Verstappen Takes Dominant Styrian GP Win

Calum Gill 15:52 27/06/2021

Max Verstappen has extended his lead at the top of the championship after a dominant victory in the hills of Styria, Austria.

The Dutchman led into turn 1 and never looked back, giving Red Bull their fourth win on the bounce. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes did not have any response, dropping back for the majority of the race. It could potentially still get worse for the seven-time world champion, given that the Red Bull Ring hosts next weekend's race as well.

In a drab affair, Valtteri Bottas made it a double podium for Mercedes, after he held off the late challenge of Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez. Lando Norris delivered another solid result for McLaren in 2021 with fifth, ahead of the two Ferrari's of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who battled back from losing his front wing on lap 1 after contact with Pierre Gasly. Lance Stroll claimed eighth for Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) rounding out the top 10.

-Full weekend results

This season has been marked by a series of gripping races and ultra-tight battles between Verstappen and Hamilton, but this was race was notable for his lack of excitement. There was entertainment provided by Charles Leclerc, though, as the Ferrari driver fought back up to seventh place after damaging his front wing and dropping to last on the first lap with a superb attacking drive in which he several times flirted with the limits while passing rivals.

But at the front there was little jeopardy, as Verstappen converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner and controlled the race thereafter. Verstappen was 1.4 seconds clear after two laps and calmly and slowly extended his advantage for the rest of the race. Hamilton's only consolation was a late pit stop to claim the point for fastest lap.

The battle for the final podium place was also a Mercedes v Red Bull affair. Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez held third for the first part of the race but lost it to Bottas, who had qualified second but was given a three-place grid penalty for spinning in the pit lane in practice, with a slow pit stop.

As the second string developed, though, Bottas began to run into tyre trouble and Perez had closed to 1.5secs behind him when Red Bull decided to pit the Mexican for fresher tyres. He dropped 20 seconds back with 15 laps to go and was 1.3secs behind Bottas at the start of the last lap but was not close enough to challenge before the flag.

The rest of the field

Kimi Raikkonen gained seven places on his way to eleventh for Alfa-Romeo, making a late pass on Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) struggled for the most part of the race, and was 13th at the end, with Esteban Ocon (Alpine) 14th. Antonio Giovinazzi was 15th, ahead of Mick Schumacher (Haas), Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Nikita Mazepin (Haas) who was the last of the finishers.

George Russell looked on course for his first points for the Williams team as he ran strongly in eighth place in the first stint of the race. But he was suffering with an engine problem, lost a lot of ground as his hydraulic system was topped up at his first pit stop and eventually had to retire. "This one hurt," said Russell. "Every single member of the team should hold their head high today. We were up there on merit. Racing can be brutal but we keep fighting." Gasly was the other non-finisher, as he retired at the end of lap 1 with suspension damage that was inflicted upon him when he made contact with Leclerc at turn 1, and then further contact with Raikkonen and Latifi at turn 3.

2021 Styrian Grand Prix Classification