Russell holds nerve to seal victory in Austria

George Russell has returned to second place in the drivers' championship with victory in Spielberg [EPA]Mercedes' George Russell held on to win a tense battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen for victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.

>The final laps of the race saw Russell in the lead being slowly caught by Verstappen while the Briton's team-mate Kimi Antonelli chased the Dutchman.

>Russell took his first win since the opening race of the season in Australia to reclaim second place in the championship and cut the gap to Antonelli to 40 points.

>Antonelli caught Verstappen on the last lap but the four-time world champion held on to take his best result of the year so far.

>Verstappen's impressive second place underlined a step forward in form after Red Bull introduced a major upgrade to their car for their home race.

>McLaren's Oscar Piastri took a solid fourth while Lewis Hamilton, who battled with Verstappen for second in the first third of the race, dropped back to fifth on the back of a confusing strategy from Ferrari.

>The key stories of an involving grand prix were:

Russell's overdue return to the top step of the podium after an impressive weekend's work • >Red Bull's revival despite Verstappen's crash in qualifying • >Ferrari fading after showing early promiseAndrew Benson Q&A: Send us your questionsRussell, so impressive in a number of different ways as he took pole position on Saturday, held on to the lead at the start and initially appeared to be in control of the race as he built an advantage over Hamilton.

>The seven-time champion spent the first part of the race trying to hold back Verstappen, and after a frantic wheel to wheel battle through Turns Four, Five, Six and Seven on lap 11, Hamilton blinked first and stopped for fresh tyres on the following lap.

>It was early - and it sealed Hamilton's fate as a contender at the start of the race.

>Russell and Verstappen stayed out and stopped within a lap of each other six and seven laps after Hamilton.

>Antonelli, meanwhile, had briefly dropped to fifth at the start of the race after a hectic scrap with Hamilton, Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc through Turns Three and Four on lap two.

>But he stayed out until lap 24, stopping just before a virtual safety car caused by Carlos Sainz's Williams stopping on the pit straight.

>That set the tone of the race. When racing resumed, Verstappen was about five seconds behind Russell and closing in, and Antonelli fighting past Leclerc to do the same to Verstappen.

>Verstappen had the gap to Russell down to just 1.3 seconds when the Briton stopped for a second time on lap 43, and Red Bull left their man out for a further six laps to try to build a tyre offset.

>Antonelli, meanwhile, stopped two laps after Verstappen, and the tense climax was staged.

>Verstappen had a 10-second deficit to close in 20 laps, and Antonelli five on Verstappen.

>For a time, it looked as if Verstappen would be the one to catch Russell, but Antonelli was always a threat as well.

>The gaps progressively closed through the remaining laps, and the three crossed the line in one camera shot, as Russell led Verstappen by 1.6 seconds, with Antonelli just 0.3secs further behind.

>"The tough races definitely test you psychologically," said Russell. "These last two weekends for me have been vitally important to remind myself I can do it."

Disappointing weekend for Ferrari Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battled for second place in the early stages of the race in Austria [Getty Images]Hamilton looked to be in the fight for a podium in the early laps, but his hopes of that were ended when Ferrari stopped him for a set of soft tyres under the Sainz VSC.

>It made little sense in terms of an attacking strategy, but as the race developed it seems that Ferrari simply did not have the tyre life to do only two stops like the others - Leclerc also ended up switching to a three-stop after dropping to the back of the top eight.

>Hamilton said he was struggling with balance and grip, and lost his rear tyres.

>"We over-pushed the first couple of laps and had to change the strategy and everything went in the wrong direction," team principal Frederic Vasseur said.

>Ferrari's struggles, a disappointment after Hamilton's win in Spain and an engine upgrade for this weekend, left the door open for Piastri to take fourth after a solid, low-key race, maximising the McLaren.

>Hamilton took fifth behind the Australian, while Isack Hadjar underlined Red Bull's progress with sixth, ahead of Lando Norris.

>The world champion's race was hampered by losing ground in the first lap tussles, dropping behind Piastri, and then being undercut by Hadjar at the first stops, after which he could not pass the Red Bull.

>An unhappy Leclerc rounded out the drivers from the top four teams, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10 points-scoring positions..

What's next? The season heads straight to the UK next weekend for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, from 3-5 July.

Top 10 1. George Russell (Mercedes)

>2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

>3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

>4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

>5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

>6. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)

>7. Lando Norris (McLaren)

>8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

>9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

>10. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

Full Austrian GP results • >Drivers' championship standings • >Constructors' championship standings