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Max Verstappen delivered another fantastic win for Red Bull as he lead from start to finish at the Red Bull Ring.
The Dutchman could not have done any better as he gained pole position, won the race, lead every lap and gained the fastest lap to top off a stellar performance at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen wasn’t the only person that caught the eye as many conclusions can be taken from F1’s second weekend at the Red Bull Ring.
50th career podium for Max Verstappen topped off by a Grand Slam
After winning the Styrian Grand Prix only a week ago, it was evident that the Red Bull of Max Verstappen would dominate the second time around at the Red Bull Ring.
The Dutchman not only started from pole position but he led every lap, got the fastest lap of the race and won by a comfortable margin to complete a fantastic Grand Slam.
By winning the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen secured his 50th career podium in Formula 1, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s record with the Dutchman reaching the half-century mark two years earlier than the German.
That win also extended the Dutchman’s lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with the Red Bull man now 32 points ahead of his nearest challenger which is Lewis Hamilton.
It looks like Verstappen will not be stopped anytime with reliability being the only thing that may hamper him, but so far, so good.
Lando Norris continues his consistency
Mr Consistent brought his A game to the Austrian Grand Prix as his qualifying performance showed that it would be a fantastic weekend for him.
Lando Norris was only half a tenth slower than Verstappen in Q3 as the McLaren man lined up on the front row alongside the Red Bull driver.
The Brit pointed his car to the left as he looked to challenge the Dutchman into turn one but was unable to do with the Safety Car out after three corners due to Esteban Ocon retiring from the race.
Norris ended up having an ongoing battle with Hamilton which the seven-time world champion won proceeding to say “Such a great driver, Lando”.
McLaren’s main man finished the race on the podium in third and continued his 100% record of scoring points this season. He’s matured immensely and has proved that his performances so far have been of a top standard.
Daniel Ricciardo’s stellar recovery into the points
The Australian driver has had a poor start to his life at McLaren. His qualifying and race performances have been nothing like Norris’ but he still needs time to find his feet at the team.
It was evident when Ricciardo was in his second-year at Renault that it takes time for the Aussie to intigrate himself into the team and be one with the car.
His qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix was another poor one as Ricciardo qualified in 13th, a whole 11 places behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Ricciardo’s race performance was a fantastic one as he made his way inside the points with a great recovery drive after his poor shwoing on the Saturday.
Time will tell whether the ex-Red Bull man can prove himself in the McLaren team and if he can return to his old self by stepping back onto the podium.
FIA Race Stewards going penalty crazy
The stewards were not shy in handing out penalties for all the bad behaviour that happened during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Vettel was the first victim of the FIA’s wrath as the German blocked Fernando Alonso during his qualifying run whixh saw him earn a three-place grid drop.
Norris was the first driver to earn a penalty during the race as he supposedly forced Sergio Perez off the track which saw him get a five-second time penalty.
Perez and Charles Leclerc endured many fruitful battles in the 71 laps of racing around the Red Bull Ring with the Mexican another driver that earned himself a penalty
Yuki Tsunoda crossed the solid white line on pit entry not once but twice as the Japanese driver did not learn from his mistakes.
Many more drivers were penalised after the race as the FIA stewards continued to hand out penalties until 8pm on Sunday showing that they weren’t messing about.
Russell narrowly misses out on points
George Russell was so close to finally securing his first points as a Williams driver in Formula 1. After his fantastic qualifying performance at the Styrian Grand Prix, it was certain that the Brit would only improve the second time around at the Red Bull Ring.
Qualifying was immense for him, as not only he qualified for Q2 keeping his 100% record going, but the Williams driver made it into Q3 and out-paced Lance Stroll to finish qualifying in ninth.
He was moved up into eighth after Vettel’s grid-drop which promoted him up a place. The start was bad for Russell as he fell down the order, losing five positions, and the only thing that may save him was his strategy.
Being on the medium tyre, the Williams driver was able to run deeper into Grand Prix without pitting as he jumped most of the soft tyre runners.
In the dying embers, Russell embarked on a fantastic battle with Alonso which he lost out on but once again proved how talented of a driver he is.
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