Charles Leclerc has won the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring. Lewis Hamilton continued his form from Silverstone, finishing in third, ahead of teammate George Russell.
It was a race won on strategy for Ferrari, who didn’t react to early stops made by Red Bull and giving up track position in the exchange of fresher tyres.
Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez both failed to finish the race after separate incidents forced them to retire. Sainz was in a good position and attempting an overtake on Verstappen for second on the track when his engine spectacularly failed and burst into flames in the turn 4 runoff, whilst Perez suffered damage after lap 1 contact with Russell.
Mick Schumacher scored points for the second weekend in a row, finishing in his highest ever position of sixth. The other Haas of Kevin Magnussen came home eighth in another strong showing for the American team.
The last point was closely contested between Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas and showcased an impressive drive from the both of them. Alonso claimed the point after starting 19th on the grid, with Bottas in 11th having started from pit lane.
Verstappen started well, as did Leclerc as the drivers starting on the clean side of the track utilised the better grip. Sainz also got off well from second, however ran wide at turn 1 allowing Leclerc to pass.
Russell made contact with Perez as the Red Bull attempted to go around the outside at turn 4, with Perez sustaining damage to his side pod and a broken front wing. The Mexican driver was lucky to keep his car moving in the gravel and emerged roughly 30 seconds behind the leaders, taking him out of contention of the race.
Russell took a five second penalty for his involvement in this incident, and also required a new front wing when he did come in to make his stop.
The two Ferrari’s trailed Verstappen and pulled away from the rest of the field, with nearly a 10 second gap to fourth placed George Russell by the end of lap 10.
Unlike previous occasions, Leclerc didn’t allow Verstappen to pull away with the lead, staying within DRS range for the majority of the early proceedings. The Ferrari took the lead on lap 12.
Making his stop much earlier than Ferrari helped Verstappen with track position, with Sainz and Leclerc only making their first stops 12 laps after Verstappen made his. Fresher tyres made for an easy overtake for Leclerc, who regained the lead on lap 33.
It appeared track limits was going to be an issue for drivers, as multiple warnings were given before the race had even made the half way point.
The first of the time penalties for track limit violations started to come in at the race midpoint, with three drivers, including Lando Norris having 5 second penalties added in quick succession.
Similar strategy played out between Leclerc and Verstappen at the second round of stops, with the Dutch driver taking the lead again with the trailing drivers on fresher tyres. Leclerc quickly overcame this again only a few laps later.
Such was the pace of the front three, they had lapped Esteban Ocon who was in sixth place by lap 50.
Sainz was attempting a move on Verstappen on the 57th lap when engine difficulties forced him to pull off into a runoff area, before his engine quickly burst into flames.
A virtual safety car was deployed which gave Leclerc and Verstappen cheap stops and put them on tyres with the same age with a three second gap between them.
Leclerc managed to hold on from here, the first win of his career where he has not started on pole.
