Austrian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton Makes Podium As Charles Leclerc Wins

 

Lewis Hamilton made a podium finish for the third successive time as Charles Leclerc warded off his Red Bull rival, Max Verstappen to win the Austrian Grand Prix. 

Max was able to keep Leclerc at bay to earn maximum points from the sprint on Saturday while the Ferrari duo chased him down.  Things switched around at the final as Leclerc dominated the race speeding past Verstappen three times and went on to finish quickest finish. 

Leclerc delivered some stunning driving skills at the later on of the race and edged out Verstappen in an overtake that determined the victory. Leclerc kept close on his rival at Turn 3 on Lap 53 and went for an overtake on the inside down the straight forcing Verstappen to go wide allowing him to pass.

Just after Leclerc moved up in the lead, his teammate Carlos Sainz, who was in provisional third suffered engine failure on Lap 57 and was forced to retire as his car went up ablaze. 

Hamilton had an impressive race pacing up and overtaking over drivers to move up the chart. On Lap 30, he took out Esteban Ocon just before the corner and moved up to fourth behind Sainz.  

As Sainz retired, Hamilton went on in the third as his teammate George Russell followed in fourth. The unfortunate incident was the fourth experienced by Sainz this season. Ocon, in the end, finished in the fifth position and followed by Mick Schumacher. 

Early into the race, Russell was served five-second penalty for collision with Sergio Perez. Pierre Gasly was also served five-second penalty for causing the collision with Sebastian Vettel at the edge corner on Lap 50. 

Verstappen remained in the F1 title race lead with 208 points and Leclerc is second with 170. Mercedes as are from the contest as Russell is the nearest to the top in fourth position with 128 points.