Max Verstappen sovereign in Austrian Grand Prix: 'A great day'

Published on 02 July 2023 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix convincingly. Max had a good start from pole position and stayed in the lead after the first lap. Because of a different strategy, Verstappen lost the lead to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, but in lap 35 the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver took back the lead and stayed ahead for the rest of the race. Verstappen took his seventh victory of the season and his fifth in a row in front of a frantic orange army at the Red Bull Ring. By also taking the extra point for the fastest lap, Max got the maximum available points for the weekend, including the points for winning the sprint race on Saturday. Charles Leclerc finished in second position, with Sergio Perez completing the top three after starting from P15 on the grid.

After the race a satisfied Max said: “I think the first lap of the race was most important for me. Staying in the lead, and after that we could do our own race. We opted not to box during the virtual safety car and follow our normal strategy, and that worked out very well. The tyre life was not that high around here and our stints were perfect. A great day, I enjoyed it a lot.”

The Ferraris did make a pitstop during the virtual safety car. Max did not, and remainded confident in the team's strategy: “The few laps before the virtual safety car came out, we were pulling out quite a gap, so I knew I could get them back eventually. Following our own plan was the best way forward.”

Max has an enormous lead in the championship, but is not dreaming of title no. 3: “I do not like to think about that yet. I am just enjoying the moment, driving this car, and working with the team. The whole weekend we have done a really good job. A sprint weekend is always very hectic, a lot of things can go wrong, and luckily a lot of things went right for us this weekend. I am very happy with this weekend, and we can now focus on Silverstone.”

Max also expressed his appreciation of the many thousands of Dutch fans at the Red Bull Ring: “It is an incredible support every time we come here, to see all the orange on the grandstands. Incredible atmosphere, thank you very much for coming.”

It is dry at the Red Bull Ring with an outside temperature of 23 degrees. The top six is all start on medium compound tyres. Fernando Alonso, in P7, is the first driver to start on the hard tyre. Kevin Magnussen and Nyck de Vries start from the pitlane.

Max has a good start from pole position and stays in the lead. Charles Leclerc tries to out-brake Max a couple of times, but the Dutchman defends his place well and stays in front. In the midfield,Yuki Tsunoda damages his front wing in the first corner. A couple of turns later the Japanese driver goes straight ahead in turn four. After going through the grave,l the AlphaTauri driver must come into the pits to replace his front wing. Because of debris on the track the safety car comes out. Max is in the lead with behind him the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Lewis Hamilton is in P4 with Lando Norris following his fellow countryman closely.

When the field is unleashed from behind the safety car, Max continues to increase the gap. In lap fourteen Verstappen is five seconds ahead of Leclerc when Nico Hulkenberg must park his car because of technical issues in turn three. The German becomes the first to retire from the race. There is a virtual safety car period in which both Ferrari drivers come into the pits. Meanwhile, Max stays out.

Ten laps later, the Dutchman comes into the pits in lap 25. The Oracle Red Bull Racing mechanics change the medium compound tyres for a set of hard tyres, and Max comes out back on track in third position, immediately behind Sainz. On a fresh rubber, it is easy for Max to overtake Sainz for P2. Verstappen is now six seconds behind Leclerc, who is on much older tyres. Verstappen closes in quickly and in lap 35 he overtakes the Monegasque for the lead. At that moment, Nyck de Vries and Kevin Magnussen go side by side into turn six. Magnussen goes through the gravel, and de Vries is handed a five second time penalty for pushing Magnussen off the track.

As with the first round of pitstops, the Ferraris come in for their second pitstop before Verstappen. Leclerc and Sainz change to hard tyres, while Verstappen in lap 50 changes to medium compound tyres. After his second pitstop, Verstappen remains in the lead.

Sergio Perez started from P15 on the grid after a disappointing qualifying, but has fought his way back to the podium. After an intense duel with Sainzs, eventually the Mexican Red Bull driver overtakes Sainz in lap 61 to secure P3.

The gap between Verstappen and Leclerc is so big that Verstappen comes in for a third pitstop with only two laps to go. The two-time world champion changes to soft tyres to try and set the fastest lap. And in the final lap Max does indeed set the fastest lap time, taking the maximum available points during the weekend. Max takes his fifth consecutive victory and the 42nd career Grand Prix victory, overtaking Ayrton Senna for the fifth position on the ranking for most Grand Prix victories.

Charles Leclerc finishes in P2, his best result of the season, while Sergio Perez finishes in P3. Carlos Sains finishes fourth, with Lando Norris in P5. Fernando Alonso in P6 and the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in P7 and P8. Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll complete the top ten.

Results Grand Prix Austria: