George Russell stood up to Max Verstappenโs challenge and ended his 112-day wait for victory by winning the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg on Sunday, breathing new life into his world title bid.
Russell entered the eighth round of the season at the Red Bull Ring without a win since the opening match of the season in Melbourne on 8 March.
But the British driver put in an impressive performance in the sun-drenched Styrian mountains, crossing the line 1.6 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished third, just 0.3 seconds behind Verstappen, allowing Russell to cut the Italianโs title lead from 50 points to 40 a week before the British Grand Prix.
George Russell won in Austria. Getty
Russellโs triumph also saw him move ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the standings after a questionable three-stop strategy derailed the Ferrari driverโs challenge.
Hamilton took fifth place at the checkered flag and is now 46 points off the championship pace.
Oscar Piastri finished fourth ahead of Hamilton, Verstappenโs Red Bull teammate Isak Hajjar sixth and reigning world champion Lando Norris seventh.
โYabba-dabba-doo!โ Russell shouted, channeling his inner Fred Flintstone after the race.
Russellโs title bid has been marred by bad luck, indifferent form and an impressive Antonelli, but the Englishman will feel a weight lifted from his shoulders ahead of his home event at Silverstone next weekend.
Breaking form to take pole position on his last legs, Russell maintained his composure heading into Turn 1 as the drama unfolded behind his Mercedes.
Hamilton passed teammate Charles Leclerc for second on the opening lap, before Antonelli briefly moved into third but dropped two positions after running off the track.
Verstappen crashed out of qualifying at the penultimate corner but picked up two positions to take third with Hamilton firmly targeting him.
On lap 11, Hamilton and Verstappen swapped positions at turns three and four before the Red Bull driver dropped two wheels on the gravel at turn six and called for punishment for his former rival.
โItโs a penalty, a clear penalty,โ said Verstappen, upset that Hamilton had left him with nowhere to go during their thrilling duel.
Stewards noted a hot spot but objected to any major action.
โ George Russell on โniceโ pole lap and yellow flag drama: โGlad common sense prevailedโ
โ Mercedesโ George Russell takes controversial pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen crashes
โ Max Verstappen called the crash at the end of qualifying โstrangeโ: โThere has never been anything like itโ
Hamilton scored his first hat-trick of stops โ a strategy that backfired โ helping Verstappen into second place and 5.7 seconds behind Russellโs Mercedes.
Verstappen changed tires on lap 18 and Russell stopped the next time. And Verstappen returned to Hamiltonโs Ferrari gearbox for the second chapter of their Spielberg ding-dong.
As before, Verstappen overtook Hamilton at turn three, but Hamilton regained the position at the next corner. But Verstappen learned his lesson from 11 laps earlier and instead of passing Hamilton on the outside of Turn 6, he threw his Red Bull under the Britonโs Ferrari. Was Hamilton taken by surprise? Either way, Verstappen got the seat and Hamilton wonโt see him again.
Carlos Sainz broke down and the virtual safety car was deployed. Ferrari called Hamilton up for a second time โ from a clear third place on the track โ and switched him to the least durable soft tire compound. This meant that Hamilton would have to stop at least one more time. Hamilton was seventh at that time.
Up front, Verstappen began to lose Russell and by the start of lap 40 the Dutchman was just over a second behind.
But Mercedes acted quickly, bringing Russell on for a second time, and when Verstappen stopped to check his tires six laps later he was almost 11 seconds behind. It was Russell who had to lose here, and although Verstappen won by almost 10 seconds in 22 laps, he was unable to cope with the serious challenge and actually led the final lap, ensuring that Antonelli did not slip past and take second.