Austria – Race: Max Verstappen at the End of the Suspense!
After a wild race and a great comeback, Max Verstappen won, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas! The Dutchman triumphed thanks to an aggressive overtake two laps from the finish. It's Honda's first victory since 2006.

It was under unusual heat that the Austrian Grand Prix took place, with an air temperature of 33°C and 51°C on the track. The heat was also present on the grid with a new front row featuring Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.
However, the Dutchman, supported by thousands of compatriots, had a very poor start with his anti-stall system that activated. This relegated him to 7th place by the first corner, just behind Sebastian Vettel, who was 9th on the grid. Lando Norris played the troublemaker by positioning himself between the two Mercedes, only to see Lewis Hamilton overtake him again. The British rookie then saw Sebastian Vettel, and then Max Verstappen, pass him.
Out in front, Charles Leclerc quickly opened up a gap on the Mercedes as he had to make the most of his soft tires against the medium tires chosen by the Mercedes. When he asked his pit wall when to attack, he was told he was already above the necessary pace. Conversely, Sebastian Vettel was asked to raise his game to disrupt the progress of the Silver Arrows.
On the 21st lap, surprise, it was Valtteri Bottas who was the first to dive into the pit lane despite having medium tires. Sebastian Vettel immediately followed suit, but the Ferrari mechanics weren’t ready to receive him, costing him precious time (his stop lasted 6.1 seconds). On the next lap, Charles Leclerc also made his own stop, without any issues this time, while Mercedes kept Lewis Hamilton on track for longer.
The Brit eventually went back to the pits on lap 31. However, his stop was also long due to his request to change the front wing. He felt he had lost a lot of aerodynamic downforce. This put him back out in fourth place, behind Sebastian Vettel. A lap later, Max Verstappen also made his pit stop, rejoining between the Ferrari and the Mercedes.
As he indicated in the press conference, the Dutchman is not in F1 to settle for fourth place. He then set out to close his gap on Sebastian Vettel. For several laps, he followed the German before finally finding an opening on the 49th lap. Ferrari then called their driver back for another pit stop to switch to soft tires.
But Max Verstappen did not stop there and continued to push to catch up to Valtteri Bottas in second place. His progress was briefly hindered by an engine issue, but he managed to overcome it, then overtook the Finn at turn 3. The path was then clear for the big showdown with Charles Leclerc, who was solidly in the lead with a five-second advantage.
The long-distance battle between the two men was splendid, with no mistakes from either side. Red Bull chose to give all available power, even at the risk of compromising reliability in the following races. The Dutchman gave it his all, gaining at least half a second per lap on the Monegasque. Four laps from the end, the Red Bull driver was able to dive on the inside to take the lead, much to the delight of his fans! However, the two men touched, leading to a new investigation by the FIA stewards at the end of the race.
In the same lap, Sebastian Vettel got the better of Lewis Hamilton for fourth place. Behind, Carlos Sainz made a very nice comeback to finish 8th, just behind Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly. Alfa Romeo can also congratulate themselves on finishing the race with both drivers closing out the top 10.
From our special correspondent in Spielberg