Austrian Grand Prix – Verstappen’s monopoly during the race

The start of the race was particularly brief. It was due to a very aggressive Yuki Tsunoda who spread debris from his front wing all over turn 1 after a contact with Ocon before taking a little trip in the gravel at turn 4. This small excursion caused a safety car. The race resumed on the 4th lap.

Faced with the highly dominant Red Bull of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc knew he couldn’t let the Dutchman escape in the lead. Despite attempts to overtake on the outside at turns 3 and 4, the Monégasque was unable to get the upper hand on his rival. Miscalculating the restart after the safety car, Leclerc saw a 1.5-second gap open up right from the first lap of resuming the race. Unable to stay within the DRS range of the Austrian car ahead of him, Leclerc was left vulnerable to Carlos Sainz. The latter, faster than his garage neighbor, requested his team’s permission, with the help of DRS, to go after Verstappen. Ferrari decided to freeze positions.

Very early in the race, track limits appeared to be a major issue in this Grand Prix. Overtaken by Lewis Hamilton at the start, Lando Norris not only put pressure on his fellow countryman on the track but also on the radio. The McLaren driver reported to his team every time the seven-time world champion exceeded track limits. Early on in the race, most of the comments from Julien Fébreau and Jacques Villeneuve involved pointing out all the drivers’ infractions. Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda were the first drivers to accumulate too many and were penalized with a 5-second penalty.

Clearly, the Haas is not a car designed for racing. Once again, author of a solid qualifying session, Nico Hülkenberg gradually dropped down the rankings as soon as his tires started accumulating laps. Overtaken by Pierre Gasly on the 11th lap, the German entered the pits in the same lap to switch to fresh tires. However, before he could even wear them out, his engine exploded in smoke on the 14th lap. Hülkenberg’s retirement triggered a virtual safety car, prompting many drivers to take advantage and make pit stops. Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Alexander Albon, George Russell, and Esteban Ocon were among these drivers.

The two reared-up horses returned to their stables one lap later than their opponents. Despite particularly long pit stops, over 4 seconds slow, the hope of winning was kept alive by a fast Leclerc. The Monegasque was melting away like snow in the sun, closing in on Verstappen who hadn’t stopped yet and was struggling with his aging medium tires. In the 20th lap, there was a 15.5-second gap between the two men. By the 25th lap, this gap had decreased to 13.4 seconds. Wanting to stop the bleeding, the Dutchman decided to put on new hard tires.

If we could have hoped for an intense battle between Verstappen and Ferrari, it was not to be. The Dutchman easily got rid of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to regain the lead of the race.

The midfield was also alive. Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, and Kevin Magnussen were offering spectators an impressive three-way battle wheel to wheel. With his new tires, it was the Norman who emerged victorious. Starting with a brilliant race, the Alpine driver displayed a race pace superior to that of George Russell’s Mercedes behind him. It turned out that the native of Rouen was probably pushing a little too hard as the race officials reprimanded him with a 5-second penalty. The Frenchman would be part of a long list of drivers penalized for the same reasons.

Verstappen’s domination was such in the Austrian lands that he allowed himself to dive into the pit on the 69th lap to chase the fastest lap in the race. The mechanics had to make a perfect stop, with Charles Leclerc only 23 seconds behind him. Fueled by the orange tide in the stands, the Dutchman lit up all the sectors in purple to take the fastest lap in the race from his teammate. Absolutely nothing has escaped Max’s monopoly this season.

Only 15th on the grid, Sergio Perez made a spectacular comeback to secure the 3rd position. The Mexican was notably one of the protagonists in an exciting duel between him and Carlos Sainz during the final 15 laps of the race. Losing a lot of points to Max Verstappen once again, Perez salvaged the situation by gaining a significant advantage over Fernando Alonso, who finished only in 6th place.

Finishing in 5th position, Lando Norris could at one point hope for a podium, but it turned out that his car is not yet ready for such a challenge. However, the British driver can be pleased to see the improvements made by his team enabling his car to make such a leap forward in the rankings.