Austrian GP: Leclerc Takes Second Consecutive Ferrari Victory After Opening Lap Chaos
Austrian Gp: Leclerc Takes Second Consecutive Ferrari victory
It was an exciting race at the Red Bull Ring! Charles Leclerc beat Max Verstappen and won the Austrian Grand Prix, ensuring a second consecutive win for Ferrari. Max Verstappen, who won the sprint race on Saturday, looked set to close the gap after Leclerc encountered a problem with the throttle in the closing stages. After some reassurance over team radio, the Monegasque successfully handled the technical issue threatening his advantage in the closing laps.
The Ferrari driver effectively held the lead for most of the race, passing Verstappen three times as the Red Bull driver battled inferior tyre wear and speed.
More woes for Sainz
Before his engine failed at Turn 4, Carlos Sainz aimed to battle Verstappen for the second position. However, after his DNF, Lewis Hamilton completed the podium, finishing over 40 seconds behind the two drivers in front. At the same time, his teammate George Russell finished fourth.
Russell lost time in his first pit stop. Also, he received a five-second penalty for hitting Red Bull’s Sergio Perez early on through Turn 4, where they were engaged in a struggle, Perez and Russell made contact, sending Perez spinning into the gravel and dropping the Mexican to last position. As a result, Perez sustained damage to his car and had to join Sainz on the sidelines, with Red Bull eventually retiring the car once it was clear scoring points seemed impossible. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was the third driver that retired. Esteban Ocon finished fifth after starting sixth.
Double points in the midfield battle
Mick Schumacher, who passed both his teammate Kevin Magnussen in P8 and McLaren’s Lando Norris in P7 after serving a five-second time penalty for breaching track restrictions, was named the fans’ driver of the Day. In P9, Daniel Ricciardo gave McLaren a double-point finish, with both team’s drivers enjoying increased speed thanks to their medium-hard-hard strategy. Despite pitting three times, Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 on the grid.
Bottas finished in eleventh after starting from the pit lane when his Alfa failed to start on the grid. Albon climbed to P12 after starting in fifteenth place.
Lance Stroll was next in line, finishing 13th, while Zhou Guanyu was right behind him in P14. After that, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda struggled and ended 15th and 16th. Finally, Sebastian Vettel ended in P17 after a collision with Gasly.
