Mercedes’ George Russell held on to win a tense battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The final laps of the race saw Russell in the lead being slowly caught by Verstappen while the Briton’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli chased the Dutchman.
Russell took his first win since the opening race of the season in Australia to reclaim second place in the championship and cut the gap to Antonelli to 40 points.
Antonelli caught Verstappen on the last lap but the four-time world champion held on to take his best result of the year so far.
Verstappen’s impressive second place underlined a step forward in form after Red Bull introduced a major upgrade to their car for their home race.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took a solid fourth while Lewis Hamilton, who battled with Verstappen for second in the first third of the race, dropped back to fifth on the back of a confusing strategy from Ferrari.
The key stories of an involving grand prix were:
- Russell’s overdue return to the top step of the podium after an impressive weekend’s work
- Red Bull’s revival despite Verstappen’s crash in qualifying
- Ferrari fading after showing early promise
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