George Russell left in stitches watching Max Verstappen collide with Lando Norris to hand him Austria Grand Prix win
Mercedes star George Russell couldn't help but chuckle as he emerged victorious at the Austrian Grand Prix.
It had looked like either three-time world champion Max Verstappen or Lando Norris would claim the win as they entered a duel for first with 10 laps to go.
However, locked into a stunning battle, the pair ended up taking each other out in dramatic circumstances.
And watching in the cool-off room, a jovial Russell saw the crash that gave him victory and joked: "We shouldn't laugh," despite clearly laughing with Oscar Piastri, who claimed second, and Carlos Sainz, who finished third.
The collision between Norris and Verstappen though will be the talk of F1 into next weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Having looked likely to claim a win Verstappen appeared to suggest he had issues with his car after a slow pit stop.
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As the Dutchman slowed and came into the view of Norris, the pair began an astonishing battle for the lead.
However, an error while trying to overtake by the McLaren saw him exceed track limits for a fourth time, almost certainly guaranteeing him a five second penalty.
This meant, with 10 laps to go, Norris had to pass his on-track rival and get clear by at least five seconds.
However, the duel continued after another failed overtake where Verstappen himself appeared to go off-track to save first position.
The next attempt, though, delivered a devastating blow to Norris' McLaren.
The pair clashed into a turn resulting in damage for both cars and while Norris tried to continue he was forced to retire in the pits, while Verstappen merely had to change a tyre.
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A 10 second penalty will barely register for the Dutchman who finished fifth ahead of Haas' Nico Hulkenberg.
Even NBA superstar Joel Embiid had his say on the clash, he posted on X: "It’s the stewards fault for that collision. They took way too much time to give Norris the penalty"
After the race, Russell said: “Incredible, it was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race just to hold onto that P3 and I saw on the TV Max and Lando getting pretty hard, I knew Lando would be wanting to get that race win.
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“The team have done an amazing job to get us into this fight and you’ve got to be there to pick it up the pieces and that’s where we were.
“I couldn’t believe how close were to Max and Lando, it was a possibility, you are always dreaming but as I said you are so proud to be back on the top step. The team have worked so hard, they’ve made so many strides since the start of the season. The last two races have been incredible so more to come.”