Published: 13:00, 10 July 2022 | Updated: 22:56, 10 July 2022
It wasn’t the result those who flashed orange flares had come to enjoy, but what the world championship needed – victory in a dramatic, floodlit Austrian Grand Prix for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari man thrice overtook Dutch favorite Max Verstappen, who finished second, to record his first victory since a sunny afternoon in Melbourne eight races and three months to the day. But the most dramatic moment came on lap 57 in the other Ferrari, when Carlos Sainz suffered an engine blowout. He parked in the gravel as flames started coming out of the back. Charles Leclerc was delighted to be back on the top step of the podium on Sunday Leclerc beat Max Verstappen to win the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring Verstappen had to settle for second place despite a late push for victory He tried to climb out of the cockpit, but his car was on a slope and began to roll back. The task of getting out was like walking up a hill, with momentum working against him. There is no parking brake to pull in this world. Instead, we just had to hope that the marshals could come to his rescue in time. The truth is that they did not threaten the 100m world record. But a marshal finally arrived to put a chock under the front right wheel and that partially stopped the slow roll backwards. Sainz finally climbed out and ran to safety, sitting on the side and contemplating both his bad luck and his happy release. Carlos Sainz was upset as his engine exploded, causing his car to catch fire Sainz’s misfortune allowed Lewis Hamilton to finish third for Mercedes By this point, the Scuderia had found their form – absolute pace, quick pit-stops, optimal strategy and in Leclerc a sureness of touch that cuts his deficit to Verstappen to 38 points at the midway point of the 22-lap season. Verstappen started on pole position after winning the sprint race on Saturday, but Leclerc chased him like a greyhound chasing a rabbit. The Monegasque tried to overtake on lap 10, but the world champion resisted. Two laps later, however, Leclerc dropped the inside of the right-hand turn 4 and was gone. Red Bull had to try something different. Verstappen was brought in for an early boot change on lap 13. When Leclerc entered on lap 26, the Dutchman took the lead. The crowd, most of them dressed in orange, cheered. Sergio Perez went into the gravel on the first lap after colliding with George Russell He failed to recover from the setback, resulting in Red Bull withdrawing Perez’s car But it didn’t last, with Leclerc passing Verstappen on lap 33. “The car is so unpredictable,” Verstappen said after losing at Turn 3. “It’s so crazy.” Both men phat once more. Verstappen gave the lead for the last time on lap 53 to his red tormentor. Leclerc went on to win, 1.5 seconds ahead of Verstappen with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton third – 41 seconds adrift of the winner – for the second week in a row. He climbed to the podium by finishing eighth on the grid. Russell put the clash with Peres behind him and finished third Red Bull’s Sergio Perez made Hamilton’s job easier when he retired after an early sting from George Russell. Russell had to stop for a new front wing, served a five-second penalty for his part in the crash and dropped to 19th. He finished fourth. Sainz’s retirement also helped Hamilton, but the Briton was responsible for two good passes on the Haas pair of Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen in the early stages of the afternoon. Leclerc complained about his throttle late, after the dummy safety car phase caused by Sainz’s fire, but it made no difference. Verstappen set the fastest lap and took the extra point as a consolation. Follow Sportsmail’s live blog as the Formula 1 campaign continues at the Austrian Grand Prix.
