Charles Leclerc has returned with a dominant victory over Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 title race. After three months of frustration and breakdowns, the Ferrari driver was back on top of the podium in Spielberg – and practically led the Dutchman with three overtaking manoeuvres.
More than 100,000 fans, mainly from the Netherlands, came and they also saw a great performance by Mick Schumacher. Just a week after his first top 10 result, he was back in the points in the remarkably fast Haas. Sixth place at the Austrian Grand Prix was the best result of his young career, with Schumacher showing some strong overtaking maneuvers.
Verstappen, hero of the fans in orange, only finished second ahead of record world champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz coasted to a halt late in the race with his engine on fire. The weekend was a big disappointment for Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel, who also ended the Grand Prix at the end of the field after poor qualifying and a poor sprint on Saturday.
Verstappen, on the other hand, had won the sprint on Saturday, but overall his lead in Austria melted slightly. He is now 38 World Cup points ahead of Leclerc, who is second overall again. He last won in Australia on April 10, followed by numerous setbacks through no fault of his own.
Ferrari fears again in the final phase
On the race track in Spielberg, Verstappen initially held his lead in front of the Ferrari duo at the start, the trio completed the first laps through orange clouds of smoke – behind them Schumacher was again in focus. The 23-year-old had already fought a remarkable duel with Hamilton in the sprint on Saturday, and again he put great pressure on the record world champion. Schumacher passed after five laps, and the Mercedes star regained position ten laps later.
Up front, Leclerc caused anxious moments among Verstappen fans early on. The Monegasse was significantly faster, “I can’t stop him much longer,” the world champion radioed to his pits. And that’s how it was, after just 12 laps Leclerc took the lead.
Red Bull then chose a new strategy, brought Verstappen early to change tires. He dropped back, but was now significantly faster than the two Ferraris in front in third place. When Leclerc and Sainz also stopped shortly before the halfway point in the race, Verstappen initially passed them. However, Leclerc was able to rely on the speed of his Ferrari, passed quite quickly, and the process was repeated after the second stop. In view of the engine damage at Sainz, it was another anxious final phase for Ferrari.