Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox twice a week during the season and weekly in the offseason.Welcome back to Prime Tire, where today I’m reflecting on an Austrian Grand Prix that, but for a few tiny details, might’ve had a very different race result.George Russell won for the first time since the Australian GP, the season’s opening race in March, to reignite his championship run. But Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli could both easily have won. (We get into it below.)I’m Alex, and Madeline Coleman will be along later.Russell’s Revival: Briton finally finds some luckAs we’ve covered extensively, Russell has endured some truly awful luck since he won in Australia.Yes, Antonelli retired with a Mercedes engine issue in Spain. But by then, Russell saw his China and Canada weekends sour, had his Japan safety car timing misfortune and faced everything that went against him in Monaco.But last weekend, during Austria qualifying, Russell finally caught a break. Russell’s incredible luck, combined with his brilliance, won him the race.
When Verstappen crashed in Q3, a marshal rapidly (and erroneously) activated a single-waved yellow flag warning — meaning the drivers that came by the scene a few seconds later could complete their laps if they slowed down enough (by the F1’s standards) in response to the flag.
