Once in a while, Formula 1 treats us with a race that reminds us of why we love the sport in the first place. And that’s the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix. With summer season in full swing, the temperature is heating up and so is the competition among four teams in contention for the win. Here are five things that made the event worth watching.

1. Oscar Piastri missed out on the second row in qualifying. If there’s one thing the Red Bull Ring is known for, it’s the frequency of track-limits violations. Just look at how many penalties were issued last year. This time, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) suffered greatly. The Australian driver qualified for P3 on the starting grid. But because he exceeded track limits at Turn 6, his lap time was deleted demoting him from P3 to P7.

2. Charles Leclerc’s race was ruined on the first lap. The opening lap tends to be the messiest part of an F1 race because of a tightly packed grid. Any chance Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) had of a podium finish vanished the moment he made contact with Piastri on the first lap. The Ferrari driver dropped to dead last after pitting for a new front wing. This turned his race into an unsuccessful scramble for points as he finished in P11.

3. Verstappen vs. Norris didn’t end well. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) looked like he had a comfortable lead over Lando Norris (McLaren) throughout the race. But after a slow stop on Lap 51, the gap vanished and Norris was hot on Verstappen’s tail. Although he seemed to have the pace, the McLaren driver couldn’t make the pass on the three-time world champion.

The two collided on Lap 64 resulting in punctures for both of their cars. Verstappen managed to pit and finished the race in P5—despite a 10-second penalty for causing the collision. Meanwhile, Lando was heartbroken as he retired the car with no points scored.

4. George Russell picked up the win.

“That was really cool fighting.”
“Well, you did just win the race because of it.”

This exchange between George Russell (Mercedes-AMG) and Piastri in the cooldown room summed up what happened after the clash between Verstappen and Norris.

Although the Mercedes-AMG driver was 15 seconds behind them, at least he had all four wheels intact. So all he had to do was drive cleanly and bring the car home. Unfortunately for Piastri, he didn’t have enough time to catch up to the leader and challenge for the race win.

5. Double-points finish for Haas. As a backmarker, a single point means a lot for Haas. So imagine the team’s delight when both drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were running in the top 10—without having to resort to creative tactics.

Not only was their race clean, but the two drivers fought hard with Hulkenberg holding off Sergio Perez (Red Bull) toward the end. With Magnussen in P8 and Hulkenberg in P6, Haas is now seventh in the constructors’ standings with 19 points—ahead of Alpine, Williams, and Sauber.

The next race is the 2024 British Grand Prix on July 7 (10pm Philippine time).