Red Bull’s Max Verstappen passed Charles Leclerc with two laps remaining to win a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix.
The win was only confirmed three hours after the race finished following an investigation into whether Verstappen unfairly ran Leclerc off the track.
Ferrari’s Leclerc seemed in control of the race after Verstappen made a bad start to drop from second to seventh.
It was a sensational drive from Verstappen, making superb use of fresher tyres than the cars in front of him, but the move with which he took the lead was controversial.
Leclerc had already fought off one pass by Verstappen on the previous lap, but on the next lap, with two to go, Verstappen dived up the inside, and this time he ran Leclerc off the road on the exit.
On the incident with Leclerc, he said: “It’s hard racing or we have to stay home. If those things are not allowed in racing then we have to stay home.”
Leclerc said: “The race was good. At the end I had a bit more [tyre] degradation than I thought so Max came back.
“On the incident, I will let the stewards decide. I was on the outside, like the lap before – which was perfectly fine, he left a car space – but he didn’t on that lap and he pushed me wide so I didn’t have the chance to fight back. It’s a shame.”
After both drivers were called before the stewards, the FIA, after lengthy deliberation, confirmed the result would stand.
It brings to an end Mercedes’ run of eight consecutive wins this season – a run that actually stretches back two races further, to last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
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