Join Jonny Reynolds for a quick-fire recap of the Austrian Grand Prix, including all the reaction to a massive moment between two of F1's biggest drivers...
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The Athletic. Hello there and welcome along to the Race F1 Briefing for Sunday 30th June 2024. I'm Johnny Reynolds and on today's episode I'll be recapping the Austrian Grand Prix and bringing you all of the important post-race reaction. And I'm afraid to say that if you missed it, you missed a cracker of a race full of excitement and drama. But before you switch on those highlights, here's everything you need to know in less than 15 minutes. Yes, this was a race with more drama than a Hollywood blockbuster as a dramatic collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris handed George Russell Mercedes an unlikely first Formula One victory in a year and a half. Verstappen had absolutely dominated the first two thirds of the race leading by as much as eight seconds from Norris. An unhappy long, middle stint on hard tyres he didn't especially like and then a slow, final pitstop where the left rear tyre initially refused to release meant Verstappen rejoined only just ahead of Norris. The McLaren on new mediums versus a U set for the Red Bull then quickly got into Verstappen's DRS range and mounted a tack after a tack with the two driver's radio comments about each other's driving getting increasingly terse. A dive with 12 laps to go got Norris ahead into the turn three hairpin but he claimed the line by running wide over the run off so quickly handed the place back. It would turn out that that moment was Norris's fourth track limits breach of the race which incurred a five second time penalty but with that yet to be awarded, their battle continued. Next time they got alongside each other it was Verstappen who stayed ahead by running wide and then the contact came on the approach to the hairpin, a rub of wheels giving both cars punctures and sending them slewing off the road before a bizarre wheel to wheel battle down the hill with both cars lurching around with damage. Norris ruled his car's damage was too great and retired in the pits but Verstappen rejoined to finish fifth, however the stewards ruled the champion was at fault for the clash and applied a ten second penalty albeit one that made no difference to his result. Apart from an early dice with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, Russell was clearly best to the rest behind Verstappen and Norris throughout so it was perfectly placed to pick up the pieces after their clash and claim an ecstatic victory. Norris's teammate Oscar Piestre though had every right to feel robbed. A contentious track limits penalty and qualifying dropped him from third to seventh on the grid yet he fought through well clearing Charles Leclerc at the start despite a brush between them that broke the Ferrari's front wing making light work of Sergio Perez's Red Bull then overtaking both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz during the race before finishing just one point nine seconds behind Russell and it was Sainz who completed the podium with Hamilton a distant fourth after a race featuring a time penalty for slewing over the pit entry line at his first pit stop with a wild slide. Further back has pulled off an exceptional race to score points with both Nico Holkenberg and Kevin Magnussen in sixth and eighth respectively sandwiching no less a car than the Red Bull of Perez. Early first pit stops an excellent tire conservation set up Hussey's result with Perez limited by damage having been involved in the first lap Piestre Leclerc brush. Leclerc could only recover to 11th as Daniel Ricciardo's RB and Pierre Gasly who had another wild dice with Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon rounded out the scorers. Another race F1 briefing. George Russell was understandably elated to pick up his second Formula One victory taking great delight that here Mercedes were there to in his words pick up the pieces after Verstappen and Norris tangled. But with the greatest of respect to Russell it wasn't his reaction most people were clamoring for after the race. No everyone wanted to hear what Verstappen and Norris and their respective Red Bull and McLaren teams made of that race deciding tangle. So that's what we're going to focus on for the rest of this episode. For his part Norris felt Verstappen had raced unacceptably throughout their battle. Norris said "He's always been a bit like that. I respect Max a lot and what he can do and what he goes out and does every time he's on track. But there are times where he goes maybe a little bit too far. And today is a little bit of that." Norris added "He ruined my race, destroyed my car, some of my best bits on the car, all for the bin and we don't have a lot of spares in the battle that we're in. I just expected a bit more from him, that's all." Like Norris, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella didn't pull any punches in attacking Verstappen's race craft saying the Dutchman's driving was a repeat of incidents he'd had during his 2021 F1 title battle with Lewis Hamilton and that he should have been punished more harshly back then. Stella said "If you don't address these things honestly, they will come back. They have come back today because they were not addressed properly in the past when there were some fights with Lewis that needed to be punished in a harsher way." Strong words then. But how did Verstappen and Red Bull see the incident? We'll let you know after this. We'll get back to our race reaction in a moment but first of all I wanted to give another shout out to the home of Formula One light racing, the Singapore Grand Prix. Nowhere embraces a Grand Prix weekend, quite like Singapore. When the teams and drivers are in town, there's a buzz wherever you go. But what makes the Singapore Grand Prix such a winner for visitors is that when the racing finishes, your trip need not. There's still an amazing city and surrounding area to explore. If that sounds tempting, there are still single and three-day tickets available for the 2024 race with prices starting at 128 Singapore dollars. Just head to SingaporeGP.sg to make your selection and book your place at one of the sporting events of the year, the Singapore Grand Prix. Nothing else comes close. Before the break, we promised you Verstappen's take so here it is. Initially, the world champion called the fact he was penalised for the clash ridiculous over team radio but his post-race comments on it effectively classified it as a racing incident. Verstappen said, "The move that we got together was something that I didn't expect. I had the front a little bit inside and then under-breaking we touched the rear tyres and we both got a puncture from it, which is of course something you don't want to happen." Red Bull team principal Christian Horner used the words "racing incidents" specifically and felt the penalty was "a bit harsh" because Verstappen's race had, in his words, already being damaged by the puncture he picked up. Horner added, "For me, when I look at the replay, it looked like six of one, half a dozen of the other. Even before the race defining incident, both Horner and Verstappen had complained about the other's driving. With Verstappen feeling, Horner was dive bombing him but Horner struggled by Verstappen's defensive moves in breaking zones. You could see this building for a couple of races was Horner's final take on the matter. It was inevitable, added Horner, that at some point there'd be something close between them." However long any animosity lasts, the incident will inevitably test the relationship between Norris and Verstappen, who are friends away from the track. Asked by Skye whether the race had changed the way he felt towards Verstappen, Norris said, "I don't know, it depends what he says." If he says he did nothing wrong, then I'd lose a lot of respect for that. But if he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me, and just being a bit reckless in a way, then I'll have a small amount of respect for it. It's still a tough one to take when we're fighting for the win, I'm trying to be fair from my side, and he just wasn't. For his part, Verstappen was a matter of fact when he was asked about the consequences. Asked if it was difficult to get over moments like this when your friends he replied, "It shouldn't be," before adding, "Of course, you don't want to crash with each other, but when you are fighting for the lead and it's very close battles, it happens." It happened today, which is of course a shame. I'm annoyed, he's annoyed, I think that's fair. And that wraps things up for this episode, which was understandably dominated by Norris vs Verstappen. The teams and drivers only have a few days to catch their breath now before reconvening in Silverstone for the British Grand Prix next weekend. The race F1 briefing will of course be with you every day of the meeting from Thursday to Sunday, so be sure to join us then. Goodbye. 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