Ferrari’s Charles LeClerc wins the Austrian Grand Prix, a long over-due victory, pushing his title rival, Max Verstappen into second place. LeClerc has cut the Dutch driver’s lead to just 38 points.
Despite a strong start to the season, the last five races had proved disappointing to the Monegasque driver, however, he was able to take home his first win since Melbourne.
The Scuderia looked on track for a 1-2 finish, before Carlos Sainz experienced engine failure causing his car to light on fire and forcing him to retire, with just 14 laps to go.
LeClerc also faced issues with the throttle during the last 10 laps, expressing his nerves over the team radio. He claimed, “Oh my god I was scared, I was really scared,” before adding on his win, “I definitely needed that one.”
LeClerc then went on to state, “The last five races have been incredibly difficult for me, but also the team, and to finally show we have the pace in the car and can do it was incredibly important.”
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took third, with his third podium finish in a row this season, after he started in eight. George Russell followed behind, with the Brit taking the fourth position.
Verstappen’s teammate, Perez, also faced an early retirement after a collision with Russell.
The race also saw an incredibly competitive midfield, with Ocon, who celebrated his 100th F1 race today, finishing in fifth. The two Haas drivers were also surprisingly in the points today. Mick Schumacher, who was consequently named Driver of the Day, took his best F1 finish in sixth position, after scoring his first points last week at Silverstone. His teammate, Kevin Magnussen finished in eighth.
It was an average week for both McLaren drivers, with Lando Norris taking seventh position despite receiving a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. Daniel Ricciardo was also in the points taking 9th. He was followed by Alpine driver, Fernando Alonso in 10th, who fought against the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and Alex Albon’s Williams (12th) (11th), despite starting at the back of the grid.
McLaren and Alpine are now both sat at 81 points in joint 4th position in the Constructors championship.
The rest of the pack showed a 13th place finish for Stroll (Aston Martin), 14th for Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 15th for Gasly (Alpha Tauri), and 16th for Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri).
Most disappointing was a difficult finish for Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. Vettel has had a tough weekend, having already been handed a suspended fine of €25,000 for walking out of the drivers’ meeting this weekend. He also finished in P15, but was then given a penalty post-race, pushing him down to P17.
The action will continue at the Circuit de Paul Ricard for the French GP 22nd – 24th July.