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George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix after a tense and gripping battle with what was a resurgent Red Bull in the hands of Max Verstappen. Russell held his nerve to ground out the victory even as the Dutchman charged at him in the final laps at the Red Bull Ring to take a win the British driver sorely wanted.

His Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli was in third, having harried Verstappen to the flag with the top three separated by just two-seconds at the end. However, Ferrari’s expected challenge failed to materialise, their car’s struggling for grip and pace in Austria, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finishing fifth and eighth. Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren with his teammate Lando Norris in seventh, while Isack Hadjar took sixth for Red Bull.

The win, Russell’s first since the opening round in Melbourne, moves him back into second place in the championship, closing the gap to Antonelli to 40 points with Hamilton now third, 46 points back.

Russell’s victory was hard fought but deserved as he could not afford to put a foot wrong with Verstappen showing so much pace to follow him home from fifth after a major crash in qualifying. Speculation about the four-time champion’s future has swirled all weekend in Austria, with rumours of a move to McLaren abounding, with their team principal Zak Brown noting that while he was happy with his lineup, of course he would sign the Dutchman if something happened to one of his current drivers.

However Verstappen has always been clear he wants performance more than anything and Red Bull know that if they deliver that, he will stay and on this form, the swathe of upgrades they brought to Austria have very much delivered at this circuit at least. Verstappen was absolutely rapid at the Red Bull Ring, the most competitive he has been all year, for his best finish this season and was genuinely in with a shot of the win.

For Russell, this was a victory the British driver badly needed, with Antonelli having taken wins from five of the previous seven meetings the British driver needed to reassert himself in the title fight and did so with no little style in Austria.

More to follow …