Max Verstappen has extended his championship lead and taken his fifth consecutive victory with a dominant display at the Austrian Grand Prix overnight. Charles Leclerc was a comfortable second, while Sergio Perez charged from 15th on the grid to finish third.
It was another well-rounded performance from Verstappen, who maximised the pace on offer from the Red Bull off the start, only briefly surrendering his lead to Leclerc when pit stops came into the equation.
Leclerc had been forced to hold off a challenge from teammate Carlos Sainz over the opening laps, the front three pulling clear of Hamilton, who had passed Norris off the start to move into fourth.
For Hamilton, that was as good as the race got, the seven-time champion the first of many to suffer fallout from track limit violations that have plagued the weekend with an early 5-second penalty.
Sainz was another to suffer a similar fate, also awarded a 5-second penalty which brought Perez into the equation late in the race. A thrilling two lap battle over the closing stages between the pair saw the Red Bull move through for a hard-earned podium.
Sainz was forced to settle for fourth, having overcome a resilient Lando Norris after serving his penalty. McLaren’s new upgrade package, which was only being run on Norris’s car, showed a noticable leap in pace. Fifth place and a good haul of points was an appropriate reward for Norris who was also voted ‘Driver of the Day’.
Fernando Alonso was sixth home, the pace of the Aston Martin unable to match that of the front-running teams unlike previous race weekends. He was, however, able to pass Hamilton, as he served his penalty, for sixth.
Hamilton was forced to settle for seventh, complaining about difficulties with his car and his 5-second penalty, while George Russell ran a quiet race to finish eighth.
Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll rounded out the points, the latter managing a move on Alex Albon on Lap 64 to claim a sole point for Aston Martin. Albon held 11th, one spot ahead of Esteban Ocon.
Logan Sargeant drove his best race of the season to finish 13th, ahead of Guanyu Zhou and Nyck De Vries. De Vries was another driver to face the wraith of the stewards, awarded a 5-second penalty after running Kevin Magnussen off-track mid-race.
Valtteri Bottas was 16th, ahead of Oscar Piastri who was forced to box for a new front wing after running into the rear of Magnussen on Lap 23. The contact came as Magnussen attempted a move on Sargeant, nudging the rear of the Williams and leaving the trailing Piastri nowhere to go. The Australian was also running on the older-spec version of the McLaren and is expected to have significant upgrades applied ahead of the British Grand Prix.
Yuki Tsunoda had a race to forget and finished 18th, having boxed for a new front wing on Lap 1 after Turn 1 contact off the start. The debris from the contact triggered the race’s sole Safety Car as the track was cleared. To compound matters, he was also awarded a 5-second track limits penalty early in the race, and then another 10 seconds late on for his seventh indiscretion.
Haas will be looking to leave Austria as soon as possible following a difficult race which saw Magnussen finish 19th and the last of the classified runners. A lack of race pace and some misfortune were the cause of his unravelling.
The same could be said for Nico Hulkenberg, who started strongly but was quickly fading until he lost power on Lap 14 and was forced to retire.
Victory and the fastest lap for Verstappen sees him leave the Red Bull Ring with a maximum 34 points to extend his lead in the championship over Perez to 81 points.
Leclerc’s podium marked a significant milestone for Ferrari as their 800th top-three finish.
Post-race penalties for track limit violations have since shuffled up the order, with Sainz relegated to sixth and Norris and Sainz promoted to fourth and fifth, respectively.
Gasly was also pinged and drops to tenth, behind Stroll, while a number of drivers outside the top 10 were also impacted. Ocon was one of the worst offenders, having 30 seconds added to his time.
Formula 1 returns next weekend for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Header Image: Peter Fox/Getty Images
