Charles Leclerc outduels Max Verstappen to win Austrian Grand Prix, thrusts himself again into championship race

Muricas News  — 

Charles Leclerc outdueled Max Verstappen to win the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday and thrust himself again into the System One driver’s championship race.

It wasn’t simple for the Ferrari driver as he needed to overtake Pink Bull’s Verstappen thrice to say his first spot atop the rostrum because the Australian GP in April.

Regardless of points along with his throttle close to the tip of the race, Leclerc was in a position to maintain on, ending 1.532 seconds forward of second place.

The victory ends a rotten run of kind for the 24-year-old – having missed out on the rostrum within the earlier 5 races.

It additionally cuts Verstappen’s lead on the prime of the driving force’s championship standings to 38 factors because the Ferrari driver strikes into second place forward of Pink Bull’s Sergio Perez.

After the race, Leclerc harassed how necessary the victory was for him.

“It was a very good race,” a relieved Leclerc mentioned. “The tempo was there, originally, we had some good fights with Max and the tip was extremely troublesome. I had this downside with the throttle and it might get caught at 20 or 30% throttle within the low velocity, so it was very tough however we managed to make it stick till the tip and I’m so, so completely happy.

“I positively wanted that one. I imply, the final 5 races have been extremely troublesome for myself but additionally for the workforce clearly, and to lastly present that we’ve received the tempo within the automobile and that we are able to do it's unimaginable, so we have to push till the tip.”

It may very effectively have been a Ferrari one-two however, as the tip of the race approached, with 14-laps to go, a hearth broke out in Carlos Sainz’s automobile because of an engine failure, ending his race prematurely.

“It’s troublesome to seek out the best phrases,” Sainz wrote on Twitter. “A 1-2 was fairly easy however we needed to retire. Good quantity of factors misplaced for each championships however I’m feeling higher and higher within the automobile. Congrats to Charles for the win! We’ll preserve pushing.”

Regardless of being again by hundreds of Dutch followers, Verstappen was unable to say what would have been a third-straight victory on the Pink Bull Ring, Leclerc’s velocity simply an excessive amount of for him to deal with.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was the beneficiary of Sainz’s retirement, as he moved from fourth to 3rd.

Regardless of a torrid begin to the season, it’s the 37-year-old’s third podium end in a row, as he improved from his eighth place beginning spot.