It’s the final race of this epic Formula One triple-header, with the Red Bull Ring playing host to yet another major race, this time the Austrian Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live scores and rolling blog coverage from 10:50 pm AEST.
So far, both the French and Styrian Grands Prix have been won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who has taken his season tally of victories to four and leads the championship by 18 points over Lewis Hamilton.
Racing 71 laps again at the 4.3km Austrian circuit, the home team still seem very much in their element. Mercedes conceded that without upgrades, it would be difficult to reel in Red Bull and again the might of the latter was shown in qualifying.
Verstappen, who achieved a third consecutive pole position, will have his teammate Sergio Perez on the second row from third. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ best result was fourth from Hamilton – with Valtteri Bottas starting a lowly fifth.
An impressive Q3 from Lando Norris saw the McLaren driver claim his first front-row start in Formula One – just missing out on pole by 0.048 seconds.
AlphaTauri heads up the best of the rest from the qualifiers, though, as Ferrari face some work from outside the top ten – but will have a free choice of starting tyre. As will Daniel Ricciardo, who last weekend had a technical problem hamper his charge.
There will be eyes on George Russell too out of ninth, which is the Briton’s best result as a Williams driver. Before a hydraulics problem cruelled them last week, the former F2 champion was running with the top ten nicely – so there’ll be a prospect of first points for the beleaguered team.
Weather again looms as being a factor, though reports indicate that the Grand Prix will again be clear; which may disappoint those hoping for a shake-up of the order.
Teams have had the Styrian Grand Prix to gather data and improve upon their strategic performances from the previous week, though Pirelli have gone a step softer with their tyres this weekend. A one-stop strategy is expected, but with warmer temperatures, we could see drivers opt for a two-stopper.
Join in on The Roar for live scoresupdates and a rolling blog of all the action from 10:50 pm AEST for another round of racing at the Red Bull Ring.
Lights out: 11 pm (AEST)
Venue: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Lando Norris (McLaren), 3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 7. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 8. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 9. George Russell (Williams), 10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin),11. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 12. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 13. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 14. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 15. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), 16. Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo), 17. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams), 19. Mick Schumacher (Haas), 20. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
andrew
Roar Rookie
Geez Jawad, Norris is having a great run, so there's nothing wrong with the McLarens. Dan definitely improved from last start and I'd like to see him really make a statement at Silverstone. I'd like to see Verstappen win the championship, and that's not a slight on Hamilton but i think he's a brilliant driver. I rate him up there with Senna.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That then wraps up this live blog of the Austrian Grand Prix and indeed this intense triple header, which has seen Max Verstappen dominate all three races. A fortnight's break for everyone until the next race at Silverstone, which many will be anticipating and is always an exciting one. But until then, thank you again for tuning in and ciao!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 182 - Max Verstappen 150 - Lewis Hamilton 104 - Sergio Perez 101 - Lando Norris 92 -- Valtteri Bottas 62 -- Charles Leclerc 60 -- Carlos Sainz 40 -- Daniel Ricciardo 39 -- Pierre Gasly 30 -- Sebastian Vettel 20 -- Fernando Alonso 14 -- Lance Stroll 12 -- Esteban Ocon 9 --- Yuki Tsunoda 1 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 1 --- Kimi Räikkönen 0 --- George Russell 0 --- Mick Schumacher 0 --- Nikita Mazepin 0 --- Nicholas Latifi
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 286 - Red Bull Racing Honda 242 - Mercedes AMG 141 - McLaren Mercedes 122 - Ferrari 48 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 44 -- Aston Martin Racing 32 -- Alpine 2 --- Alfa Romeo Racing 0 --- Williams Mercedes 0 --- Haas Ferrari
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Max Verstappen completed his first career hattrick of wins in Formula One, with a clinical lights to flag victory at the Austrian Grand Prix and extended his lead in the championship. Leading away from pole position, the Red Bull was quick to cover off a fast-starting Lando Norris from the front-row of the grid. All before a Safety Car was deployed on the first lap for Esteban Ocon’s stricken Alpine, after contact with Antonio Giovinazzi and Mick Schumacher. The restart saw Verstappen get away, while Norris was slammed with a controversial 5-second penalty for forcing the chasing Sergio Perez wide at Turn 4 and into the gravel. This allowed both Mercedes drivers back into the hunt for the podium, heading into the pit-stop phase for the medium tyre runners. Valtteri Bottas, along with Norris pulled the trigger on Lap 31 to switch to the hard compound – before Hamilton and Verstappen followed on consecutive laps. Verstappen’s lead went unhindered throughout the 71-laps, though some damage to Hamilton saw his pace fall away in the next stint. Lap 53 saw Mercedes invert the positions of their drivers, in order to allow the faster car of Bottas ahead. Norris then reeled in Hamilton and returned to the top three positions, after serving his 5-second penalty during the pit-stop. The seven-time world champion from fourth did make an additional stop to attempt a fastest lap, but Verstappen was able to do the same for the extra point. Penalties highlighted the race, as Perez’s already compromised 200th grand prix was further afflicted by two separate 5-second time penalties of his own, for forcing Charles Leclerc off-track twice. The Mexican still ended up sixth, despite qualifying up in third and beaten only in that midfield battle by Carlos Sainz – who started on the hard tyre and pitted for mediums late into the piece. They along with Daniel Ricciardo and Leclerc entertained throughout the race. Pierre Gasly was the only driver who started on the soft tyres that ended up in the points, while the final point was fiercely contested over in the latter stages of the race by George Russell and Fernando Alonso. The position ultimately going to the way of the two-time world champion. 32-points now is the lead for Verstappen in the standings over Hamilton, having dominated this triple-header of races.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT & UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Christian Klien VERSTAPPEN - "Incredible, the car was on rails and was really enjoyable to drive." "Incredible job by everyone." "Great effort by the team and by Honda." BOTTAS - "For me personally it is one place better than last week." "It is nice to be on the podium again." "Surprisingly McLaren were pretty quick today." NORRIS - "It was a lot of fun, it was a good race." "A bit disappointing as we should've been second." "We had good pace and I could keep up with him [Bottas]." "It is nice to know that we can race them."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 71-LAP AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen (Fastest Lap) 2 V. Bottas 3 L. Norris 4 L. Hamilton 5 C. Sainz 6 S. Perez* 7 D. Ricciardo 8 C. Leclerc 9 P. Gasly 10 F. Alonso 11 G. Russell 12 Y. Tsunoda 13 L. Stroll 14 A. Giovinazzi 15 N. Latifi 16 K. Räikkönen 17 S. Vettel 18 M. Schumacher 19 N. Mazepin RET E. Ocon *Served two separate 5-second time penalties.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX! A career first hattrick of wins in Formula One for the Dutchman. Valtteri Bottas flies the flag for Mercedes in second place. And another podium finish for Lando Norris, coming home third in this one.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 71/71: FINAL LAP Sainz is through on Ricciardo for sixth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 70/71: Kimi getting too close for comfort with Russell, but stays back in twelfth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 69/71: From what I understand, Perez has two separate 5-second penalties so he will have to drop 10-seconds at the end of the race. Currently he is 9.5-seconds ahead of Ricciardo, so he can keep fifth if that gap is higher than 10-seconds.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 68/71: Nice to hear from the Iceman, as Räikkönen is furious about his team just telling him about track limits. Alonso finally is through on Russell then, which dashes the Williams team's hopes of some points on this occasion.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 67/71: Sainz within DRS range of Ricciardo's McLaren.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 66/71: Ferrari's turn to invert their positions, as Sainz is allowed ahead of Leclerc to have a go at Ricciardo. Russell again is staunch in his defense against Alonso for tenth and that last world championship point.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 65/71: Commentators claiming that Perez only has a 5-second penalty, instead of 2x 5-second penalties which was first thought. All these penalties are quite confusing!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 64/71: Sainz within DRS range of his teammate Leclerc, who is still tucked up behind the McLaren of Ricciardo.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 63/71: Verstappen has to negotiate the lapped cars of Russell and Alonso.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/71: Russell now has his hands full with Alonso, with the Williams driver holding his own against the two-time world champion. Ricciardo is also holding Leclerc at bay too for now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 61/71: Verstappen is pitting for another set of fresh hard tyres and this will be to cement his fastest lap, considering he did have 22-seconds in the bag over Bottas. Norris 1.4-seconds behind Bottas as well.