F1. Austria 2024 Review

By Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle and Aiden McLaughlin

Driver of the day

Chelsea – It’s probably getting boring, but Lando again. The fight he took to Max Verstappen showed heart, determination, and a (mostly) clear head. I can’t wait to see what he brings to Silverstone – after finishing second to Verstappen last year by a gaping 3.7 seconds, I like to think he’ll be much hotter on the heels this time around. Imagine a triple British podium! Imagine…

Aiden – What a day for Haas. Kevin Magnussen started in P12 and finished P8, for his second set of points this season. But I’m going to give my driver of the day hat tip to his teammate Nico Hulkenberg. Starting from P9, the German had a great race, fighting his way forward to finish P6, his best result since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. It also equalled the team’s best result since Mick Schumacher finished sixth in Austria in 2022. Hulkenberg had a great battle with Sergio Perez in the closing stages and kept his cool to edge the Mexican. Haas are now where I expected Williams to be this season. A penny for Guenther Steiner’s thoughts?

Gavin – Max Verstappen is ruled out of contention for taking out Lando Norris. Lando Norris is ruled out of contention for being practically the only driver to be on a last warning for exceeding track limits. So by default it goes to race winner George Russell. When all around was descending into chaos he swooped in, held his nerve, and got the ultimate reward. It was a steady weekend that delivered another different race winner and also three different teams on the podium. I thought I could hear Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes crying when he realised George was about to be the race winner.

 

Moment of the weekend

Chelsea – It all started to get interesting at lap 52, when a dominant Max Verstappen experienced an unusually slow pit stop. For a team who pride themselves on breaking records in the pits, this was a major letdown. Ultimately, it led to Lando Norris chasing down Verstappen and ultimately clashing at lap 64, eliminating Norris from the race and knocking Verstappen down to 5th place. “Holy moly!” cried George, “I do believe I might pilfer that podium.”

Aiden – Lap 64, Toto Wolff, as excited as a Hans Zimmer guitar string utters: “George you can win this – you can win this George!”

George Russell, his racing helmet struggling to keep those wild locks of hair in place told Toto straight: “Just let me f***ing drive.”
Wolff beat himself up a bit afterwards – he’d done it as Russell was exiting turn three, a big no no, reflecting afterwards: “I will be forever ashamed of this, because you look at where you message the driver. You don’t do it on braking, or in high-speed corners. But I didn’t look on the GPS [to see] where he was, I just saw these two taking each other out and we anticipated it, and then I just emotionally pushed the button and said ‘we can win this’.”
Mercedes had been without a win since Russell won the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, 33 races ago, so it was great to see genuine emotion from their leader, even if the timing could have been better.

Gavin – Max Verstappen taking Lando Norris out was spectacular. It shows that, just like when he was a rookie, when Max is under pressure he cracks just like everyone else. Yes they were racing for the lead and it was close and competitive, but Max stepped over the line and ended the race for the McLaren man. The crash was the last in a sequence of race dodginess from the Dutchman, in my opinion he was changing positions under braking to block off Lando at various points in those couple of hectic laps. This is the mindset of a winner and is no different to how the legions of F1 champions that have come before him have raced, and it makes for great viewing, but is also not right. What it does now show that the Red Bull is not the out and out dominant car anymore, and even though someone has to be at the back of the grid the times between teams are not big at all which is making for a far more interesting season than it was looking like we were going to get (or, more accurately, endure).

 

Hot take of the weekend

Chelsea – I kept waiting for Verstappen’s ten second penalty to affect his finishing position, before realising that the front of the grid were so far ahead that it made no difference. Was his fifth place punishment enough? I think so; there have been much larger injustices in racing. It was such a joy to see a messy squabble that I find it hard to be outraged.

Aiden – Regular readers of this column will know I have a fondness for pre-race National Anthems. But I’m sticking my neck out here people…the Austrian one is year in, year out THE best, THE most memorable. I’ll leave you to search YouTube to find some other exquisite examples of this (believe me, they are waiting for you) but in the meantime, here is the legendary Hans Zimmer and co. This would win Eurovision every single year and then a Grammy, an Oscar and your local Karaoke contest on top.

https://youtu.be/lCCdOJf_7Xo?si=E7pQr8ExCnPbdl_F
PS. Does anyone else think that the fella at 1 min 4 secs might be Dustin Hoffman?

Gavin – Haas had a great race weekend with Nico Hulkenberg finishing P6 whilst Kevin Magnussen was two places behind in P8. They were my early season pick for a team on the up and so far they have been making me look like I actually know something about the sport. I am not sure what Ayao Komatsu is doing but it sure is working and I am sure Gene Haas must be happier when getting a call from his team principal these days unlike the previous couple of seasons – “Hi Gene…”

 

Cold take of the weekend

Chelsea – I wish Gunther were here to celebrate Haas’ hearty points haul. Both Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished in the top ten this week, and it wasn’t the same without the former team principal’s colourful turn of phrase. On another Haas note, whispers are that impressive youngster Oliver Bearman is about to sign on the line. With several places still open on the 2025 grid, there’s plenty of silly season to go yet.

Aiden – Bad Max is back. Bad Red Bull are back. Actually, did they ever go away? But as much as McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella and many others may (rightly in my opinion) state that the regulations need to be applied differently so that Max keeps his driving elbows a little more to himself, here’s the thing; this drama sells. We haven’t had a duel like this since Verstappen v Hamilton in 2021. It’s good for the viewing numbers and after Max’s dominance in recent years, that’s a big deal. I’m not expecting much to happen, unless Christian Horner throws Jos Verstappen onto the track at Silverstone just as Norris enters Club Corner for the last time this weekend – and then gets Geri to go out and see if Lando is ok. Even then, it will probably just be a small fine.

Gavin – Fernando Alonso must be having buyers remorse after committing to staying at Aston Martin. Their performance has dropped off a cliff, just at a time that their engine supplier Mercedes has started to look competitive again. It is almost like someone has discovered that the works engine was accidentally being sent to the customer team and this has now been rectified. Next up is Silverstone and like Ferrari, the Aston Martin will struggle on those fast corners.

Bonus Pictures of the Week

The race winner celebrating in his now iconic pose.

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