Max Verstappen retained his victory for Red Bull in a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday following a stewards' hearing.

The 21-year-old Belgian-Dutch racer won the race after forcing his way past pole-sitter Charles Leclerc's Ferrari in a wheel-bashing passing move two laps from the end of a race that was a shot in the arm for F1 after the French GP.

The incident was swiftly put under official investigation by the race stewards, who confirmed the result nearly three hours after the race ended.

In a statement, the FIA said: "We did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident. We consider that this is a racing incident."

The outcome meant more disappointment for Ferrari after they were on the wrong side of a stewards' decision in Canada, where Sebastian Vettel was deprived of victory after he had won the race. That race was handed to Mercedes' defending five-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who had finished second.

Leclerc has twice suffered disappointment and frustration when seemingly set for victory, having missed out in Bahrain where he was foiled by a late engine problem.

Both Verstappen and Leclerc made up the youngest front row in F1 history.

It was Verstappen's sixth career win and ended Mercedes' record run of eight straight wins this season and ten overall. It also delighted a huge orange-clad army of Dutch supporters.

Leclerc finished second for Ferrari ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes, Vettel and Hamilton.

Hamilton now has 197 points in the drivers' standings, 31 ahead of Bottas, with Verstappen third on 126.

"It's the right result, the right thing for Max, for F1 and for Honda,” said Red Bull team chief Christian Horner.

"It's been a very stressful last few hours," said Verstappen. "But it is the right result and the right result for F1."

Before the stewards delivered their verdict, Verstappen said the incident was merely "hard racing" and that if he were penalized there would be "no point in F1 -- and we should all go and stay at home."

Horner said the sort of wheel-to-wheel racing that sparked the investigation was essential for the future of F1.

"This is what we need – drivers going wheel-to-wheel and fighting each other," he said.