Verstappen has converted a presumed competitive season into ‘The Year of the Red Bull.”
SPIELBERG, Austria—With the support of his orange-clad fans, the Dutchman went on to win the Austrian Grand Prix by 18 seconds over Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas. By finishing third, McLaren’s Lando Norris took his second podium in two years.
Verstappen had no trouble for the second week in a row at this track, beginning the race and stretching out the lead right from the start, establishing a three, and, later, an eight-second lead on lap 20. By lap 46, Verstappen increased his lead to 18.5 seconds, expanding it to 23.3 seconds later. His lead dwindled when the Red Bull driver had to pass slower cars.
Max Verstappen: I feel incredible, to be honest. The car was unreal. I didn’t expect it to be like this. Incredible job by everyone to deliver something like this. Insane to see all the fans here. So much orange is incredible. A great motivation.
For Bottas, it was satisfying to get his first #2 finish of the year. “For me personally, one place better than last week, and I started from fifth. The [hard tire] held on pretty well,” he noted. And that was something Bottas and Mercedes needed. “McLaren was speedy today, putting on some pressure.”
And Norris thought that pressure would be sufficient to grab the 2nd spot. “It was exciting but also disappointing because I felt we should have been in second place,” Norris said. But it was “shoulda, woulda, coulda in the end. That said, “it’s nice to know that we can race them–the first time in many years. We have been able to keep up with the Red Bulls and Mercedes, so it is nice to be able to race them.”
Lewis Hamilton ran as high as second before car issues caused him to let Bottas pass. The defending champion ended up fourth, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. took a respectable fifth.
It was a day when Verstappen’s domination wasn’t the only storyline. There were incidents galore with penalties thrown in, too.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi accidentally ran into Alpine’s Esteban Ocon’s front right wheel, damaging it, and Ocon was the first victim of overtaking during the following safety car period. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen touched just one lap before the end. Both were attempting to pass Russell, sending both into the gravel. Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was penalized not once, but twice, for crossing the white line too early when entering the pits. Perez was another two-timer in the penalty phase by forcing Leclerc off the track twice as the Monegasque was trying to pass him.
Verstappen now leads the Driver’s championship by 32 points over Hamilton, and Red Bull increased its Constructor’s lead over Mercedes by 44 points. At issue is whether home-standing Hamilton will be able to close the gap on Verstappen and Red Bull by winning the British GP on July 18.
