Throw a blanket over 5th to 8th. Photo / Supplied/news.com.au
Throw a blanket over 5th to 8th. Photo / Supplied/news.com.au
It may have been a historic race as the first ever Styrian Grand Prix but the result was once again according to plan for Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finishing 1-2.
Hamilton was dominant throughout, winning by 13 seconds over Bottas, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen righting his early retirement last week with his teammate Alexander Albon in fourth.
But the real story was once again in the mid-field with a crazy finish to the race.
In the penultimate lap, Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was holding sixth ahead of Racing Point's Lance Stroll and McLaren's Lando Norris with Racing Point's Sergio Perez ahead.
But wing damage saw Perez fall back to the field on the final lap as Norris and Stroll finally made their move on Ricciardo.
Stroll pushed Ricciardo off the track to overtake which went to the stewards room but ultimately nothing no further action was taken.
While the Aussie seemed to be struggling with speed after teammate Esteban Ocon retired with overheating issues, similar to what Ricciardo had last week, it came right down to the wire.
Ricciardo wasn't going to back down but it was Norris who cut through the field, moving up to fifth in an incredible finish.
Perez and Stroll were next followed by Ricciardo in eighth.
Throw a blanket over 5th to 8th. Photo / Supplied/news.com.au
The final distance between sixth and eight was 0.204 seconds to which Sky Sports commentator David Croft said was "unbelievable".
He also pointed out that Perez was lucky with a short distance to the line as he could have dropped all the way to eighth after starting the lap in fifth.
Perez said post-race that he was "lucky to only lose out in only one position".
Raced at the Red Bull Ring, the same track as last week's Austrian Grand Prix, the Styrian Grand Prix is named that way because every F1 race needs to have a unique name.
But after a rain soaked qualifying, it was set to be a wild race with plenty of thrills and spills.
Unfortunately for Ferrari, the thrills and spills cost them on the opening lap.
In traffic, Charles Leclerc bounced off a curb and took out his teammate Sebastian Vettel's rear wing.
Vettel was quick to retire and Leclerc followed soon after.
Vettel said he didn't think there was any space and said it was a "shame".
"I was very surprised because I had the inside and wasn't expecting Charles to try something so I don't think there was any space. It's a big pity and something we should avoid but not much I could have done differently."
Leclerc also took full responsibility and apologised to his teammate and the team.
"I apologised, obviously, excuses are not enough in times like this, I'm disappointed in myself, I've don't a very bad job today, I've let the team down," he said.
"I can only be sorry even though I know it's not enough and I hope I'll learn from this and come back stronger for the next races."
Lewis Hamilton. Photo / AP
Hamilton also waited until the end of the national anthem to make a stand as well.
He said for the podium he wouldn't kneel but raised his fist in an allusion to Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics.
RESULTS
1: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 2: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 3: Max Verstappen, Red Bull 4: Alexander Albon, Red Bull 5: Lando Norris, McLaren 6: Sergio Perez, Racing Point 7: Lance Stroll, Racing Point 8: Daniel Ricciardo, Renault 9: Carlos Sainz, McLaren 10: Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri
