Max Verstappen cruised to the win at the Styrian Grand Prix this afternoon – leaving the Mercedes team in awe of the speed of the RB16B.
Joining the Dutch driver on the podium this afternoon was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in second with the fastest lap of the race after a late switch to soft Pirellis.
The seven-time world champion spent the race desperately trying to catch the Red Bull, but the Mercedes couldn’t match the immense speed of the championship-leading car.
Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes held Sergio Perez off until the end and took the final step on today’s podium with Perez crossing the line in 4th.
Highlights
It was chaos from lights out, with Verstappen leading the pack, and managing to stay ahead of Lewis Hamilton into Turn One. Meanwhile, Perez was able to get the better of Lando Norris’ McLaren and lifted himself into third on turn 3.
He didn’t hold the position for long as Norris reclaimed it at Turn 4 and had a clear path towards the British world champion.
The AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly had a terrible start after getting roughed up by four other cars on track at Turn Three and sustaining a left-rear puncture that sent him to the pits and out of the race.
By Lap 3, Verstappen had stretched his lead to 1.6s over Hamilton, with Norris 6s off the pace at this point.
Heading into Lap 8, it looked as if Daniel Ricciardo’s bad luck had carried over from Qualifying as he was demoted four places due to a temporary loss of power – a disappointing moment for the Aussie driver who had managed to make up the same number of places from lights out.
Lap 11 saw Norris in the other McLaren leave the door wide open for the Red Bull of Sergio Perez to move up into third. There was little defence from the young Brit, leaving spectators questioning if he had a similar glitch to Ricciardo in the MCL35M.
Meanwhile, the Ferraris were struggling further afield with Carlos Sainz on medium Pirellis in 10th while Charles Leclerc was all the way down in 17th after issues earlier on in the race saw him pit on the first lap – he was now 43s off the lead on hard tyres.
On Lap 20 Verstappen was cruising out front – a comfortable 4s in the lead – but the Mercedes of Hamilton was closing in behind him on well-kept tyres as Verstappen took to the radio to say he was struggling.
George Russell pitted for a fresh set of Hard Pirellis on Lap 27 but was held there for 18s and returned to the race in 17th after holding eighth place beforehand.
Lap 30 then saw the race leader, Verstappen pit for Hard tyres, returning to the race comfortably ahead of Lewis Hamilton who was now trailing just 4.6s behind.
The Ferraris were finding pace as the race went on, and by the 32nd lap, Sainz was in 6th and Leclerc in a much-improved 9th.
At the halfway point, Verstappen was still 4.5s ahead of Hamilton – who was beginning to push to close the gap in these vital laps.
The second Mercedes of Bottas was in 3rd, ahead of the Red Bull of Perez in fourth while Sainz’s Ferrari was in 5th.
Lando Norris was back in 6th after a P3 start with Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen hot on his tail in 7th and Mclaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in 8th.
Closing out the top ten at this point was the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc who remained in ninth in front of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 10th.
On Lap 39, Williams’ George Russell had to retire from the race after it was confirmed that they needed to manage a power unit issue – a cruel outcome for the young British driver after a brilliant qualifying session.
Ten laps later, Sainz was up into 6th after overtaking Stroll’s Aston Martin out of Turn Three, while his teammate Charles Leclerc was also continuing to make his way up the field, after a temporary drop, managed to get around the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel at Turn Four – returning once again to the points.
On lap 55 the leading Red Bull remained in the distance – 8.2s ahead. Hamilton was in second, reporting blistering on his front right while his teammate was 24s behind in third.
Red Bull opted to pit Sergio Perez once more for a set of medium tyres, in a final attempt to catch the Finn Mercedes and secure a double podium finish.
Lap 60 saw Charles Leclerc charge further up the field in his Ferrari and was in 7th, just behind his teammate after overtaking Alpine’s Alonso and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
In the final 3 laps, it was clear Verstappen would take the win at the Styrian Grand Prix this weekend as he was 17.2s ahead of his closest competitor Hamilton in second.
He swiftly crossed the line victorious this afternoon to claim his third victory this season with 35.7s to spare.
Joining the Dutch driver on the podium this afternoon was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in second with the fastest lap of the race after a late switch to soft Pirellis.
His teammate Valtteri Bottas held Perez off until the end and will take the final step on today’s podium with Perez crossing the line in 4th.
In 5th was the McLaren of Lando Norris after a P3 start. He finished well ahead of his Aussie teammate in P13 at the chequered flag.
The Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished in P6 and P7, after a particularly impressive race from the Monegasque driver who charged up the field from P17 after a first lap pit.
Aston Martin’s Stroll was in 8th, ahead of the Alpine of Fernando Alonso, and Yuki Tsunoda closing out the top ten.
Racing resumes next weekend at the same venue for the Austrian Grand Prix.
