Max Verstappen maintained his tight grip on the drivers' championship after winning the Austraian Grand Prix in Spielberg on Sunday. The Dutch driver – who won Saturday's sprint race, started the GP in pole position and dominated the entire weekend at the Red Bull Ring – secured his 42nd career win in style as he powers towards a third title in a row. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished second to split the Red Bulls at their home circuit with Sergio Perez completing the podium. It was Red Bull's 10th successive victory and ninth in nine races this season. Verstappen stretched his lead over Mexican teammate Sergio Perez to 81 points but was made to work for his fifth win in a row and seventh of the campaign after he passed Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. But after manoeuvring himself ahead of both Ferrari drivers, Verstappen raced off into the distance to the delight of his 70,000-strong travelling army from Netherlands. Leclerc crossed the line five seconds behind Verstappen, with Sergio Perez recovering from his lowly grid slot of 15th to finish third. The Mexican fought his way past Sainz with 10 laps remaining following a nip-and-tuck duel. Sainz took fourth after he served five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. “I think most important to me was of course lap one to stay in front after that we could do our own race,” Verstappen said. “Of course we opted not to box during the virtual safety car and just follow our normal strategy and I think that worked out really well. The tyre life was not that high around here and I think our stints were perfect so a great day, I enjoyed it a lot.” Asked about his<b> </b>world championship lead, the 25-year-old added: “I don’t like to think about that yet I’m just enjoying the moment driving this car, working with the team, I think the whole weekend we have done a really good job, the sprint weekend is always very hectic and a lot of things can go wrong and luckily a lot of things went right for us this weekend.” For Leclerc, it was relief to be back on the podium for only the second time this season and the first since finishing third at the Azerbaijan GP on April 30. “Yeah I think Friday and today, we maximised what we had. It was more yesterday that I was off pace but its good to be back on the podium,” said the Monegasque. “The upgrades we brought made me feel better. It's looking good for future. The team did an excellent job to bring the upgrades earlier. Obviously there's still a lot to do, Max and Checo have a lot of pace. “Together with Austria and the British Grand Prix, these are my favourite two tracks. At Silverstone we always have great results so hopefully we can take advantage of the upgrades on the car and challenge the Red Bulls.” Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton finished an underwhelming seventh, while Lando Norris ended the day in fifth to record his best result of a difficult season for his underperforming McLaren team. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso finished between Norris and Hamilton. Hamilton's teammate George Russell made up three places from his starting spot of 11th to finish eighth.
