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Verstappen wins Red Bull’s home race ahead of Leclerc and Perez
Max Verstappen has won his seventh race of the year and his fifth one in a row at the Austrian Grand Prix. Once again, a Red Bull has won in their home Grand Prix, and Verstappen now extends his already enormous lead in the Championship against teammate Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc and Perez completed the podium in Spielberg.
Verstappen, once again, won the race quite comfortably, only facing getting challenged by Charles Leclerc in Turn 1 after the start. However, the defending champion did have to overtake the two Ferraris today on track due to their different strategies. The Dutchman also had such a gap at the front that he could switch to the soft tyres in the penultimate lap to get the additional point for the fastest lap. Charles Leclerc struggled to match Carlos Sainz's pace in the beginning, but after Ferrari’s doublestack in the pits, he could pull away and finish second.
Sergio Perez could climb up to finish in P3 after finishing in 15th place in Friday’s qualifying, thanks to the Mexican’s great race pace on the day. The Mexican had a great battle with Sainz for the podium with ten laps to go but could not catch Leclerc.
After everyone’s penalties have been thoroughly sorted out (some already served them during their second stops), Lando Norris capped off an excellent race by finishing fifth, ahead of Fernando Alonso and the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll.
The Start
The frontrunners started on the mediums, except for Fernando Alonso. Verstappen got a better start than yesterday and defended smartly from Leclerc in both Turn 3 and 4. Hamilton also had a great start and quickly overtook the McLaren of Norris. Alonso only gained a spot after his teammate got stuck in traffic in Turn 3.
Before the leader could reach the finish line in the first lap, the Safety Car was already called out on track because of the debris coming off Yuki Tsunoda’s front wing. The restart was clean, and the Dutchman at the front did well to clear Leclerc and Sainz while his teammate Perez climbed up to 12th place behind Russell.
VSC influencing the strategies
On Lap 14, Nico Hulkenberg stopped on track and triggered a Virtual Safety Car, leading to a plethora of pit stops. First, on Lap 15, Hamilton entered the pit lane alongside Norris, with Ferrari doing a doublestack a lap later. Sainz lost out on two positions because of his slower stop (he was also told earlier not to attack Leclerc on Lap 10) but could overtake the British duo and Perez on track, with Hamilton getting a 5-second penalty for accumulating four track limit warnings. Everyone switched their mediums to hards, except for Alonso, who did it the other way around, meaning the two Ferraris put on another set of mediums.
To leave the door open for a one-stop race, Verstappen pitted for hards on Lap 25 and exited the pits behind the two Ferraris. Verstappen then overtook Sainz on Lap 26, and Leclerc on Lap 35. Norris also made a move for P4 against Hamilton on Lap 29, and Sainz also got a 5-second penalty for the same reason Hamilton did. In the end, the Red Bulls had such a pace advantage that they could safely do a two-stop as well.