Verstappen settles for second after a difficult Austrian GP

Max Verstappen said he could live with a second place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday. The reigning world champion started in pole position but was overtaken after about twelve laps by Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver went on to win the race.

"It was a difficult day," said Verstappen. "We had a lot of problems, especially with the tires, and that was with all types of tires. There was too much wear, but a second place finish is still a good result on a difficult day."

The Red Bull driver failed to win for the third time in a row in front of his own fans at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Verstappen was awarded pole position due to his victory in Saturday's sprint race. That leading position was not immediately in jeopardy due to a good start. The cars drove closer together behind Verstappen, resulting in a collision between Sergio Pérez and George Russell's Mercedes. Pérez ended up off the track and fell back to last place. Russell was given a 5-second time penalty for his role in the incident. After about 26 laps, Pérez was unable to continue due to damage to his car.

After twelve laps, Verstappen had lost his lead in the race to Leclerc. The Ferrari turned out to be faster than the Dutchman's Red Bull. Soon after being overtaken, Verstappen opted to go into the pit for new tires. Leclerc and his teammate Carlos Sainz only did this after 26 laps, at which point Verstappen returned to the lead. Leclerc regained the lead a few laps later on newer tires. Even after the next tire change, Ferrari maintained their leading spot.

With thirteen laps to go, Sainz, who won last week's British Grand Prix, retired from third position with technical problems. This brought out a virtual safety car, which Leclerc and Verstappen both used to switch to medium tires. Verstappen managed to cut into his rival’s lead, but he no longer had an opportunity to overtake Leclerc. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished third, just like last week.

Verstappen also had issues with his tires during the sprint race he won on Saturday, but they wore down even faster on Sunday than he had expected. "I always lost a lot of speed after two laps. That is not what you want," said the 24-year-old Dutchman in an interview with Viaplay after the race.

The world champion said it was an off day for him. "It was a bad match, but to lose out on five points over the entire weekend is not bad." Verstappen scored an extra World Cup point by setting the fastest lap.

Verstappen remains in the top position in the World Cup standings, followed by Leclerc at 38 points back. Pérez has 57 points less than his teammate.

Verstappen won both the Styrian GP and the Austrian GP in 2021, both of which were held at the Spielberg circuit. Like last year, fans showed their support for the Dutch world champion by bringing out as much orange as they could find. The Red Bull driver said he enjoyed seeing all the fans dressed in orange, and the many bursts of orange-colored smoke. "That was fun. It's a nice color anyway so I don't mind driving through it. It's a shame I couldn't give the fans a win."