F1 Grand Prix of Austria – Qualifying
Lando Norris sent a message to George Russell after the Austrian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris sent a message to George Russell after crashing into Max Verstappen during the Austrian Grand Prix. Russell, 26, picked up just the second Grand Prix win of his F1 career by pipping Oscar Piastri to the post at the Red Bull Ring.
His shock victory came out of the blue after race-leader Verstappen collided with Norris, who was hot on his tail with just 10 laps to go. The crash forced Norris, 24, to retire, and although Verstappen, 26, merely had to change a tyre, the unexpected pit stop ultimately cost him a place on the podium, with the Dutchman ending the race in fifth place.
Later in the day, Russell uploaded a photo to Instagram celebrating with the trophy. And fans were quick to spot that Norris, whose daring attempts to overtake Verstappen opened the door for the Brit, had posted a comment underneath.
Lando Norris in ‘pretty stupid’ Max Verstappen comment at Austrian Grand Prix
“Congrats mate,” wrote the Canadian, much to the amusement of onlookers. In response, one fan commented: “Lando congratulation George lmao. He knows what he’s doing there.”
Another said: “LOL. Norris takes Verstappen out then congratulates the guy who took his win off him. Savage.”
After the race, Russell was shown footage of the crash in the cool-off room, and couldn’t help but giggle about it. “We shouldn’t laugh,” he said, despite sharing a snigger with Piastri, who claimed second, as well as Carlos Sainz, who finished third.
Norris and Verstappen both lost out as an on-track battle got ugly.
Speaking about his win, the Norfolk-born racer said: “[It’s] incredible. It was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race just to hold onto that P3 and I saw on the TV Max and Lando getting pretty hard. I knew Lando would be wanting to get that race win.
“The team have done an amazing job to get us into this fight and you’ve got to be there to pick it up the pieces and that’s where we were. I couldn’t believe how close we were to Max and Lando, [winning] was a possibility, you are always dreaming but as I said you are so proud to be back on the top step.
“The team have worked so hard, they’ve made so many strides since the start of the season. The last two races have been incredible so more to come.”
The victory sees Russell, who’s currently seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, extend his lead over team-mate Lewis Hamilton and close the gap on Piastri, who’s sixth, to just a solitary point. Verstappen still tops the table with 237 points, a whopping 81 points ahead of second-placed Norris. Charles Leclerc is six points behind Norris in third, while Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sainz is fourth.
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