That’s all from me; I’ll leave you with Giles Richards’ race report. Mercedes now have 10 days or so to regroup before heading to Silverstone in two weeks’ time. For the moment, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are clear. Thanks for joining me. Bye!
Here’s how the drivers’ standings look after Verstappen’s win. He picked up a point for the fastest lap and completed the “grand prix slam” for the first time – pole position, fastest lap and leading the race from start to finish.
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 182pts
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 150
- Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) 104
- Lando Norris (McLaren) 101
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 92
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 62
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 60
- Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) 40
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) 39
-
Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) 30
Race result
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
- Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
Bottas, who came home in second, says Mercedes are taking away “some decent points, considering the gap to Red Bull on pure pace.” I wonder if Hamilton, who came fourth, would be quite so diplomatic.
And here’s Lando Norris, who gets a big roar from the crowd. “We should have been in second place – Pérez ran off the track himself, I didn’t take him out, so I’m frustrated. As soon as I got close to Bottas [in second], I started struggling a bit too much – but we’re racing with the Mercedes and Red Bulls, which is great.”
Updated
Max Verstappen speaks! “It was really enjoyable to drive today. I’m a bit amazed myself how it went today. It’s not always easy to deliver when you’re the favourite. These two weeks have been incredible.”
Vettel and Raikkonen collide! A bit of late drama as Vettel tries to sneak past Raikkonen on the final lap. The cars collided and span off the track, leading to a late yellow flag.
Max Verstappen wins the Austrian Grand Prix!
Verstappen takes the chequered flag after a dominant win. “Even better than last week!” he tells the Red Bull radio. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas is second, with McLaren’s Lando Norris third after another impressive drive. Lewis Hamilton is fourth, holding off Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, who still has a 10-second penalty to serve.
Updated
Final lap: As Max Verstappen cruises for home, Norris looks like he’ll settle for third behind Bottas. Sainz gets past Ricciardo and into sixth at the last.
Lap 70 of 71: Hamilton is advised to try and hold off Pérez, four seconds back in fifth. “I’m trying, man” is his response. Kimi Raikkonen is going after Russell now, with Sainz on Ricciardo’s tail as we hit the final lap.
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Lap 68 of 71: Alonso has too much in his locker for Russell, using a DRS window to roll past the Williams man at turn four.
Lap 67 of 71: Oof, Russell is being made to work hard for this solitary point. The only points he has won in F1 came when he filled in for a Covid-hit Lewis Hamilton at the Sakhir GP last year.
Lap 66 of 71: A moment of slight concern for Verstappen, who has a small cut on his rear right tyre. Red Bull advise him to ease up on the pace with the race won, and the fastest lap in the bag.
Lap 65 of 71: The two Ferraris swap places, with Sainz overtaking Leclerc. The Spaniard has the better pace, fresher tyres and will now go after Ricciardo in sixth.
Lap 64 of 71: It’s not been a great day for Mercedes; Norris is gaining on Bottas, while Hamilton’s new tyres have not helped him – he’s drifted 23 seconds behind the McLaren in fourth, and still seems to be struggling with damage to his car.
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Lap 63 of 71: Verstappen sets another fastest lap, a shade over 1m 6s, and extends his lead over Bottas to 10 seconds. He’s about to overtake Alonso and Russell, who are battling for 10th. It’s going well.
Lap 61 of 71: Can George Russell get his first points with Williams? He’s up to 10th but has the wily old fox, Fernando Alonso, in his mirrors.
Lap 60 of 71: Verstappen pits for a second time, mainly to make sure he gets the extra point for a fastest lap. Almost feels like showboating. He emerges seven seconds clear of Bottas, greeted by a roar from the orange wall in the grandstand.
Lap 58 of 71: What a move! Ricciardo delivers a pinpoint overtake, swooping in front of Leclerc down the inside and somehow avoiding contact. The Aussie is up to sixth.
Lap 57 of 71: Hamilton sets a new fastest lap on his fresh tyres, then sees Verstappen take it back seconds later. It’s been that kind of day.
Lap 55 of 71: Hamilton is back out, now some 20 seconds behind Norris, who recovered from that harsh penalty superbly. More time penalties, with Tsunoda docked another five seconds for going over the white line at the pit entry. Twice is careless.
Lap 53 of 71: Norris overtakes Hamilton! The McLaren driver ducks, weaves and darts down the inside to push Hamilton out of the podium places! Hamilton is pitting now, having struggled to keep pace on his current set of tyres.
Updated
Lap 52 of 71: Bottas overtakes Hamilton, who appears to be struggling after sustaining damage a few laps back. Pérez gets another five-second penalty for the latest madcap moment in his race.
Lap 51 of 71: This is interesting – Bottas had originally been told not to overtake Hamilton, but with Norris gaining on both Mercedes men, the Finn is now given the green light. Mercedes a long way off their imperious best, here.
Lap 50 of 71: Verstappen has a 20-second lead over Hamilton now. Here’s the top 10:
1 Verstappen 2 Hamilton 3 Bottas 4 Norris 5 Ricciardo 6 Pérez* 7 Leclerc 8 Sainz 9 Tsunoda 10 Gasly
*Five-second penalty
Updated
Lap 49 of 71: Sainz has pitted at last, and re-emerges in ninth place. Looks like the Ferrari strategy has paid off ...
Lap 47 of 71: Pérez isn’t letting up and has another charge at Leclerc, forcing him onto the gravel again as he goes past! “£#%!$*#! The guy’s a #$&%*!” is the Ferrari man’s verdict on the team radio.
Lap 46 of 71: Bad news for Hamilton, with Verstappen only getting further away and Valtteri Bottas now closing in on his Mercedes teammate. Further back, Gasly holds off Ricciardo but is then called in for his second spot anyway.
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Lap 44 of 71: It’s been an eventful day for Sergio Pérez in his 200th grand prix. Perhaps he’s still angry that his Red Bull team tricked him into wearing lederhosen earlier ...
Perez: It's nice to see all the support that Max gets and the team. Hopefully we can have a good race and keep them happy in th stands. It's a little bit of a prank from the team and I will get them back. They told me everyone is wearing them (wearing lederhosen)
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) July 4, 2021
Lap 42 of 71: Pérez gets a five-second penalty! Not a clear-cut penalty by any means, but the stewards were left with little choice after punishing Norris for his tussle with Pérez earlier on.
Meanwhile... pic.twitter.com/IJvLVFYlrC
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) July 4, 2021
Lap 41 of 71: Pérez moves to overtake Leclerc on the same corner where he challenged Norris. Pérez goes inside this time, and Leclerc is forced onto the gravel. It’ll be very interesting to see what the stewards make of that ...
Updated
Lap 39 of 71: Pierre Gasly, who pitted early as part of a two-stop strategy, is back up to sixth but under pressure from Ricciardo. Out in front, Verstappen has set a new fastest lap time and is cruising.
Lap 38 of 71: Russell is chasing a top-10 finish, getting beyond Lance Stroll on the inside and moving up to 13th. Raikkonen pits, so just Sainz yet to stop.
Lap 37 of 71: Hamilton may have some damage here, picked up on the exit kerb at turn 10. It appears to be manageable, for now.
Lap 36 of 71: Leclerc pits, but it’s a bit of a wonky effort that allows Pérez to hold him off and consolidate a top-10 position. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, also yet to pit, is up to sixth.
Lap 35 of 71: Hamilton is dispirited at the size of the time gap to Verstappen – it’s now up to 14 seconds. “He built it up while you were behind Norris,” is the slightly passive-aggressive response.
Lap 34 of 71: It’s a less smooth stop for Pérez, some issues with changing the front left tyre. The leading quartet have all switched to hard tyres; the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz are fifth and sixth, but are yet to stop.
Lap 33 of 71: Red Bull can’t afford any slip-ups on the pit stop – but it’s absolutely textbook, and Verstappen is back out on track 12 seconds clear of Hamilton.
Updated
Lap 32 of 71: Norris gets out ahead of Charles Leclerc, who is up to fifth ahead of Sergio Pérez. Hamilton also heads to the pits, so Verstappen is called in straight away.
Lap 31 of 71: Some big pit moves, with Norris and Bottas coming in together. Norris serves his five-second penalty, and Bottas gets past him in the pit lane!
Lap 29 of 71: Norris is still third but would drop to fourth with his penalty as it stands. His teammate, Ricciardo, has a few extra laps in his tyres but is some 20 seconds further back. Perhaps there’s still hope for a podium finish for Lando.
Lap 28 of 71: Hamilton has free air in second but he isn’t making any ground on Verstappen – quite the opposite, in fact. The Red Bull man is more than 11 seconds clear.
Updated
Lap 26 of 71: “For what?!” is Norris’ response to being given a five-second penalty. The replays show Pérez wasn’t given space out wide, but he didn’t have the racing line and wasn’t close to overtaking. “What was the guy expecting?” Norris adds.
The funny thing is that Derek Warwick (FIA Driver Steward) was one of Lando's judges for the BRDC Autosport Young Driver Award. And he raved about him! Tough love #f1
— Damon Hill (@HillF1) July 4, 2021
Lap 24 of 71: Verstappen has enjoyed a very quiet race out in front, but is about to hit traffic. He goes past back-marker Nikita Mazepin but may pit early to avoid getting too caught up among the stragglers.
Lap 23 of 71: Here’s how it stands, with only a handful of riders pitting so far.
1 Verstappen 2 Hamilton 3 Norris 4 Bottas 5 Ricciardo 6 Leclerc 7 Pérez 8 Sainz 9 Russell 10 Raikkonen
Lap 22 of 71: “Such a great driver, Lando,” Hamilton opines over the team radio. Meanwhile, more penalty points handed down, this time to Yuki Tsunoda for that pit-lane aberration. He’s docked five seconds.
Lap 21 of 71: So Hamilton is up to second, a situation he saw as the best-case scenario after qualifying. He’s 10sec behind Verstappen but nobody behind looks likely to trouble him.
Five-second penalty for Lando Norris!
Hamilton finally gets past Norris on lap 20, and the McLaren driver is hit with a double-whammy as the stewards hand down a five-second penalty. That seems harsh to me, although we’ve seen limited replays of the incident.
Lap 19 of 71: Hamilton demands more power from his Mercedes team, still stuck behind Norris. There’s a 3sec gap back to Bottas now, with fifth-placed Ricciardo a long way back.
Lap 18 of 71: Vettel, the only driver out there on soft tyres, is overtaken by Danny Ricciardo, who has worked his way up to fifth. It’s been a good day for McLaren so far. Vettel heads to the pits directly.
Updated
Lap 16 of 71: Tsunoda now under investigation for a pit-lane incident. Verstappen has opened up a 7.5sec lead over Norris, and is looking good.
Lap 15 of 71: Some drivers, including the AlphaTauri duo of Gasly and Tsunoda, make their first pit stops. Others are running a one-stop strategy, including Mercedes. Verstappen will be keeping a close eye.
Lap 13 of 71: The stewards are looking into that Norris-Perez incident after the safety car went in. It didn’t look much more than a racing incident to me, but we’ll see ...
Lap 12 of 71: Norris is told not to put too much pressure on his left rear tyre, and try to stay ahead of Hamilton without wearing it out. Easier said than done, in fairness.
Lap 11 of 71: Hamilton tells his team radio that Norris is “hard to follow”, while the McLaren driver appears pessimistic about his chances of staying in second.
Here’s some footage of that box-office national anthem performance, care of Michael Cosgrove: “Wild stuff it is, and well worth a watch!”
Lap 9 of 71: Christian Horner says it’s “frustrating that Sergio was run out wide” but doesn’t push the issue much further. At the back, Giovinazzi is penalised for overtaking before the safety car had left the track.
Updated
Lap 8 of 71: Mercedes think their tyre strategy will help them reel in Norris and both drivers are within a second of the McLaren man. That would put pressure on Verstappen, even as he opens up a 3.5s lead.
Lap 6 of 71: Here’s how the new top 10 shakes down. It’s good news for Mercedes, not so much for Sergio Pérez.
1 Verstappen 2 Norris 3 Hamilton 4 Bottas 5 Gasly 6 Tsunoda 7 Stroll 8 Vettel 9 Ricciardo 10 Pérez
Lap 5 of 71: Bottas and Hamilton briefly switched places in that exchange, but Hamilton gets back ahead and targets Norris ahead of him. In front of them, Verstappen has set a new fastest lap.
Lap 4 of 71: The post-safety-car restart is much more exciting than the race start, with Pérez gunning for Norris, who also has Hamilton and Bottas in his mirrors. Norris holds them all off, but Pérez is forced wide in the process! He drops down to 10th, and complains over the radio that Norris pushed him out. The initial replays are inconclusive.
Lap 3 of 71: The safety car is coming in – here’s the top 10 as it stands:
1 Verstappen 2 Norris 3 Pérez 4 Hamilton 5 Bottas 6 Gasly 7 Tsunoda 8 Stroll 9 Vettel 10 Leclerc
Lap 2 of 71: Russell is down to 12th, while Verstappen will be frustrated by the safety car’s emergence – he was already putting daylight between himself and Norris in second.
Lap 1 of 71: The safety car is out early as Esteban Ocon gets squeezed at the back and trundles onto the grass. His race looks over, while Antonio Giovinazzi needs a pit-stop to make running repairs after that collision.
Go, go, go!
Here we go, then. Verstappen beats Norris into the first turn with Pérez holding off Hamilton behind them. George Russell has lost a couple of places, but otherwise it’s a clean getaway.
The drivers are out on their formation lap, orange flares blazing from the main grandstand. There are 132,000 fans here today, according to the official F1 clicker-counter.
Lando Norris, in second, is the first McLaren driver on the front row since 2012 in Brazil. On that day, it was a McLaren one-two with Lewis Hamilton on pole and Jenson Button beside him. Button won the race, but Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel secured the world title in dramatic fashion..
It’s time for the Austrian national anthem, and it’s a quite sensational interpretation featuring a drumming band, sky divers, a fly-over and then a trio of guitarists to shred us home. The drivers, and assorted dignitaries, look a bit confused.
That's how you do a national anthem! 🤘🎸#F1 // #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/29nPXDGEeJ
— Motorsport Week (@MotorsportWeek) July 4, 2021
Worth noting that there is one big change from last week’s race. While the Styrian GP played out in front of empty stands, today there is a full capacity crowd of 100,000 fans – a huge proportion of which are clad in orange and cheering for Verstappen.
The British GP in two weeks is set to host a capacity crowd, too. I’m not quite sure what the logic is behind the jump from zero fans to full capacity, though.
Chelsea forward Timo Werner is a guest in the F1 paddock today, perhaps because he has arguably the most F1 name in football. He’s asked, predictably enough, if England can win the Euros.
“Yes, I think so,” he says. “They played a brilliant game [against Ukraine] and were the better team [against Germany] on Tuesday ... they have all that’s needed to win the Euros and I wish them all the best.”
He predicts a Max Verstappen victory and is asked if he can take any tips from F1 back to the pitch. “I think it’s something totally different to football,” he says, not unreasonably.
Bad news for George Russell, who produced a storming qualifying run to make the top 10 – but he’s not happy with his car today. “100% something’s not right with the rear of the car,” he says over the Williams radio. They seem to think it’s fixable and he’ll still take his place on the grid.
Sky have had a chat with Christian Horner, the Red Bull head honcho. He’s tempering expectations despite Verstappen’s win here last week:
“It’s going to be a different race this week – different cars, different conditions. McLaren are really quick in a straight line, we expect Mercedes to find some race pace. The season’s been intense so far, we’ve managed to put a good run together against a formidable opponent. We’ve got to keep making hay while the sun shines.”
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The grid
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- George Russell (Williams)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)*
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Danny Ricciardo (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
- Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
- Mick Schumacher (Haas)
- Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
*Vettel penalised three grid places for impeding Alonso during qualifying
Sergio Pérez is third on the grid today for his 200th race, and looks set to earn a contract extension with Red Bull. What better way to celebrate all of that than by slipping on the lederhosen and enjoying a can of the good stuff?
When Race 200 lands at the #AustrianGP, it means only one thing... Lederhosen 😂 @SChecoPerez 🪗 pic.twitter.com/XvVFXm9Gys
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) July 4, 2021
Preamble
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have been the dominant forces in Formula One since 2013, halcyon days when Barack Obama was the US president and Daft Punk ruled the hit parade.
Hamilton has won six of the seven world titles since Sebastian Vettel’s last title with Red Bull; his former Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, won the other as Toto Wolff’s mob have hoovered up championships. For now at least, the pendulum appears to have swung with Max Verstappen leading the drivers’ championship and his Red Bull team top of the constructors’ charts.
The flying Dutchman starts on pole again at Red Bull’s home track, after a dominant win in last week’s Styrian GP. Hamilton is fourth on the grid, behind McLaren’s Lando Norris in second and another Red Bull driver in Sergio Pérez. After three wins in the last four, Verstappen has emerged as the title-race favourite and anything but a repeat of last Sunday will be a surprise.
Hamilton and Mercedes will surely fight back – perhaps at Silverstone in two weeks’ time – but Verstappen can further loosen their grip on F1’s biggest prizes with another win here. Lights out: 2pm BST (3pm local).
