RACINGAWARDS 2019
HOWYOUVOTED
MaxVerstappenAustria 26.0%
MaxVerstappenGermany 8.6%
CharlesLeclercItaly 6.5%
LewisHamiltonMexico 5.6%
LewisHamiltonHungary 4.8%F1 RACING JANUARY 2020 99DRIVE OF
THE YEAR
MaxVerstappen
RedBull
PICTURES
:STEVEN TEE
;GLENN DUNBAR
;ZAK MAUGER
;MARK SUTTON
AustrianGrandPrix
Whenevertheideaof reversed grids is mooted
it’s always given short shriftby drivers and fans
alike. But fast cars out of position alwaystend
to lead to thrilling races. And this isexactly
what happened when front-row starter Max
Verstappen’s anti-stall kicked in at the start
of theAustrian GP and he lost five places on
the opening lap. Cheered onby his passionate
orange-clad supporters,Verstappen drove a
brilliant raceto hunt down theFerraris in the
closing laps and claim victory.
Ten laps from the flag,Verstappen was
4.2-secondsbehind CharlesLeclerc on tyresthat
werenine laps fresher.After Leclerc rebuffed an
attemptto passon l ap 68 of 71, Max made the
move stickat theTurn 3 hairpin on thefollowing
lap. As he passed theFerrari he maintained
trajectorytowardsthe racing line andLeclerc
had to take to the run-offto avoid a collision.“It’s hard racing, otherwise we have tostay at
home,” saidVerstappen. “If those things aren’t
allowed, what’s the point of being inFormula 1?”
As the drivers cameto the podium the
stewards deliberated. And continuedto do so
for hours, long after the jubilant Dutch fans had
melted away. Finally they decided the result
stood, which meant a first podiumfor a Honda
engine since Jenson Button triumphed at the
2006 Hungarian GP.
After Vettel was stripped of his Montreal win,
the FIA decided they should be more lenient
with drivers and from mid-season re-introduced
the black-and-white driving standards warning
flag to reduce outright penalties andto
encourage racing.
It worked. At the next race at Silverstone,
Verstappen andLeclerc gave us a terrific wheel-
to-wheel duel in one of the scraps of theseason.“In that race everything went
our way, the car and engine were
working really well and I could
overtake on a track where normally
it’s not easyto. Everythingfell
toge ther, itwas Honda’s first V6
win, onRed Bull’s home track and
with all the Dutch fans around.You
could not have written the story
better. Itwas a great Sunday.”
MaxVerstappen