Carlos Sainz leaves the podium and Fernando Alonso finishes sixth
MADRID, 2 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull) has prevailed this Sunday in the Austrian Grand Prix race, the ninth round of the Formula 1 World Cup, after offering a new exhibition at Red Bull’s ‘home’, while the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) have finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
The current world champion, who already reigned on Saturday in the Red Bull Ring sprint race, completed a perfect weekend in which no one could dispute his dominance, which allows him to establish himself at the top of the World Cup overall pilots.
With his fifth consecutive victory and the seventh of the season, he becomes the fifth driver with the most wins in Formula 1 history (42).
The Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), who completed an incredible comeback from fifteenth to third place, also got on the podium, at whose gates Sainz was left ahead by ‘Checo’ with a lack only nine laps to the checkered flag.
Once the traffic lights went out and without the threat of rain, Leclerc tried to overtake Verstappen on the outside, who managed to defend his privileged position. After a preventive safety car to remove carbon fiber parts at turn 1, the defending champion began to pull.
Little by little, he increased the distance on the chasing group, led by the Monegasque, who Sainz began to harass. In fact, the man from Madrid asked the team for permission to overtake him. “What is your rhythm?”, they asked him on the radio. “You are already seeing it,” replied Sainz. “We stayed with the plan,” they warned him again.
Meanwhile, Verstappen escaped and the German Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) was forced to abandon due to problems with his car on lap 13. The ‘virtual safety car’ allowed the riders to make a free stop, including Sainz, who was nothing more Leaving the garages noticed the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) to be third again on lap 19.
On lap 24, the leader went into the pits to mount the hard tire and returned to the track in third place. Only two laps later he overtook Sainz, and in lap 34, in the DRS zone, he regained first place by also overtaking a Leclerc who was already more than five seconds behind in lap 38.
For his part, the Spaniard from Ferrari had to serve a five-second penalty for exceeding the limits of the track, although the team waited until the last moment in hopes of taking advantage of a safety car; finally, he did it with 25 laps to go, and was fourth after passing the British Lando Norris (McLaren). Alonso, meanwhile, remained in a comfortable sixth position after halfway through the race.
With 11 laps to go before the checkered flag, the Mexican ‘Checo’ Pérez (Red Bull), who started fifteenth, and Sainz began a battle for the podium in which the man from Madrid defended himself as best he could until he gave up two laps later. Verstappen, for his part, allowed himself to stop with only one lap left to do the fastest lap, completing his perfect weekend. The British Lando Norris (McLaren) and Alonso completed the ‘Top 5’.