Red Bull’s Max Verstappen says that his Austrian Grand Prix victory – the fourth win of his Formula 1 career – was ‘tougher than it looked’ following Mercedes’ double-DNF.
Verstappen, who scythed passed Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at Turn 7 on the opening lap to grab third place, inherited the lead after Mercedes faltered.
Second-placed Valtteri Bottas dropped out of the race with a hydraulic failure in the early stages. His stranded Mercedes triggered a virtual safety car. Both Red Bulls and Ferraris pitted, while race leader Lewis Hamilton stayed out.
Hamilton lost track position when he pitted and Verstappen inherited the lead. While tyre blisters for Verstappen provided a late-race headache, his lead survived a late charge from the Ferrari pair.
“It was tougher than maybe it looked like,” said Verstappen when speaking to Sky Sports, “because I just had to be on top of my tyres as the tyres were opening up on the front, and in the rear at one point.
“So, I tried to do my lap times – I knew that Kimi was three or four tenths faster at one point then traffic was also coming in and you try not to lose too much time.
“But of course, very happy to win here at the Red Bull Ring with so many Dutch fans around it. And also, it was very unexpected so that makes it even better.”
It was Mercedes’ first double mechanical retirement of the hybrid era.
After edging passed Raikkonen on the opening lap, Verstappen built a lead over him which peaked at seven seconds.
The early overtake and ability to build a lead early after his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo further demoted Raikkonen, allowed Verstappen to maintain a 1.5s margin at the chequered flag, despite a late charge from the Ferraris.
“Yeah, it definitely helped me a lot, otherwise I think it would be really difficult to get passed Kimi,” Verstappen acknowledged.
“At one point Daniel got passed [Raikkonen], so I think it was possible, but it gave me that five or six seconds which at the end of the race I think helped me.”
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