Verstappen untouchable at Red Bull Ring

Max Verstappen made the hole in the championship. Author of an imperial performance from pole position, the Dutchman once again led from start to finish in Austria to secure his 3rd victory in a row, his 5th success of the year, and his 15th career triumph. 

Verstappen is also doing very well in the championship because his great rival Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) finished at the foot of the podium in 4th position. In front of stands packed with fans Orange committed to his cause, the leader of the world championship signs the perfect Grand Slam by adding the bonus point for the best lap in the race. Verstappen is now 32 points ahead of Hamilton. 

After having fought for a long time at the start of the race with a sparkling Lando Norris (McLaren), the seven-time world champion briefly climbed to 2nd place before being caught by a technical alert at the rear, which caused him to lose pace in the 2nd half of the Grand Prix. 

Hamilton then slides behind Bottas, after a team instruction at Mercedes, then Norris, who received a severe 5-second penalty for having crushed Sergio Pérez in the gravel at turn 4 during a duel at the start of the race. The Finn and the young Englishman from McLaren accompanied Verstappen on the podium. 

While the winner of the day went it alone, the race did not lack excitement behind with intense battles, and sometimes a little too muscular, at all levels.

Penalized by 10 seconds for having also knocked down a rival off the track, in this case Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), twice, Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) loses the benefit of its 5th place in favor of a solid Carlos Sainz (Ferrari). The Spaniard, who started on hard tires, made his offbeat strategy work to get back into the top five. Pérez follows in 6th position for 7/10th after the application of his time penalties.

After a complicated first Austrian weekend, Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) raised the bar well with 7th place, ahead of Leclerc. Forced to start on soft tires and therefore make two stops, Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) limits the damage by finding the points with the 9th position.

The last unit amounts to a Fernando Alonso (Alpine), still as catchy. The double Spanish world champion snatches the point of 10th place from the unfortunate George Russell (Williams) 3 turns from the checkerboard. It is not yet today that the Briton will score points for Grove (United Kingdom). 

Just behind him, Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) break out into a cold sweat while hanging on at high speed on the last lap. Finally, the complicated weekend ofEsteban Ocon (Alpine) experienced a premature and sad epilogue after contact with Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), which resulted in the Norman's front suspension bending on the first lap. 

After this solid performance from Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring, the reaction will be imperative for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in two weeks at Silverstone (United Kingdom).