Orange-laden Red Bull ring roars as Max Verstappen seals grand slam weekend over Bottas and Norris.
P1 – VER
P2 – BOT
P3 – NOR
Podium Finishers
For a second weekend in a row, Max Verstappen enjoyed a dominant victory among a sea of ‘Orange Army’ supporters. The Dutchman led from pole position to victory, celebrating in a thick orange fog at the checkered flag after securing both the race win and point for fastest lap.
While it was a serene race for Verstappen, the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas merely held onto P2 with a hungry Lando Norris behind in P3. It was a well-deserved podium finish for the young Brit, who was also voted Driver of the Day.
Hamilton Searching for Answers
Title rival Lewis Hamilton won’t want to be returning to the Red Bull Ring anytime soon. He managed to secure P4, but saw the championship gap increase from 18 to 32 points.
Penalties for Perez
It was an eventful day for Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, who started third on the grid. Following the safety car, Perez and Norris nearly collided at Turn 6, forcing Perez off-track. While Norris would receive a five-second penalty for the tussle, Perez would later receive two identical five-second time penalties in the same place for near-collisions with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
While Checo ended the race in P5, he was classified in P6. Not exactly ideal for Red Bull who certainly might consider “what could have been.”
Best of the Rest
Thanks to Checo’s misfortunes, Carlos Sainz secured P5 after a late pitstop and overtaking teammate Leclerc and Ricciardo on fresh medium tires. It’s becoming clear that Sainz has adapted to the new car and team the quickest out of the bunch. Talk about a Smooth Operator!
Ricciardo, Gasly, and Leclerc followed in suit after an eventful race in the midfield.
Fernando Alonso overtook George Russell in the final laps, denying him the first points for the Williams team this season.
Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon had another race to forget, getting caught between the Haas of Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi on Turn 3. Ocon suffered damage to the front suspension as a result and was forced to park his car, retiring from the race.
Former teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel clashed in the final laps of the race, leading to a 20-second time penalty and two penalty points for the iceman.
Looking Ahead
After an eventful triple header, the grid returns to Silverstone for F1’s first ever sprint qualifying race to set Sundays grid. Will Hamilton come out on top at his home grand prix? It’s lights out in two weeks’ time.
