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Max Verstappen drove another stellar race as he claimed another dominant victory. Valtteri Bottas was given the get-go by Mercedes as he came second and Lando Norris finished in a fantastic third for McLaren.
The Dutchman led every lap, won from pole position and got the fastest lap of the race as he completed yet another dominant drive around the Red Bull Ring.
Starting Grid
Max Verstappen lined up on pole for the third consecutive race. The Dutchman was only five-thousandths ahead of the fantastic Lando Norris who put his McLaren on the front row with Sergio Perez directly behind his Red Bull teammate in third.
Lewis Hamilton followed in fourth with his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas starting from fifth. Pierre Gasly got his AlphaTauri into sixth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in seventh, George Russell in eighth, Lance Stroll in ninth and Carlos Sainz in 10th.
Sebastian Vettel dropped down to 11th as he was handed a three-place grid drop due to blocking Fernando Alonso at turn 10 in Q2 with Charles Leclerc in 12th. Daniel Ricciardo continued his McLaren struggles as he lined up 13th ahead of the unfortunate Fernando Alonso in 14th and Antonio Giovinazzi in 15th.
Kimi Raikkonen started in 16th ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 17th, whose luck has been torrid ever since signing his contract extension with the team. Nicholas Latifi qualified in 18th ahead of the Haas pairing of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin who started in 19th and 20th respectively.
As It Happened
Off the line, Verstappen got a clean getaway as the Dutchman led the drivers into turn one. Two corners later, the Safety Car was released as Ocon tangled with Giovinazzi which resulted in the Frenchman retiring from the race.
After the collision, the Alfa Romeo driver pitted for a fresh set of tyres as his team decided to not risk a potential puncture.
The green flag was out once more as Verstappen led the grid over the start/finish straight. Perez fought with Norris for second place but the Red Bull driver ran out of road as he went into the gravel and dropped down to 10th.
Giovinazzi was handed a five-second time penalty due to overtaking under the Safety Car with Norris another driver penalised due to forcing Perez off the track.
After 10 laps, Verstappen led the race ahead of Norris, Hamilton, Bottas, Gasly, Perez, Tsunoda, Stroll, Vettel, Ricciardo and Perez in 10th.
The two AlphaTauri’s made an early pitstop with Tsunoda and Gasly dropping down to the back of the field. Leclerc made the move on Perez but the Mexican got back ahead of the Ferrari. It did not end there as the Monegasque driver regained eighth place.
On lap 17, Ricciardo made up yet another position this time the McLaren overtook Vettel into turn four to claim fifth.
Tsunoda was yet another driver that was penalised as the AlphaTauri driver crossed the white line on pit entry which saw him handed a five-second time penalty.
At the halfway point of the race, Verstappen had a huge advantage over Hamilton in second and Bottas in third. Then came Norris in fourth followed by Sainz in fifth, Raikkonen in sixth, Gasly in seventh, Ricciardo in eighth, Perez in ninth and Leclerc in 10th.
Russell, after a torrid opening stint, was able to make up a position as the Williams driver moved up into 13th past Stroll on lap 38.
Leclerc and Perez locked horns once more on lap 41. The Ferrari man was forced wide by the Mexican which saw the Red Bull main retain eighth but was awarded a five-second time penalty for his troubles.
Six laps later, the duo went at it again as Leclerc looked to make the move at turn six. Once more, he was forced wide onto the gravel which saw Perez pick up yet another time penalty.
On lap 50, Sainz made his pit stop as he came out right behind Tsunoda. The Spaniard was able to breeze past the AlphaTauri man at turn four as he chased after Ricciardo, Perez and Leclerc.
Hamilton sustained damage to his car which saw the two Mercedes cars switch around. Bottas was released into second with Hamilton dropping to fourth after Norris overtook his compatriot to move into the podium places.
Stroll was awarded a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane as the stewards continued to penalise the drivers with Tsunoda penalised for crossing the white line on pit entry again.
The two Ferrari’s switched position as Sainz was released to chase McLaren’s Ricciardo and was able to get the move done for sixth place a couple of laps later.
Alonso and Russell battled for the final points position at the end of the race. The experienced Spaniard won that battle as he moved into 10th.
In the dying embers, Vettel and Raikkonen both tangled with each other which saw the duo spin off the track. They were both able to finish the race but classified in 16th and 17th respectively.
It was Verstappen who came across the line to finish first in a dominant display from the Dutchman. Bottas and Norris completed the podium with the duo finishing second and third.
Hamilton came fourth ahead of Sainz, who came fifth after Perez’s 10-second time penalty was applied with the Mexican finishing sixth. Ricciardo came seventh, Leclerc in eighth, Gasly in ninth and Alonso rounded out the top 10.
Russell narrowly missed out on the points as the Williams driver came across the line in 11th ahead of Tsunoda, Stroll, Giovinazzi, Latifi, Raikkonen, Vettel, Schumacher and Mazepin who was the final race finisher.
What’s Next
The Formula 1 drivers have well and truly earned themselves a one-week break after an enthralling triple-header around Circuit Paul Ricard and the Red Bull Ring.
Next up, F1 travels to the United Kingdom as a packed out crowd at Silverstone will welcome the drivers for the British Grand Prix.
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