And I’ll leave you with our report from the Red Bull Ring. Thanks for reading!
And Christian Horner: “They were very important points today and congratulations to Ferrari, they had a quicker car throughout the majority of the race. Max was coming back at the end there but our tyre deg was higher from halfway through the first stint and it was hard to combat that. Ferrari just seemed lighter on the tyres and obviously they had a pace advantage and that gives you more strategic options.
“Losing Checo was obviously hugely disappointing. It is unlucky for them today with Carlos but our pace at the end of the race, we still have the fastest lap, but we didn’t have the range we had yesterday and that is something we need to understand. Over the two races we have only given away five points with Max so it is not too bad. We will bounce back in France.”
Lewis Hamilton: “It’s been a bit of a rough weekend, but really grateful that as a team we got third and fourth so we move on from here. I do want to say a thank you to the men and women in the garage who worked so hard to rebuild the car. I had a brand new car on Saturday morning, I made a mistake on Friday, not something I do often.”
And here’s Charles Leclerc: “It was a really good race. The pace was there. At the beginning we had some good fights with Max and the end was incredibly difficult. I had this issue with the throttle. It would get stuck at 20 or 30% throttle in the low speeds, so it was very tricky. We managed to make it stick until the end and I am so happy.
“Weirdly [the throttle issue] was more or less the same time [as Sainz’s retirement], so I had it in my mind. I knew it was not a problem with the engine because it was the pedal that was feeling weird. Luckily it went until the end of the race.
“I definitely needed that one. The last five races have been incredibly difficult for myself and for the team. To finally show that we have the pace in the car and we can do it is incredible. We need to push until the end.”
Max Verstappen speaks: “It was a tricky day. It seemed like we were struglging quite a bit with the tyres, and that happened on every compound - too much degredation on the tyres. But second place is still a good result for us on a tricky day.”
How they finished:
1 Charles LeclercL
2 Max Verstappen
3 Lewis Hamilton
4 George Russell
5 Esteban Ocon
6 Mick Schumacher
7 Lando Norris
8 Kevin MagnussenM
9 Daniel Ricciardo
10 Fernando Alonso
Updated
Verstappen took fastest lap at the death, but Leclerc clinches a deserved triumph for a faultless display today. “Oh my god – I was scared, I was really scared,” he chuckles.
Charles Leclerc wins the Austrian Grand Prix
Lap 71/71: Leclerc gives up nothing in the final stages, Verstappen never getting close enough to mount an attack. The Monegasque wins his first grand prix from outside pole! Hamilton follows Verstappen acorss the line for his third consecutive podium.
Updated
Lap 70/71: 2.2secs the gap but it doesn’t look like Verstappen has enough time to do it…
Lap 69/71: Verstappen gets stuck in traffic, behind Schumacher, to give Leclerc an iota of breathing space.
Lap 67/71: Carlos Sainz is in the pit lane, hugging his mechanics but utterly devastated. Verstappen trails Leclerc by 2.7secs.
Lap 66/71: “What’s happening? What’s happening with the throttle pedal?” asks a desperate Leclerc, who is told to lift his foot earlier. Verstappen shaves half a second of his rival’s lead. Five laps to go.
Lap 65/71: Can Leclerc cling on for the win…? He and Verstappen are not giving an inch: they both exchange fastest laps.
Lap 63/71: Now Leclerc is reporting some trouble with his throttle pedal. Meanwhile Russell has snuck past Ocon into fourth, and Albon is in the points with Bottas on his tail.
Updated
Lap 61/71: That was a worrying few moments for Sainz, who struggled to get out of his car as it went up in flames. Thankfully the stewards were on the scene just in time. Back on the track, the virtual safety cars ends, leaving Leclerc 3secs ahead of Verstappen, who is trailed by Hamilton, currently on for a podium.
Lap 59/71: That Ferrari’s fourth mechanical failure this season. Leclerc takes his free pit stop under virtual safety car, as does Verstappen.
Sainz is out!
Lap 58/71: But just as he readies himself for the overtake, Sainz’s engine goes and sends his car trundling into the gravel. He clambers out of the car – which has burst into flames – and sits down on the grass, distraught. And we get a virtual safety car.
Updated
Lap 56/71: Russell goes past Alonso for sixth and eyes Ocon 2secs in front. Latifi retires due to damage sustained early on which left him thinking the car was unsafe to drive. Up in third, Sainz has Verstappen in his sights…
Lap 54/71: No time to waste for Leclerc, who reclaims the lead for the third time today, roaring past Verstappen on turn three.
Lap 53/71: Both Ferraris opted for hard tyres – Hamilton goes into the pits and comes out with fresh mediums: aggressive from Mercedes.
Lap 51/71: Yep, in goes Sainz. So the Ferraris’ simple mission is to hunt down Verstappen. Latifi retires.
Lap 50/71: The moment of truth: Leclerc pits from first and emerges third, 3.6secs behind Verstappen. Sainz, who will pit soon you’d imagine, now leads.
Lap 48/71: “That’s BS!” says Hamilton about his black and white. “I didn’t go wide! Are other people getting this?” They are indeed.
Updated
Lap 46/71: Russell and Stroll are in a good old tussle for P7, with the Mercedes man coming out on top after a couple of switcheroos.
Lap 44/71: We’ve got an intriguing battle now. Verstappen is now flying, currently 18secs behind Leclerc, who would likely come out second – just – if he pitted, but with fresher tyres. Black and white flag for Hamilton.
Lap 42/71: The stewards agree with Vettel and dish out another five-second penalty to Gasly. Meanwhile the instructions over the Red Bull radio are clear: “Free to push Max, free to push.”
Updated
Lap 40/71: Vettel spins out into the gravel trying to go the long way round Gasly. Zhou is the lastest to be hit with a track-limits penalty. “He has to give up that corner,” huffs Vettel. “I had the nose ahead. What is wrong with these people?”
The top four:
1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (one stop)
2) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari: +6.5s (one stop)
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull: +25s (two stops)
4) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes: +31.8s (one stop)
Updated
Lap 37/71: Alonso gives Tsunoda the old finger-wag treatment – punishment for a defensive move the veteran driver didn’t like.
Lap 36/71: Sainz in third is creeping up on Verstappen – who ducks the duel by veering into the pits: the first driver bar Latifi to go in a second time.
Updated
Lap 34/71: Gasyla and Norris both pick up penalties for ailing to stay on the circuit.
Lap 32/71: Russell has climbed into ninth, ahead of Ricciardo. The top five: 1 Verstappen, 2 Charles Leclerc, 3 Carlos Sainz 4. Lewis Hamilton, 5. Esteban Oco.(Alpine)
Lap 30/71: Hamilton is into the pits and it’s not the quickest stop, coming out sixth before overtaking Stroll and Ocon.
Lap 26/71: Leclerc pits from the lead – a quick stop – and emerges in third.
Perez retires
Lap 25/71: You could throw a blanket over Magnussen, Norris, Schumacher, Zhou and Alonso – who’s hauled his Alpine up to ninth. Magnussen mounts an attack on Norris to little avail. Perez, who hasn’t recovered from that opening collision, is forced to retire.
Updated
Lap 23/71: Sainz is told over the radio that his team will be going to “Plan E”, whatever that means. Verstappen sets a fastest lap on his new hards.
Lap 21/71: Perez gets a black and white flag for exceeding track limits – next time it’s a penalty.
How they stand
1 Charles Leclerc
2 Carlos Sainz Jnr
3 Max Verstappen
4 Lewis Hamilton
5 Lance Stroll
6 Yuki Tsunoda
7 Guanyu Zhou
8 Fernando Alonso
9 Esteban Ocon
10 Sebastian Vettel
Lap 17/71: After a flurry of pit stops, Verstappen, who has clambered back up to fourth, is now tailing Hamilton for third - and eventually picks him off. It looks like Red Bull are going for a two-stop and will be hanging their hopes on Leclerc flagging in the final stages.
Lap 15/71: Hamilton uses DRS to zoom past Magnussen into fourth. Leclerc is warned about track limits.
Lap 14/71: Hard tyres for Verstappen, who emerges in eighth, while Hamilton makes an audacious overtake at turn eight, zipping past Schumacher for P5.
Lap 12/71: Lecerc has another peek at Verstappen at turn six and goes for the kill, darting inside the Dutchman before he realised he’d left the opening. Verstappen heads straight into the pits.
Lap 11/71: It’s a five-second penalty for Russell, who nips into the pits to fix some damage.
Lap 10/71: Leclerc attacks Verstappen going into turn three! Verstappen holds him off expertly, and then again at the next turn while his pursuer has DRS. But how long can he keep the defence up?
Lap 8/71: Leclerc is roaring up behind Verstappen with DRS, and both nearing the toiling Perez.
Updated
Lap 6/71: “Nothing I could do, he just turned into me,” shrugs Russell. The top five: Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Russell, Ocon.
Lap 5/71: Schumacher goes past Hamilton for seventh, while Perez isn’t happy with Russell. “You saw it clear?” he barks on the radio. “I gave him room!”
Updated
Lap 3/71: A dramatic start but a good one for Verstappen, who has pulled a second clear of Leclerc. Perez has come out with new hard tyres. Vettell is also reporting damage.
Lap 2/71: Perez head into the pit with damage to his car – the stewards may take a look at that one.
Lap 1/71: Verstappen gets away well while Russell and Sainz battle it out behind him. Sainz goes off-track to give the Mercedes man an opening and comes back on just behind Russell. Russell then gets into a scrap with Perez – eventually there’s contact and Perez spins out going into turn four!
Updated
All drivers are back on the grid now – and we’re seconds away from lights out.
The drivers set off on the formation lap, with all of them on medium tyres bar Zhou Guanyu, Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, who are on hard compounds.
These are the race tyre sets available for the #AustrianGP!
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) July 10, 2022
👇👇#F1 #Fit4F1 #Formula1 #Pirelli #Pirelli150 @F1 pic.twitter.com/6LUSwTY0sj
The Mercedes team seem satisfied with the work done to Hamilton’s car – a brake-pedal issue we think – so it’s panic over.
Christian Horner is in bullish mood: “It’s going to be a very tight race with the Ferraris today. We saw yesterday that Max was able to break that DRS but now we have Checo in the fight today but he needs to clear George quickly. It’s all about working as a team and doing the best we can collectively, to get ahead of the Ferraris today. I think we want to run our fastest race because I think we’ve got a quick race car – you can overtake here.”
There’s some ultra-last-minute work being done to Hamilton’s care on the grid – a repair job on the brakes, by the looks of it.
And here’s Lando Norris: “A points finish not going to be easy to achieve but I think we have slightly better pace than the Haas, we know Fernando [Alonso] is at the back … but a double-points finish is the aim today.”
Verstappen speaks: “To have this support all the time when I come here is just incredible. You need a good car, I’ve been lucky to have a good car and I hope today we can show that again and in a few hours time we can celebrate.
“It’s amazing to be here and to see all the facilities that Red Bull have been improving all the time. The start is important but the general pace we have in the car is going to be crucial, but let’s find out what we can do.”
It’s a hot afternoon in Spielberg. Fans will be expecting a gung-ho duel between Leclerc and Verstappen, whose close encounters always provide a real hook. It’s a case of “catch me if you can” for the reigning champion, who is beginning to look like his next title is in the post. He starts at the opposite end of the grid to the old war horse Alonso. As for Hamilton, it will take an extraterrestrial display to reach the podium, but last week showed Mercedes’ problems may not be terminal – and he has been known to snatch victory from defeat’s jaws.
Updated
Here’s our report from yesterday’s sprint race:
The drivers’ championship standings:
1 Max Verstappen 189
2 Sergio Perez 151
3 Charles Leclerc 145
4 Carlos Sainz 133
5 George Russell 116
6 Lewis Hamilton 94
7 Lando Norris 58
8 Valtteri Bottas 46
9 Esteban Ocon 42
10 Fernando Alonso 28
And the constructors:
1 Red Bull 340
2 Ferrari 278
3 Mercedes 210
4 McLaren 73
5 Alpine 70
6 Alfa Romeo 51
7 Alphatauri 27
8 Haas 22
9 Aston Martin 18
10 Williams 3
Fernando Alonso, who came eighth in Friday’s qualifying before retiring ahead of yesterday’s sprint race, has taken a new power unit for his Alpine – he’ll start from the back of the grid as he would have done anyway.
A last-minute change to Valtteri Bottas’s rear-wing spec and rear suspension means the Alfa Romeo driver will start from the pit lane.
… while Hamilton has hit out at those who cheered his 140mph crash on Friday as “mind-blowing” – and registered his disgust at the reports of deeply ugly behaviour in the stands this weekend:
Last season’s great rivals, Verstappen and Hamilton, seem to have at last found some common ground: criticising the hostility and nastiness of certain spectators. Verstappen says the partisan fans who boo certain drivers – not least him, last week – are “not really F1 fans”…
Preamble
After the sprint, the marathon. Yesterday’s 24-lap race at the Red Bull Ring saw an unflappable Max Verstappen extend his championship lead by 38 points while his principal rival spent his energies scrapping it out in a dogfight with his teammate.
The intra-Ferrari struggle going on in Verstappen’s rearview mirror will have been a pleasing sight for a driver keen to reclaim his position at the head of the pack after last weekend’s miserable outing at Silverstone, where he heaved a damaged car to a lowly seventh-place finish.
On the podium at the end of that dramatic afternoon at Silverstone was Lewis Hamilton, whose Mercedes team pulled off a decent salvage job yesterday – he and George Russell coming eighth and fourth respectively – after both drivers ploughed into barriers during Friday’s qualifying.
As for Verstappen’s main ostensible title rival, he knows victory today is well within reach. “We are quick. We can get them tomorrow,” said an upbeat Charles Leclerc over his radio after yesterday’s race – but he was also clearly maddened by sacrificing vital seconds to a needless if entertaining duel with his fellow Ferrari. “We cannot afford what we did today,” he told the media.
Ferrari have drivers at Verstappen’s heels in second and third on the grid. They did not impose any team orders yesterday: laudable in theory, but inefficient in practice. At the home circuit of their major rival, can they get their tactics right and halt the Red Bull charge?
Lights out 14:00 BST.
