One Sunday he may oversleep. He might take his Red Bull race car to the mall and forget where he parked it. Or you lose your key. He may have the worst bad luck in F1 history.
But even that possibility aside, Max Verstappen seems certain to win his third consecutive F1 title later this year. He came even closer with his consecutive F15 win at Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. It was the final harvest after an overwhelming weekend of fastest practice, fastest qualifying, 1st in the sprint race, and 1st on Sunday.
Sunday’s win at Spielberg, Austria, was Verstappen’s seventh of nine races this year, and he finished second in the remaining two races. And his victory was over by the end of the streak. Entering Sunday, Verstappen has led every F1 race since May 7’s race in Miami. However, Sunday’s first pit stop ended after 249 laps, ending the streak in third behind the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
It hardly mattered: Verstappen overtook Sainz Then Leclerc A new record was immediately set. It’s been a year like that. Verstappen won. Everyone else seems to be fighting for second place now.
best of the rest
Leclerc finished second for Ferrari, a reassuring sign for a team whose mid-season improvements are bearing fruit. (Leclerc’s team-mate Sainz was fourth.) And Sergio Perez was smiling after a great weekend in Austria. He finished second behind Verstappen in Saturday’s sprint race and third on Sunday, returning to the podium after starting 15th.
“It’s been a bit of a rough time for me,” Perez said, downplaying weeks of frustrating performances. “I hope you’re back now.”
show of power
How confident was Verstappen? Holding a 24-second lead with two laps to go, he persuaded his team to pit for new tyres, so he could set the fastest lap of the day and score some extra points along the way.
How good is he?
It was a dangerous play. A pit stop at the Red Bull Ring took around 20 seconds for the drivers and Ferrari were on the verge of stealing victory if anything went wrong. But nothing is wrong with Verstappen and Red Bull these days.
Issue: Track Limits
On Sunday, one driver after another was penalized for violating so-called track limits. In short, they repeatedly went outside the white line that marked the edge of the playing surface of the track. At one point things got so bad that the penalized drivers started tipping the cars in front of them and telling their teams to report their rivals who had gone off the track.
Track limits were a hot topic all weekend after dozens of laps were eliminated in Friday’s qualifying. These penalties pushed several drivers back from the starting grid significantly, especially Perez.
‘I think I looked very stupid today’, said Verstappen Said Qualifying question on Friday. “It looked as if we were amateurs.”
“People will say, ‘I should have kept the car within the white lines,'” he added. “If it’s that easy, you can get in my car and try it.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also used the same term “amateurish” after Sunday’s race, suggesting a review of the rules. But it takes track limits and gives track limits.
Red Bull’s Perez finished third on Sunday, partly because Sainz, who finished fourth, was given a five-second penalty.
what they say
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“Great day. I had a lot of fun.” Verstappenweekly.
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“Louis, your car is bad. toto wolfthe Mercedes team principal tried to calm Lewis Hamilton’s frustration and focus on the task at hand.
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“I think we did the best we could on Friday and today. It’s great to be on the podium again.” Leclercstood just the second time this season.
Drivers’ Championship Standings
Verstappen’s win and cheeky push for bonus points on the fast lap put him 81 points ahead of leader Perez. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso fell back to third, 100 points behind.
