Formula 1: Leclerc smiled again after three months and entered the Verstappen party in Austria

The stage was set, with orange-tinted stands, for a new victory for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. The Dutchman arrived on Sunday as a great candidate, after having won the sprint on Saturday with authority and supported by historical statistics, which see him among the top three winners of the Austrian Grand Prix. But in the end, at Spielberg, home of his team, the party was red. Because a big Charles Leclerc had an impeccable race, resisted the pressure of the reigning champion – who suffered from tire degradation -, managed to drive even with a problem with the accelerator pedal towards the end, and got back on the step higher than the Formula 1 podium after three months.

The Monegasque – who had won his last race on 10 April in Australia – also benefited from a winning team strategy and after a fun race, with emotions on all fronts, he crossed the line in first place, escorted by Verstappen and from the British Lewis Hamilton, of Mercedes.

“I definitely needed this win”acknowledged, overflowing with happiness, Leclerc, who added his third win of the year. “The last five races have been incredibly difficult for me and for the team. And to be able to show that we have the pace in the car, it’s incredible. We have to keep pushing until the end of the season.”.

ferrari He thus adds his first win on the Austrian track since Michael Schumacher’s last won there in 2003. Although not all were smiles for the squad, who experienced a moment of great concern just a few laps from the checkered flag, when Carlos Sainz’s car caught fire after being left on the track due to an engine failure. The Spaniard struggled for a few seconds to escape from a moving car, which did not stop completely, but managed to get out in time, unharmed. The disappointment, however, was great, because the incident happened just as he was on the hunt for Verstappento steal second place.

Emotions abounded on Spielberg Sunday. While there were no major crashes in the race (just a virtual Safety Car after Sainz’s departure), there were a few touches and oversights – between George Russell and Sergio Pérez at the start, which ended up costing the Mexican retirement , is between Nicola Latifi and Sebastian Vettel, also retired, who put aging to the test.

There was no shortage of struggles for positions and good maneuvers, with drivers like Mick Schumacher, driver of the day chosen by the fans after adding his second race in the points; Russell himself, crashed in the early laps in 18th place due to a five-second penalty for that touch Czech, but managed to climb back to fourth position; and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, protagonist of the comeback of the day, starting 19th and finishing tenth. But the great protagonists were those who got on the podium. Especially Leclerc and Verstappen.

The Dutchman fled to the start and took the lead, followed by the two Ferraris, who from the start showed a better pace than their Red Bull. Over, crazy max he began to suffer wear and tear on his tires too quickly. They hadn’t completed 10 laps when he warned: “I don’t know how long they will last”. And on lap 11, the Monegasque overtook him at turn 4, with an impeccable maneuver, in which he could do nothing to avoid overtaking.

With new tires – he entered the pits on lap 13 – Verstappen went to regain the lead. He did it only at 28th, when Leclerc and then Sainz – who at the time were in charge, with a hellish pace – stopped to change tires.

But once again the joy didn’t last for Red Bull, because their tires didn’t last long. “One lap I have front grip, another I don’t … The car is very unpredictable. It’s crazy”, complained the champion. The Ferraris were much faster and once again Leclerc took first place with another clean maneuver.

History repeated itself with 20 laps to go. Verstappen was first because the two cars of the Scuderia entered the pits; but when you get back on track, the Monegasque accelerated and regained the lead without too many problems.

The fire of Sainz’s car, on lap 58, could have given more excitement at the end of the race and, perhaps, even changed the outcome. because with him Virtual Safety Car, Leclerc and Verstappen stopped at the same time to mount new tires and race conditions. And when the action resumed, with two laps to go, it was barely there 3 seconds away Between both. In addition, the Monegasque began to complain of a problem with the accelerator pedal, which, as he explained on the radio, stopped and never returned to “zero”.

Verstappen had his chance at that moment, because the Ferrari driver lost time and concentration every time he slowed down and had to step on the pedal with his foot to get him back into position. But Ferrari, trouble and all, it was much faster. And the Dutchman, although he watched and tried to get closer, had no car or pace to worry Leclerc.

The way the race went, his second place, the same, tasted very sweet. Because if it hadn’t been for Sainz’s departure, he could have finished third.

“It was a difficult day. From the first lap you could see that we were struggling a lot with the tires, and it was like that with all the components.”he told the Dutch. “It was too much relegation to really attack Charles. But second place is a good finish on a difficult day.”.

Verstappen also took the bonus point for setting the lap record and left Spielberg with a good harvest: 27, if we add the 8 he obtained by winning the sprint race on Saturday.

“It was a very good race. The pace was there in the beginning and we had some good fights with Max. But in the end it was incredibly difficult. I had a problem with the accelerator and he was stuck at 20 or 30 percent at low speed. The pedal was weird, it wouldn’t go back to zero, so it was very difficult, but we managed to keep it until the end and I’m very, very happy. “commented Leclerc.

With the 32 points accumulated in Austria, the Ferrari driver moved up to second place in the championship (38 from Verstappen) and revived his aspirations to fight for the title.

Hamilton, still far from the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari, was the protagonist of one of his own races. The Briton started eighth, struggled in the early laps to overtake Magnussen and Schumacher’s Haas and ended up climbing to third to add his third consecutive podium.

“I want to thank the men and women of the team who worked so hard to rebuild the car. Saturday morning I had a new car, on Friday I made a mistake, which I don’t often do., he commented, recalling the hard crash suffered in qualifying. “In a difficult weekend, this podium and George’s fourth place are very positive for the team. We have improved a bit, we have to move forward.”

Spielberg’s Sunday started with a jubilant orange prediction, but ended with a red party and Leclerc on top of the podium. And he has ignited the fight for the championship again, which will resume in two weeks on the circuit Paolo Ricardo Le Castellet, with the French Grand Prix. With half of the races to go, the world championship does not have a clear favorite and the second half of the season is looming on the horizon with the promise of great shows and strong emotions.