The winner shouts his “Yabadabadoo” into the helmet microphone with verve, as if he had won the Formula 1 World Championship and not just the eleventh World Championship race of the year. The outburst of emotion did not come from Max Verstappen, who looked like the deserved winner at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday for a long time, but from Mercedes driver George Russell. It is the Englishman’s first victory since November 2022. Lucky. Oscar Piastri comes second in the McLaren ahead of the Ferrari with Carlos Sainz. If you’re looking for Verstappen’s Red Bull and his rival Lando Norris’s McLaren in the fight for the drivers’ title, you’ll have to slide your finger far down the list. Verstappen still manages to finish fifth and set the fastest lap of the race, while Norris is no longer counted. Nico Hülkenberg from Emmerich crossed the finish line in sixth place in the Haas. Chapeau.Devastating pit stopTorn tire parts fly through the air, carbon splinters – as soon as Verstappen’s solo event has become a real duel with Norris, there is a crash. The race in the home of the racing team looked like a solid coffee run, but it ended for the favorites with a spectacular crash seven laps before the end, one with an announcement. The two fighting cocks fought for laps after the lone leader Verstappen had his comfortable lead of seven Lost seconds at the last pit stop because the left rear wheel was stuck. External content from Twitter In order to display external content, your revocable consent is required. Personal data from third-party platforms (possibly USA) may be processed. Additional Information . Activate external contentHis pursuer Norris senses his chance; he had already outwitted his rival in Saturday’s sprint race, but then lost the lead again. But this time the Brit has the faster car. On the 55th lap, the McLaren was almost stuck in the Red Bull’s tail during the first attack. Verstappen swerved to defend himself, but the attacker immediately complained. Moving while braking is against the regulations. The nerves are on edge during these crucial 60 kilometers. The wild hunt needs all the concentration.Norris gets into it. On the 59th lap the time has come, Norris pushes past on the inside, but slips off the track and has to let Verstappen through. Worse still: the Briton left the track once too often and received a five-second penalty for it. Norris also gets involved in this duel, commenting on his opponent’s every driving maneuver over the radio in order to alert the race management to possible violations by the Dutchman. External content from Twitter In order to display external content, your revocable consent is required. Personal data from third-party platforms (possibly USA) may be processed. Additional Information . Activate external contentTen laps before the black-white-checkered flag, Norris moves very close to Verstappen again, the duel remains breathtaking. Now it is attacker Norris who pushes Verstappen off the slopes. It becomes apparent: whoever stays calmer will win. The advantages in the action crime thriller at full throttle switch back and forth between the two. Then the crash, which ends the degenerated duel in one fell swoop. Norris tries force again, but this leads to a ruined tire and a damaged wing. As his orange racing car is already cruising along the grass verge, he tries to attack. Verstappen’s adrenaline remains high, he curses his colleague in a seemingly friendly way with a sarcastic “Nice!” “We’ll talk, maybe not today.” Both cars drag themselves to the pits, the Dutchman gets replacement tires, while Norris has to park his car in frustration . As if for a joke, Verstappen still sets the fastest lap, he needs that for his ego and also for the increasingly close fight for the title. Although he increased the lead in the drivers’ championship to 81 points over Norris, who accused Verstappen of changing the line in the braking zone. “That was stupid of him,” said Norris. He expected more from Max. He defends himself: “It was difficult to defend,” he tells the TV channel Sky, “he was always at the limit. Sometimes we didn’t have it More under control. We’ll talk, maybe not today.” The track stewards blame him and add ten penalty seconds to his time. That didn’t change the theory that Verstappen is not only the best overtaker in the premier class. but also the most difficult pilot to overtake, has become apparent. At the limit, the line between permitted defensive measures and unclean means is extremely narrow. Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko is the first critic: “It was unnecessarily harsh of both.” But Marko is also partial and emphasizes: “It was unnecessary for Max to be deprived of victory like that.” But all of the 100,000 spectators will share the following assessment: “It’s a shame that a great fight had to end like this.” Hülkenberg beats Perez in sixth place As in the sprint race, the Dutchman’s victory at the Red Bull Ring seemed to be just a formality. Norris in the McLaren next to him, Russell in the Mercedes behind him. Unlike last time in Barcelona, Verstappen can observe his rivals in the rearview mirror shortly after the first bend; at the end of the first uphill section, the lead is already one second. The defending champion continues to move in his own sphere. Hülkenberg, who started ninth in the Haas-Ferrari after a strong qualification, is holding up well. The Emmericher and his Danish teammate Kevin Magnussen seem to be trying a rematch of the Euro round of 16 on four wheels, but here too Germany has a clear advantage. The future Audi driver uses good tactics and a more than solid performance brings him to sixth place in the end, ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.More on the topicThe prelude to the big bang at the end begins with the double pit stop by Verstappen and Norris the 24th round. The Dutchman is dispatched quickly as usual, turning from the hard shoulder back into the pit lane at the very moment when Norris shoots up from behind to change his tires. The Brit immediately complained about intentional obstruction. But the inspectors are merciful and stop the investigation. You end up dealing with completely different incidents.
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