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Max Verstappen stated that the "orange" behind him during the Austrian GP was "ugly," comparing that to the crowd during the race. He started the race in pole position with Lando Norris in P2.
Red Bull were able to return to pole position for the first time since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Verstappen started the race from P1, with Lando Norris behind him. The qualifying session was extremely close, as the top ten drivers were split by just a little over 1.5 seconds.
Before the start of the race, the Dutch driver was asked by the media about the "orange" starting behind him (Norris in the McLaren). He replied sarcastically, praising the audience gathered at the Red Bull Ring for the race, saying:
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"Yeah but this is the good orange. The one behind me is ugly so it's okay we'll deal with that."
Although the RB20 has not looked like the fastest car on the current grid, the team was able to set it up rather perfectly for the track. Max Verstappen took a huge lead as soon as the lights went out and created a 6-second gap.
However, the race did not end well for both him and Norris.
George Russell wins Austrian GP after Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collide in the final stages
The race win looked pretty much in the hands of the three-time world champion, however; he started losing tire life rapidly as the race neared the end. Lando Norris was chasing the leading Red Bull closely, but Verstappen was able to defend himself.
On the 64th lap of the race, Norris dived his McLaren deep into Turn 3 of the track, but Verstappen tried to defend the lead extremely hard. In the process, the two drivers made contact, and both suffered from damage.
Max Verstappen lost the lead of the race and Lando Norris had to retire his car on the same lap. The former was given a 10-second time penalty for the incident and he finished P5. Meanwhile, George Russell, who started the race in P3 and drove consistently throughout the race, was gifted the lead.
He was able to defend himself from Oscar Piastri, who was on a set of medium tires, and won the Grand Prix. This marked his second F1 race win, and Mercedes's first in over a season.
The podium finished with Piastri in P2 and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in P3.
