Red Bull missed out on victory in the Austrian Grand Prix after a race-changing collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
The Dutchman had been on course to win the race only for delays at his second pit-stop to bring Norris back into play. After a frenzied multi-lap battle, contact between the Red Bull and the McLaren damaged both cars and took both out of contention for the win.
Verstappen would duly cross the line 5th, with Norris failing to finish altogether. Meanwhile, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez would finish 7th after failing to clear the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
Despite failing to win, Verstappen extended his lead in the Driver’s Championship thanks to both Norris and Charles Leclerc failing to score points. The reigning champion currently holds an 81 point lead on Norris, who in turn is 6 clear of Leclerc.
Perez, meanwhile, is in 5th in the championship. He is 17 points behind Carlos Sainz and 6 clear of Oscar Piastri.
In the Constructors Championship, Red Bull retain their advantage with the Milton Keynes-based team now 64 points ahead of second place Ferrari and 87 ahead of McLaren.
The trajectory of the race changed for Verstappen after a slow pit stop with 20 laps to go. Having lead from the start, the Dutchman came in still leading the race despite admitting he was uncomfortable on the hard tyres.
But delays on changing one of his rear tyres kept Verstappen in the pits for longer than Norris, who had pit on the same lap. A lock-up on his outlap then also helped slash the gap, which went from being 7 seconds to just over 2, and with the McLaren on fresh tyres gaining on a Red Bull using pre-used tyres.
Norris duly began launching multiple attacks on Verstappen, but seemed to have hit a drag on momentum when he overshot the track in a move on lap 59, which would later earn him a 5 second time penalty.
Norris then also forced Verstappen off, adding to the drama, until eventually, on lap 64, the two made contact at turn 3 as Norris tried to dive down the inside and Verstappen changed line under braking.
The two stricken cars limped back to the pits, even briefly racing each other despite being on 3 wheels. Verstappen would rejoin the race while Norris was forced to park up and retire the McLaren car.
Verstappen would be deemed at fault and handed a 10 second time penalty, though this would have no bearing on his final position of 5th due to being over 10 seconds ahead of the cars behind.
The damage would however deny Verstappen a chance to win for a 6th time at the Red Bull Ring, as Mercedes instead profited to see George Russell swipe the Austrian Grand Prix victory.
Meanwhile, Perez had made a quick start to bypass Charles Leclerc and Piastri, although he required robust defending to hold off the McLaren. Piastri would however jump back past him a few laps after the start.
Perez’s hopes would however be hit by damage from contact with Piastri on lap one, which limited his pace, and his hopes were further hurt when he picked up a 5 second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane during his first pit stop.
The Mexican would ultimately spend the final stint of the race frustrated behind the Haas of Hulkenberg. Perez made multiple attempts to get past his former team-mate, but was never able to stick the landing, including a failed attempt on the final lap.
Red Bull will seek to bounce back next week, when the grid moves to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.