MOTORSPORT: Verstappen dominates in Austria

Max Verstappen celebrated a pair of triple treats as he utterly dominated the Austrian Grand Prix at the home of Red Bull Racing.

It was his third straight win and he did the job with a sweep of pole position, fastest lap and victory to extend his lead over Lewis Hamilton at the top of the Formula 1 drivers’ championship to 32 points.

Surprisingly, it was Hamilton’s underperforming Mercedes-AMG teammate Valtteri Bottas who filled the runner-up spot as F1 completed back-to-back races in Austria, with mercurial youngster Lando Norris running home third for McLaren despite a five-second penalty for easing Sergio Perez off the track in the early laps.

There was some good news for Daniel Ricciardo as he converted a miserable 13th place on the grid to seventh at the final flag, but he was never remotely close to Norris.

The action in Austria ran from start to finish as Esteban Ocon was eliminated on the first lap after a crash destroyed the steering of his Alpine and Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo and Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin collided on the final lap.

There were other incidents up and down the field, as teams and drivers have come closer on performance through the final season of the current turbo-hybrid regulations.

Even Hamilton had a drama, as he picked up damage to the aero parts on his Mercedes-AMG just before passing Norris for second after 40 laps and eventually fell back to fourth place.

But there was nothing dramatic about Verstappen’s effort, as he went A to B in front of his massive crowd of orange-clothed Dutch supporters who dominated the return of a near-normal spectator attendance.

“I expected it to be good, but not this good,” said Verstappen.

“I’m really happy with the way the whole race went and you don’t often get this type of race, so we all have to enjoy it.”

The Bulls now have a clearly quicker car than Mercedes, although that could change at the next race at Silverstone in Britain, as Bottas reports.

“For me, it’s nice to be on the podium again in second place and I think we really maximised what we could get today,” he said.

Norris always goes well at the Red Bull Ring and overperformed on his prediction of fifth place, despite a penalty he believes was not deserved.

“A very good day. The only thing that’s disappointing is the fact we could’ve been P2, but at the same time that’s also a big positive,” he said.

“Our pace today was extremely strong, especially in the second stint against very fast cars and against Mercedes. A lot of positives.”

For Ricciardo, who is still struggling to get one-lap pace from his McLaren, it was a torrid day of F1 snakes-and-ladders as he advanced in the early laps and had to defend at the end.

“I just had a pretty fun race. It’s one I could enjoy and take some fulfilment from,” he said.

“It was busy, trying to attack and defend. I was trying everything I could, every trick in the book to stay ahead.”

Perez brought the second Red Bull home for sixth after his fourth-lap drama with Norris but still sits third in the championship and two places ahead of fellow wingman, Bottas at Mercedes-AMG.

“I’m obviously not very happy with my race today,” said Perez.

George Russell was also unhappy, as he could only manage 11th place for Williams – just outside the points-paying places – after qualifying a sensational ninth in a Williams which is usually close to the tail.

“It’s been very promising and I think we’re making some good progress. I’ve been in F1 for three years now but that was the first time I’ve really battled with anyone,” he said.

The Formula 1 world championship continues at Silverstone with a new weekend format, including a Sprint Qualifying race on Saturday afternoon, with organisers hoping for a full house under the latest COVID-19 regulations in the UK.

The early prediction from Hamilton is not promising for his championship hopes.

“Max is clear out front at the moment so we need improve our car and start performing better each weekend. The team are working incredibly hard and we need continue that so we can find performance,” he said.

2021 Austrian Grand Prix results:

2021 Formula 1 driver standings: