Verstappen powers to dominant Austrian GP victory

Despite fears of a tactical miscue from the Red Bull team, Max Verstappen claimed a commanding victory over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

On Red Bull's home turf, the championship leader comfortably claimed his seventh victory of the season - his fifth in a row.

With Verstappen leading the race from Pole Position at lights out, an early Virtual Safety Car triggered most of the field to make their first pit stops, which Red Bull refused to react to, temporarily yielding the lead to Leclerc.

However, the pace advantage of Verstappen and the RB19 resulted in the Dutchman reclaiming the lead on Lap 35 with a comfortable move on the inside of Turn 3.

From there, the reigning World Champion was undisturbed en route to extending his championship lead with a fourth victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, and even had enough advantage to fit a set of Soft tyres and claim the fastest lap of the race.

Leclerc claimed a distant second place, whilst Red Bull's Sergio Perez triumphed in a feisty late-race duel over the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz to take the final podium place from P15 on the grid.

Fourth-placed Carlos Sainz was one of several drivers to fall foul of the controversial track limits regulations at the Red Bull Ring, and a five-second time penalty was handed to the Spanish driver mid-race.

Sainz endured a frustrating race after being refused an overtake on teammate Leclerc in the early stages of the race, and he finished three seconds ahead of an impressive drive from Lando Norris, who took vital points in the upgraded McLaren.

Fernando Alonso took sixth in a somewhat lonely race for the Aston Martin driver, who took advantage of a five-second time penalty for Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, who finished seventh ahead of teammate George Russell.

Pierre Gasly took two points for Alpine in ninth, ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.