For once it was not a Mercedes snoozefest, but the winner remains a mystery as somebody has won the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix. All we know at the moment is that it was not a Mercedes as, after a late race pass, race stewards are deciding between the Honda-powered Red Bull of Max Verstappen and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Mercedes did claim third place on the podium with Valtteri Bottas – that is not under dispute.
Leclerc held the pole position entering the race but Verstappen was alongside him in the front row and what was expected to be a prolonged battle between the two 21-year-old youngsters instead became a disaster for Verstappen as his car stalled at the green light start of the race. That allowed much of the next two rows of cars to pass him and he spent the majority of the race making up that lost ground.
Leclerc, meanwhile held the lead for most of the race as the Mercedes’ of Bottas and defending Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton both struggled with overheating and, in Hamilton’s case, constantly running over the corner curb sausages that required him to pit his car for a new front wing, ultimately causing him to finish fifth overall, behind Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate, Sebastian Vettel, in fourth. Those were the only five cars on the lead lap.
Verstappen finally caught up with Leclerc and passed him with three laps to go in the race, but in doing so, bumped him off the track through the corner – race stewards have yet to decide if they will assess Verstappen a post-race penalty and promote Leclerc to the victory.
If the results stand, Hamilton maintains his commanding lead in the 2019 F1 driver’s standings with 197 points to 166 for Bottas in second. Verstappen potentially moves – unless he is demoted by the race stewards – into third with 126 points to 123 points for Vettel in fourth and Leclerc in fifth with 105 points [his total could change depending on the stewards’ decision].
2019 Austrian Grand Prix Top 10 [pending stewards’ decision]
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
6 Lando Norris McLaren
7 Pierre Gasly Red Bull
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren
9 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo
10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo