Max Verstappen third in Styrian Grand Prix: 'Pushed as hard as I could'

Published on 12 July 2020 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen finished third in Styrian Grand Prix. The Dutchman started the race on the first row of the grid in P2 and was able to stay in this position for most of the race. In the end Verstappen had to settle for third position, after Valtteri Bottas overtook the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing in the final phase of the race on fresher tyres. Lewis Hamilton drove unthreatened to victory and scored his first win of the season.

Max indicates after the race that he gave everything he had: “I tried, but we are just a little bit too slow. I pushed as hard as I could, also when Bottas tried to pass me. I knew he was going to overtake me a lap later, but I tried to make it a bit difficult. At least it was a bit of a fun fight, because the rest of the race was quite boring.”

Even though Verstappen is happy with a podium finish, he knows the gap to Mercedes is still present: “A podium is good, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

It is a little over three o’clock when the second race of the season starts. Max has a good start, but straight away has to defend his position against oncoming Carlos Sainz. Only after the third corner the Dutchman is able to avert the attack and fix his sights on Lewis Hamilton.

In the same corner it goes very wrong for both Ferraris. In a too eager attempt Charles Leclerc tries to overtake his teammate Sebastian Vettel, but the two touch. Vettel loses his rear wing and goes into the pits straight away, the German retires after only one lap. Leclerc also comes in for a new front wing but falls back into nineteenth position. Because of the debris on track race control decides to send out the safety car.

In lap three the race is started again. Max keeps his position at the restart but loses more than one and a half seconds on race leader Lewis Hamilton. Behind Verstappen it is Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas, Alexander Albon and Esteban Ocon who form the top six. A lap later Leclerc also comes in to retire his car. The damage to the floor of his car is too big to continue. With that this is a weekend for Ferrari to quickly forget.

After ten laps Hamilton has increase the gap to Max to just under three seconds. Verstappen is now just over a second ahead of Bottas, who is now in third position. Also Alexander Albon pushed forward, overtaking Carlos Sainz who is now in P5.

In lap twenty-five we see Max Verstappen, with five and a half seconds behind leader Hamilton, entering the pitlane for his first pitstop. The soft tyres are swapped for a fresh set of mediums, after which Max comes back on track in third position. Two laps later Lewis Hamilton enters the pits and also changes to a new set of yellow marked tyres. Esteban Ocon reports back to the team with cooling issues, after which the team decides to retire the car. The Frenchman becomes the third retiree of today.

Just before halfway of the race, Valtteri Bottas comes in for his pitstop. The Finn changes, as most of the field, to the medium compound. Max therefor moves back into second position and has an eight second lead on the Mercedes driver, whose tyres are about ten laps fresher.

The gap between Verstappen and Hamilton stays between five and six seconds. After two thirds of the race the gap increases. The Red Bull driver sustained some damage to his front wing, causing Bottas to close the gap to the Dutchman. Teammate Alexander Albon (P4) has his hands full with Sergio Pérez who quickly comes closer.

In the final phase of the Grand Prix Bottas increases the pressure on Max. With only six laps to go the Finn attempts to overtake in turn three, but Verstappen defends and averts the attack. Subsequently Bottas overtakes Max with help of DRS, but the Dutchman is able to retake his position. A lap later Bottas still overtakes Verstappen and secures a one-two for Mercedes. Max comes in for a set of the soft tyres to try and set the fastest lap, but that fails. The gap between him and teammate Albon is big enough to secure a podium finish. Lando Norris, Sergio Pérez, Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo complete the top eight.

Results Grand Prix Styria: