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Sports

Ferrari hold on in an action-filled Austrian Grand Prix

Well, Charles LeClerc has finally won a race where he did not start from pole position. When he crossed the line in the sprint race yesterday he said that they were fast and they would get the Red Bulls in the race. How right he was but the race was full of drama with LeClerc having his share of it.

On the very first lap, Sergio Perez of RedBull was punted off the circuit by Mercedes driver George Russell. Perez had drama all weekend, thanks to exceeding track limits in the second part of qualifying. Russell received a five-second penalty for his part in the collision.

Track limits became an issue all race long with so many drivers receiving penalties for exceeding them. This is becoming an issue with the new race director clamping down on this issue. This is thanks to the new regulations which have the drivers competing so much harder on track.

How did Ferrari take the win away from Max Verstappen?

Up until the race it looked as though Max Verstappen was almost untouchable. He managed to take the lead early and it took a while for LeClerc to fire up his tires. However, when he did, it did not take him long to get past the Red Bull driver. The lead did change during the pit stops but eventually, the Ferrari driver took the lead and never surrendered it again.

However, it was not without complications, particularly with less than 10 laps to go. LeClerc’s teammate, Carlos Sainz, had his engine literally blow up sparking a virtual safety car and his Ferrari was on fire. If a full safety car was deployed then LeClerc would have lost the race.

The reason for this? LeClerc had issues with his throttle pedal for the last few laps of the race. Verstappen was able to catch the Ferrari driver, finishing less than two seconds behind. Verstappen took the point for the fastest lap. For full driver standings, click here. For full constructor’s standings, click here.