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Max Verstappen produced another emphatic performance to complete a home win for Red Bull at the Austrian Grand Prix. The double world champion was made to work for his seventh victory from nine rounds so far after he passed Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on track.
But after manoeuvring himself ahead of both Ferrari drivers, Verstappen raced off into the distance to the delight of his 70,000-strong travelling army from Netherlands. Leclerc crossed the line five seconds behind Verstappen in Spielberg, with Sergio Perez recovering from his lowly grid slot of 15th to finish third.
The Mexican fought his way past Sainz with 10 laps remaining following a nip-and-tuck duel.Sainz took fourth after he served five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. The Spaniard was among six of the 20-strong field to be sanctioned by race director Niels Wittich, with Lewis Hamilton also punished.
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Sergio Perez up next
“I’m really happy, it’s been a difficult weekend for me. I was sick on Thursday so it hasn’t been an easy weekend – high fever, no sleep.
“It was a fantastic strategy and we had great pace.
“It was very hard but fair and always a pleasure to race [Sainz], Ferrari had pace in the slow speeds. It’s been a rough patch for me but now hopefully we’re back.”
Charles Leclerc gives his reaction
“Friday and today we have maximised what we had. It’s good to be back on the podium, the upgrades made me feel a bit better.
“It’s looking good for the future, the team has done a great job but obviously there’s a lot of work to do – Max and Checo had great pace.
“It would have been difficult keeping Max behind me with the pace we had but I tried.”
Instant reaction from Max Verstappen
“We opted not to box during the VSC, that worked out really well as the tyre life was not that high around here.
“A great day, I enjoyed it a lot.
“We were pulling out quite a lot before the VSC so following our own plan was the best way forward.
“I don’t like to think about [the title] yet, I’m just enjoying this moment and working hard with the team. Sprint weekends can be very hectic and things can go wrong but we did very well.”
Max Verstappen surpasses Ayrton Senna for career wins
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX!
It’s FIVE in a row for the Red Bull driver!
Leclerc takes second ahead of Perez, Sainz and Norris.
Final lap!
Time for Verstappen to take a nice little 26-point haul as the Oranje in the stands go wild!
Max Verstappen pits
It’s a 2.3-second stop for the Soft tyres and Verstappen, now 4.1-seconds ahead of Leclerc, and he WILL go for the fastest lap.
Austrian Grand Prix: Lap 68/71
A comfortable margin of 12 seconds for Leclerc over Perez that will deprive Red Bull of a 1-2, as the team talks over a pit stop with Verstappen to let him take a shot at the fastest lap point.
It’s currently in the possession of Perez…
Time penalty for Logan Sargeant
The rookie joins the long list of names to have broken track-limit rules.
Austrian Grand Prix: Lap 65/71
Where are the battles left to play out?
Stroll grabs the final point of the day off Albon, so both Aston Martins are in the top ten.
Behind them, a scrap for 16th is unfolding between Bottas, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Piastri.
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