Team by team analysis of the Styrian Grand Prix

Hamilton dominated the race in a Mercedes one-two on Sunday to celebrate his 85th Formula One win

LONDON:

Team by team analysis of Sunday’s Styrian Formula One Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria (teams listed in championship order):

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MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 1, Valtteri Bottas 2)

Hamilton won comfortably from pole position for his first victory of the season and 85th of his career, six short of Michael Schumacher’s record. He has now won in every season since he made his debut in 2007 and scored points in 35 successive races. Bottas, winner the previous weekend at the same track, started fourth and leads overall by six points.

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MCLAREN (Lando Norris 5, Carlos Sainz 9)

Norris moved up to third in the championship after starting ninth due to a three-place grid penalty. The Briton did 39 laps on soft tyres before pitting, setting him up for the second stint on mediums. He overtook three cars on the last two laps. Sainz set the fastest lap but missed out on fifth after a problem at his pitstop meant he came out into traffic.

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RED BULL (Max Verstappen 3, Alex Albon 4)

Verstappen, a two times winner in Austria, was the first retirement last week but made it to the podium this time. He had a good battle with Bottas on an otherwise uneventful afternoon. Albon and Racing Point’s Perez had a coming together on the last lap, with the Mexican coming off worst.

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RACING POINT (Sergio Perez 6, Lance Stroll 7)

The legality of the Racing Point cars was questioned by Renault after the race, with the governing FIA to investigate further. Perez clashed with Albon, damaging his car, and lost a place to Norris at the end. Stroll also lost out to the McLaren driver but Racing Point showed their pace.

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FERRARI (Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel retired)

Ferrari’s race lasted about 20 seconds. Leclerc and Vettel collided on the opening lap, with the Monegasque accepting the blame for a rash lunge down the inside at turn three that brought out the safety car. It was the pair’s second coming together in four races but they had already struggled in qualifying. Leclerc started 14th due to a three-place penalty.

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RENAULT (Daniel Ricciardo 8, Esteban Ocon retired)

Ricciardo opened his account for the season in a lively battle with the Racing Point drivers and Norris, losing out to all three. Ocon was retired by the team as a precaution due to a suspected cooling issue, the same problem Ricciardo experienced the previous weekend.

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ALPHATAURI (Daniil Kvyat 10, Pierre Gasly 15)

Kvyat enjoyed a lively afternoon, Gasly made contact with Ricciardo at turn one and nearly spun. The Frenchman did a two-stop strategy.

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ALFA ROMEO (Kimi Raikkonen 11, Antonio Giovinazzi 14)

Raikkonen lost time at the start avoiding the two colliding Ferraris and with the car going into anti-stall. The Finn then had to save fuel over the last 20 laps. Giovinazzi started 19th after a five place penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change.

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WILLIAMS (George Russell 16, Nicholas Latifi 17)

Russell started a career high 11th and did a one-stop race. He apologised to the team for messing up early on, losing places. He and Latifi both finished two laps down.

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HAAS (Kevin Magnussen 12, Romain Grosjean 13)

Grosjean started from the pit lane after the team carried out work on his car in breach of Parc Ferme regulations. Magnussen started 15th.