July 04, (THEWILL) – There was no new-contract bounce for Sir Lewis Hamilton, leading race driver for Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday as Max Verstappen raced ahead to claim his third straight victory to extend his world championship lead.
Red Bull’s leading driver converted his pole position into victory on race day for the second consecutive weekend. This meant that Verstappen opened up a 32-point lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings, making it an uphill task for anyone trying to catch up, like Mercedes, for instance.
The catching up will have ways to go because, on Sunday, Hamilton did not have the straight line speed to challenge Verstappen in any way. Instead, it was Mercedes’ second driver and Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas that came second and Lando Norris, who started on the front row earned a podium place in third pushing Hamilton all the way to fourth.
It is the theme of what is beginning to look like how the 2021 racing season will be, seeing as Hamilton did not even make it to a position on the podium, which is a strange occurrence in recent races. The improvements Red Bull have made to their cars and Verstappen’s incredible racing are the new reality of the calendar of Grand Prix events for this season.
There was some controversy surrounding McLaren driver Norris. The 21-year-old was reportedly handed a five-second time penalty for an early incident involving Sergio Perez before the Mexican was handed two five-second time penalties of his own after duelling with Charles Leclerc in Sunday’s race. Yet, Norris drove resiliently to finish third.
In the other finishes, Carlos Sainz passed Daniel Ricciardo to take sixth place in the final lap, with George Russell agonisingly missing out on a point late on as the drama took place in the midfield.
The 32-point gap that Verstappen’s performance this season has opened for him and Red Bull at the top of the standings will not sit well with Mercedes as their leadership of the races from the previous continues to be threatened by Red Bull’s resurgence.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
