Tops / Flops GP of Styria: Verstappen untouchable, the Blues in agony

Tops

Untouchable Verstappen

He reigned supreme over this weekend. Since Friday, the Dutchman has shown himself to be intractable, very far above the competition to the point of even draining it. The pole on Saturday, the easy victory on Sunday, difficult to do better for Max Verstappen. The Batavian dominates just like Red Bull at the moment. This is also starting to show in the standings. From now on, Verstappen is eighteen points ahead of Hamilton in the drivers' standings and next week all these little people will still be in Austria. To the delight of Max.

Important points for Ferrari

Carlos Sainz, sixth, and Charles Leclerc, seventh, the overall performance is good for the Scuderia.

Especially since the Spaniard started from 13th place, he therefore delivered a good comeback.

But what about that of Charles Leclerc?

Seventh on the grid, almost last after a collision with Gasly and a stop at the end of the first lap, the Monegasque finally climbed back into the points after a good ten overtaking.

But we must add a small downside to Leclerc's performance.

He was at fault for the incident which forced Pierre Gasly to retire and touched the front wing of Kimi Raikkonen at the end of the race by falling back too quickly.

Solid norris

Fourth on the grid, fifth at the finish, the Briton could not have done better on Sunday.

He knew that his McLaren could not keep up with the Mercedes and the Red Bulls.

Author of a good start, Lando Norris had a quiet race, far from the first four and far ahead of his pursuers to take a good fifth place.

He thus consolidates his fourth position in the drivers' standings.

Solid.

Flops

The French in the hard

For Pierre Gasly, the race did not even last a lap. Stuck in the peloton and hit by Charles Leclerc, the Alpha Tauri driver, however very fast throughout the weekend, quickly damaged the left rear part of his car which forced him to retire. No incident for Esteban Ocon, just a lack of performance. The Alpine, yet comfortable on Friday, suffered Saturday and Sunday. The Frenchman lost top speed and never found the right settings. Result? An anonymous race like in France last week with a fourteenth place. Ocon has not scored a point since Monaco.

Ricciardo, the free fall

He seemed on the right track after his sixth place in France. Daniel Ricciardo quickly became disillusioned in Austria. Never in the rhythm, constantly eight tenths behind his teammate Lando Norris, Ricciardo had yet another difficult weekend with a thirteenth place at the finish. Zak Brown, the executive director of McLaren, is likely to quickly raise the tone with the Australian.