F1 Racing UK – August 2019

104 F1 RACING AUGUST 2019

PICTURES

:LO

RENZ

OBELLANCA

;GLENN DUNBAR

;STEVEN TEE

;MARK SUTTON

;STEVE ETHERINGTON

In the aftermath of MaxVerstappen’s thrilling

victory in theAustrian GP, a sea of orange-clad

fansfi lled the start/finish straight, cheering and

celebrating his hard-won victory.At the time, the

stewards were investigating his late-race move

for the lead that sent CharlesLeclerc off the track.

Theytook their timeto decide; they didn’t want a

riot on their hands!

“It’s hard racing, otherwise we have tostay at

home,” saidVerstappen, immediately after he’d

stepped out of hisRed Bull. “If those things are not

allowed, what’s the point of being inFormula 1?”

From pole,Leclerc initiallydominated the race,

and any threat fromVerstappen appearedto

instantly vanish when theRed Bull driver hit anti-

stall from his front row start andlost fi ve places on

the opening lap. But as he has proved in the past,

there is no stopping theDutchmanwhenhe’s ona

charge, especially when he’s being cheered onby

so many thousands of supporters. His drive through

the fi eld was beautifully measured and he carved

his way throughthe top order in the closing stages,

PICTURES

THE AUSTRIAN GP

FINISHING STRAIGHT F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPROUND 9 IN 3 KEY MOMENTS

RACE DEBRIEF

(^1) Verstappen’s hard racingavoids censure
2
Leclerc shines but
Ferrari falters again
Lap 69 and the moment of truth:
Verstappen dives insideLeclerc
at Turn 3. They bang wheels at
the exit but the move sticks
passing SebastianVettel, Valtteri Bottas and
Leclercto claim an unlikely and brilliantvictory.
“After the start, when he got anti-stall, I thought
we couldget a podium, but hedrove with such
maturity, managing the tyres and the brakes,” said
Red Bullteam boss Christian Horner. “We are not
the fastest on the straight, but he was so quick
throughTurn 1, and with the benefit of DRS when
he started setting fastest laps at the end of the
race,I thought ‘we could do this’.”
Ten laps from thefl ag, Verstappen was4.2
seconds behindLeclerc on tyres that were nine
laps fresher. Quickly, the gap closed. Onlap 68
of 71,Verstappen dived down the inside of the
Turn 3 hairpin, butLeclerc reclaimed the lead on
the straighttowardsTurn 4.
On the following lap,Verstappen tried a similar
move, but gave the Ferrari driver less roomto
fi ght back, sendingLeclerc wideas t hey banged
wheels on theexit. “If Ifeel that the [first]overtake
[attempt]was done rightly, I don’t think thesecond
one was,” saidthe disappointedFerrari man.
Although he lost the win, it was another impressive
performance fromFerrari new boyLeclerc, whotook
an imperious poleposition and delivered afl awless
race until he waspounced on by Verstappen three
laps from thefi nish. But there was more troublefor
Leclerc’steam-mate Vettel on the other side of the
Ferrari garage.
After qualifying,Leclercadmitted this was his
favourite circuitand revealed thata new setup
approach had improved the front endon his Ferrari.
In contrast,Vettel once again hit trouble – but
this time notof hi s own making. A spin at thefi nal
corner in Friday practice – blamed on the wind – was
It was the second move that led the stewardsto
investigate and they called both drivers into give
evidence. Three hours after thefl ag had fallen, they
decided– sensibly –to take no further action.