Charles Leclerc earned his third win of the 2022 Formula 1 season on Sunday (July 10) at the Austrian Grand Prix. What had looked like a race that Max Verstappen would dominate turned into one where Leclerc became the force and appeared to be on his way to an easy victory, easily outperforming Verstappen, only to hold on against a throttle issue that gave away tenths of a second at will in the closing laps.
With the win, Leclerc chipped into Verstappen’s championship lead, cutting it to 38 points (208–170). For Verstappen, his masterful weekend came undone with the cooler temps on race day–after taking first in qualifying and then winning the sprint race on Saturday. His second-place finish also broke his string of not going more than one race without a win (having earned seventh at Silverstone).
Lewis Hamilton benefitted from fallen cars in front of him and earned his third-straight third-place result of the season. He showed genuine pace in his Mercedes but was still not able to keep up with the frontrunners.
George Russell came back to take fourth after a first-lap collision with Sergio Perez sent him tumbling down the order. He suffered a five-second penalty for the contact and also got fitted for a new front wing yet managed to climb back to his starting spot.
Esteban Ocon gave Alpine reason to smile by taking fifth for the French team. One of the surprises of the day came with Mick Schumacher earning sixth, his best-ever result. Lando Norris backed up his sixth from Silverstone with a seventh-place result in Austria.
Kevin Magnussen wound up eighth, and coupled with Schumacher’s finish gave Haas its second double-points finish in what is turning out to be a decent season for what has consistently been a backmarker team.
Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line in ninth, giving McLaren just its third double-points finish of 2022. Fernando Alonso passed Valtteri Bottas on the final lap to take 10th and the final point of the race. McLaren and Alpine are now tied on points with 81 in the fourth spot of the constructor’s standings.
The Race
Aside from Russell punting Perez at the start of the race, much of the action came off cleanly. While Russell recovered, Perez endured enough damage that the team had him retire his limping Red Bull on lap 24.
By that point, the Verstappen’s Red Bull had begun to show its limitations, and by lap 33, Leclerc asserted himself as the driver to beat. His Ferrari managed its tyres better, and no one seemed to…
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