by his aura, and never really able to annoy him. Max, on the other hand, behaved as he has always done: fighting tooth and nail.
And he has always acted as Lando’s “pal” probably because he never considered him a worthy rival, unlike Leclerc or others.
“I fight to win, not to come second,” he said. Want it or not, this is the mentality of champions. Senna and Prost did even worse and yet we consider them among the greatest in history.
I don’t mean to say that misconduct should go unpunished. Times have changed. I just wonder: what do we want? Duels on autopilot and regulated to the millimeter?
It seems that every time we witness these scenes we suddenly fall back into reality but this outrages us. Lando took a good punch in the stomach: let it be a lesson to him, in the hope that he becomes truly evil like a true winner.
Otherwise, he could remain just one of the many young promises of F1 that were unable to be realized. But it’s not over there, I know. I hope a serious rivalry begins — of course, with respect, but off with the velvet gloves: Lando, learn to overtake and fight for real, dammit!
Let’s see what Silverstone will give us…
