And Ferrari picked up its 800th podium.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull were in complete control of the Austrian Grand Prix race weekend from start to finish, but what else do you expect from the team at their home Grand Prix? While Dr. Helmut Marko is the only high-profile team member from Austria, the Red Bull Ring is the team's (and the drink's) spiritual home, so a dominant victory was expected.
Verstappen was first in FP1 and grabbed pole position on Friday. On Saturday, he finished on pole in the Sprint Shootout and won the Sprint race a few hours later. On Sunday, he would have won the Grand Prix by 24 plus seconds but chose to pit on the penultimate lap for a set of soft compound tires, after which he set the fastest lap. All while not exceeding track limits that saw more than 100 lap times deleted throughout the race and dozens of time penalties handed out to other drivers.
Pure class.
And proof that Red Bull isn't really concerned about anyone else on the grid at the moment.
Race Result
Charles Leclerc finally found his groove again and brought his Ferrari home in second – Ferrari's 800th podium in the sport – and Sergio Perez drove from 15th to third in a fantastic recovery drive.
But the show's real star, despite Verstappen's dominant weekend, was Lando Norris in fourth. We'll get to that in a second, but first, the rest of the top 10.
Carlos Sainz finished fourth but received a 10-second time penalty for track limit infringements. By not sticking between the lines, Sainz gifted Norris fourth and Fernando Alonso fifth. With 10 seconds added to his time, Sainz finished sixth. Lewis Hamilton finished in seventh with his teammate George Russell right behind him. Hamilton also received a 10-second penalty, so the Mercedes drivers swapped places.
Due to penalties, Pierre Gasly was demoted from ninth to 10th, and as a result, Lance Stroll claimed ninth.
Esteban Ocon received four penalties and will start the British Grand Prix this weekend from the pit lanes at the Red Bull Ring. (We're kidding. It was a 30-second penalty in total.)
Penalties Galore
The FIA chose the Austrian Grand Prix to make an example. The Stewards started on Friday during the qualifying for the Grand Prix, deleting several laps times. While it was deeply frustrating to watch, especially during Sunday's race, the penalties were fair. And the drivers can't claim they did not receive enough advanced warning. It's also worth noting that several drivers escaped said penalties, so there was a way to remain competitive while sticking between the white lines. Examples include Verstappen, Leclerc, Alonso, Russell, and Norris. Norris got some warnings but learned his lesson and kept it between the lines.
Were the Stewards unfair? Perhaps, but it would have been unfair to let it slide, considering the drivers in the top 10 mentioned above managed to keep it fast and neat.
Speaking of fast and neat, we must mention Lando Norris, who deserved to be named driver of the day.
Lando Norris: Driver Of The Day
Norris had a poor start after qualifying in fourth. Hamilton passed him going into the first corner. Lando fought back hard and reclaimed his spot on the 28th lap of the race. McLaren made fantastic upgrades to their car for the Austrian Grand Prix, finally allowing Norris to compete higher up in the field where he belongs. The enhancements were so impressive that even Adrian Newey wandered over to get a closer look. Praise doesn't get much higher than that. We take back what we said about McLaren being better off entering a 750S instead of its F1 car.
Now that McLaren has its house in order, Mercedes has a problem – two of the teams it supplies engines to have built better cars around it.
That can't be a good feeling; they're feeling the pressure. You could hear the frustration in Toto Wolff's voice as he hopped on the team radio and told Hamilton that he knew the car was terrible but to drive it anyway. In short, stop complaining and get on with it.
Championship Standings
The F1 circus now heads to Silverstone, one of the calendar's fastest circuits and one where a plethora of the teams will deploy substantial upgrades. Unless someone can pull a rabbit out of a hat, it will likely be another Red Bull one-two.
As for the standings, Max Verstappen retains his massive lead and is currently on 229 points. Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso continue to battle for second place with 148 and 131 points, respectively. Hamilton is in fourth with 106 points, and that's it for the drivers who have reached triple digits.
Red Bull Racing has amassed 377 points so far this season, well on its way to scoring more points than last year. It now has more points than Mercedes (second place with 178 points) and Aston Martin (third place with 175 points) combined.
Keyword: Verstappen Dominates Austrian F1 Grand Prix, But Lando Norris Shines