Max Verstappen of Red Bull hoists his trophy after winning the F1 Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, July 2, 2023. /CFP
Red Bull's Max Verstappen took his fifth win in a row on Sunday in an extraordinary Austrian Grand Prix that ended up with nearly half the 20-car field punished for failing to stay on track.
The 25-year-old Dutchman, who also won Saturday's 100km sprint race, finished 5.155 seconds clear of a revived Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, in second, with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, showing revitalized form, taking a battling third after starting 15th on the grid.
"Amazing race, the car was on fire today," said Verstappen after his 42nd career win took him above the tally of late Brazilian great Ayrton Senna.
"That is the full sweep, classy Max, very very classy," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner over the team radio.
Max Verstappen driving the (#1) Red Bull race car leads Charles Leclerc of Ferrari during the F1 Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, July 2, 2023. /CFP
Leclerc and Perez were also pleased with their performances.
"We have maximized what we have," Leclerc said. "It was just yesterday that I was off it a bit. The upgrades have worked as expected, but there is still a lot of work to do."
Perez said, "It's been a rough patch for me so I hope we are back now and we can keep some consistency.”
Behind the top three, the outcome was thrown into confusion after stewards upheld a protest by Aston Martin and reviewed more than 1,200 potential track limits breaches before applying retrospective penalties.
The final results saw Ferrari's Carlos Sainz drop from fourth to sixth with McLaren's Lando Norris and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso moving in the other direction to fourth and fifth respectively.
Mercedes seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton slid from seventh to eighth, behind teammate George Russell, while Aston Martin's Lance Stroll moved up to ninth and Alpine's Pierre Gasly fell to 10th.
Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu on track during the F1 Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, July 2, 2023. /CFP
Alfa Romeo's Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu finished 12th.
"I got some damage on the front wing in a Turn One contact, unfortunately, which made me lose ground on my first stint. That compromised the rest of my race as, with such a tight field, it was pretty much impossible to recover. Overall, we have been lacking pace this weekend, this circuit certain hasn't suited us as much as in recent races," said Zhou.
(With input from agencies)