Verstappen wins at Spielberg after a titanic duel with Leclerc

Who would have thought Max Verstappen could win when after a few meters of racing, the Dutchman, 2nd on the grid, was in 7th place after a failed takeoff?

But the Dutchman is playing on another planet since Canada last year. So patiently, Verstappen rolled out his strategy with a first stint in Mediums longer than his rivals and during which he had already caught Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) and Lando Norris (McLaren).

Coming out in 5th position with hard tires which were going to be 10 laps fresher than the leaders, the Batavian increased the pace over the laps to return with long strides to the race lead. Verstappen then made short work of Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) before tackling the pole sitter Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), quiet leader from the start.

Back in the exhausts of the Monegasque, the crack of Red Bull attempted a first maneuver by diving on the inside of Turn 3 four laps from the goal. Leclerc offered superb resistance to recover his property on the following straight. 

But the Ferrari driver only delayed the deadline since Verstappen took off again in the same place the following lap. The two 21-year-olds touched each other, Leclerc veered wide and saw Verstappen go off to pick up his 6th career success, the first this season; the first especially for Honda since Hungary 2006 with Jenson Button. 

The altercation between the two young guns is, unsurprisingly, under investigation by the commissioners but it would be a colossal mistake to change anything about this result. And the Mercedes will you tell us? They suffered their first defeat this season but still limited the damage at the end of a complicated weekend in terms of performance. 

Bottas finished 3rd, while Lewis Hamilton encountered a front wing problem which will relegate him to 5th place under the checkerboard. Sebastian Vettel slips between the two Silver Arrows to finish 4th. 

The best of the rest place goes to Lando Norris aboard his McLaren in 6th position. Pierre Gasly must be satisfied with 7th place, one lap behind his teammate, ahead of the second MCL34 of Carlos Sainz. Strong Alfa Romeo race; Räikkönen finished 9th, while Antonio Giovinazzi snatched his first point in F1. Disappointment for the Renault, nowhere all weekend: Daniel Ricciardo is 12th, ahead of his teammate Nico Hulkenberg.