Mercedes looked like they had the
Austrian Grand Prix sewn up. But disaster struck in spectacular fashion as
Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton both retired. Max Verstappen took advantage
and seized his first win of the season, to the delight of the swathes of Dutch
fans that had made the pilgrimage to the Red Bull Ring.
Hamilton’s record
33-races-in-the-points streak came to a shuddering stop while he also
relinquished the lead of the championship, with Sebastian Vettel - who finished
third behind Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen - overturning a 14-point deficit
to lead by a single point. Verstappen took advantage of Mercedes’ misfortune to
take a fourth career victory, the Red Bull driver inheriting the lead, having
previously put a good early move on Raikkonen, and then managing his tyres
beautifully as several of his rivals struggled with blistering.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo had pitted,
too, as his soft tyres started to blister in what were the warmest conditions
of the weekend. Hamilton was struggling, too, and Vettel pounced to take third.
After complaining about his tyres for several laps, Mercedes pitted the world
champion for a second time and fitted the supersofts. He rejoined in fifth,
behind Ricciardo. But that became fourth when Ricciardo pulled off the track,
saying on team radio that he had lost gear sync.
That
promoted Romain Grosjean to a brilliant fourth; the best ever result for Haas,
one place ahead of team mate Kevin Magnussen, with Verstappen comfortably
leading the Ferrari duo of Raikkonen and Vettel up front. Force India’s Esteban
Ocon and Sergio Perez were sixth and seventh respectively, with Fernando Alonso
charging from a pit-lane start to an impressive eighth. Charles Leclerc lost a
bunch of time when he ran into the gravel at the start but recovered to take
ninth – his fourth points finish in five races – with Sauber team mate Marcus
Ericsson taking 10th in what is only his second time in the points in 2018.
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