Verstappen takes win in Austria
MERCEDES suffered double mechanical failure in Austria’s Styrian mountains as Lewis Hamilton lost the world championship lead after his first retirement in 33 races. Now, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel holds a one-point advantage in the drivers’ standings. Valtteri Bottas, who started in pole position, retired with a hydraulic failure before Hamilton’s loss of fuel pressure seven laps from the end. Away from the Mercedes mess, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen second and Vettel third. Hamilton had been in total command after a fantastic start to move from second on the grid to first place through the opening corner. But, crucially, he was left out when all his rivals peeled into the pits to be reshod under the virtual safety car. Vettel, who came from sixth on the grid after a three-place penalty for blocking Carlos Sainz in qualifying, overtook Hamilton on the inside of turn three. Wheel to wheel. But clean and fair. Speaking afterwards, Hamilton said: ‘I won’t lie. We’re going to have to work on all areas.’ AUSTRIAN GP RESULTS: 1 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1hr 21mins 56.024secs, 2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:21:57.528, 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:21:59.205, 4 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 at 1 Lap, 5 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 at 1 Lap, 6 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India at 1 Lap, 7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India at 1 Lap, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren at 1 Lap, 9 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap, 10 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) SauberFerrari at 1 Lap.