MAX VERSTAPPEN romped to victory in this afternoon’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull star, 23, began the race on pole – and never looked in danger as he cruised to his third consecutive victory.
Lewis Hamilton started proceedings in fourth, but quickly managed to leapfrog Sergio Perez and then Lando Norris into second – with the latter being slapped with a five second penalty.
But the Brit was reeled in by team-mate Valtteri Bottas during lap 54, with Norris also overtaking him as he fell back to fourth.
The seven-time champion, 36, will now head into the British Grand Prix next time around still trailing Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
After the race, victorious Verstappen said: “Today was incredible to be honest, the car was on rails!
“It was really enjoyable to drive. You go into the weekend as the favourite, but it’s never easy to do.
“It was insane to see all the fans and so much orange!”
The win marked the 50th podium of Verstappen’s career.
Meanwhile, Hamilton admitted that Mercedes are ‘miles off’ Red Bull at the moment.
He said: “We are miles away from [Red Bull].
“We need all hands on deck. They have brought a lot of upgrades over the last few races – and we haven’t brought any.”
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
