Max Verstappen flies over the Austrian Grand Prix and overtakes Ayrton Senna

The Grands Prix are linked and look alike for Max Verstappen. Ultra-dominant since the start of the season, the Red Bull driver won, on Sunday July 2, in Austria, his seventh Grand Prix this season (out of nine contested). At 25, the Dutchman won his 42nd victory in Formula 1, which allowed him to overtake Ayrton Senna, triple world champion (1988, 1990 and 1991), and to become the 5th most often victorious rider in his sport.

As a symbol of his total domination on the Red Bull Ring, the Dutch driver even allowed himself to stop in the pits two laps from the end to steal the fastest lap time from his teammate Sergio Perez. After his success in the sprint race on Saturday, he now extends his lead in the standings to 81 points over the Mexican driver. The latter still shone on Sunday, finishing 3rd after starting from 15th position.

The powerless Ferraris

Respectively second and third on the starting grid, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were well positioned to fight for victory. But in the face of Red Bull’s dominance this season, which has swept every Grand Prix, the fight for victory has turned into a battle for the podium between Ferrari and Sergio Perez. In the lead for a few laps during Max Verstappen’s pit stop, Charles Leclerc was able to maintain his second place despite Carlos Sainz’s good pace, well helped by Ferrari’s strategy. In a race where drivers struggled to stay within the limits of the track, taking penalties one after another (including Sainz and Hamilton), the second Red Bull driver ended up getting the better of the Spaniard to complete the podium.

Behind, Pierre Gasly finished in the points, 9th on the finish line, unlike the other Alpine driven by Esteban Ocon, finally 12th and penalized for a mistake by his team in the pits. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are 7th and 8th, while Lando Norris grabbed 5th place.