Norris and Verstappen battle ends in tears as Russell wins Austrian GP

Verstappen initially outclassed Norris in a tense, multi-lap battle. Red Bull Racing made the Dutchman work hard after making a mistake in the pitstop, but Verstappen gave a defensive masterclass against an attacking Norris. That was until the two drivers collided. The stewards deemed Verstappen at fault for the incident. It resulted in Norris retiring and Verstappen crossing the line in 5th. Verstappen then took a ten-second penalty.

Sergio Perez's advance through the field wasn't successful again. The Mexican also received a five-second penalty for speeding through the pitlane. He eventually finished 7th. Lewis Hamilton's fourth place finish ensured Mercedes were the top scorers from the Grand Prix.

Tension increased at Alpine. Neither French driver wanted to yield to their teammate and Pierre Gasly was clearly angry with his teammate after he felt he pushed him off the track in the middle stages of the race at the Red Bull Ring. "What the ***? What was that? Why did he just run me off the track!" Team principal Bruno Famin might have to step in once again after the race in Austria, as it's not the first time this season the two have had an issue on track, though Ocon will leave the team at the conclusion of the season.

How the Austrian Grand Prix happened

Max Verstappen started the Australian Grand Prix in first place. The Dutchman was fastest in Saturday's qualifying session after winning the sprint race earlier in the day, dominating qualifying and finishing half a second clear of Norris in P2. George Russell and Carlos Sainz locked out the second row. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc started in P5 and P6, respectively, with Oscar Piastri starting down the gird in P7 after his lap time was deleted at the end of the session. Sergio Perez's miserable form continues, qualifying way off the pace in P8, not even having a new set of tyres to use in Q3. All drivers started on the medium tyres, apart from Zhou on the hards.

Verstappen got the better of Norris off the line again and comfortably led into the first corner. By the end of the first lap, the Dutchman had already pulled a one-second gap. Leclerc was the biggest loser on the opening lap. Leclerc got squeezed by Piastri and Perez, and he lost part of his front wing. The man from Monaco had to pit and dropped back to P19. The two Mercedes drivers engaged in a duel, which was won by Russell. Hamilton then had to let Sainz through after an earlier incident.

Hamilton was first of the front runners to enter the pits but put himself under investigation as the Mercedes driver got close to the white pit entry line. He picked up a five-second penalty. On lap 23, Verstappen and Norris pitted for hard tyres. The two drivers got quite close together when Red Bull released Verstappen, and the stewards wanted to investigate. On lap 32, Verstappen opened his lead to 7.5 seconds. Sergio Perez was caused speeding in the pitlane and picked up a five second penalty.

On lap 40, Verstappen reported problems with his tyres, and Norris started to gain marginally. He pitted on lap 51, and Norris followed him again. The Dutchman lost around 3 seconds due to a slow pitstop. He nearly ran off the track on his out-lap and had a small lockup. Norris had a chance to attack, but Verstappen slammed the door shut. Norris had another go but ran off the track. The stewards slapped a five-second penalty on him for too many track limit violations. But none of that mattered as the two collided.