Hamilton leads Mercedes' one-two win at the Red Bull Ring

After securing pole position amidst a very wet qualifying session on Saturday, Lewis Hamilton secured a comfortable victory in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, winning over his Mercedes-AMG Petronas teammate Valtteri Bottas, with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen rounding off the podium. Meanwhile, both drivers from Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow – Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc – collided on the very first lap of the race, causing them both to retire.

Perhaps spurred by the disappointing P4 finish last weekend, Hamilton was strong away from the start line, and kept away the competition, which included everyone from Red Bull’s Verstappen to even teammate Bottas, before going on to secure his 85th Grand Prix win.

Meanwhile, despite Verstappen giving it his all, Bottas was still able to sneak past the Dutchman four laps from the end, maintaining his lead on the Drivers’ championship standings as well. Behind Verstappen, the battle for fourth place saw the Red Bull of Alex Albon finish ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris, who was followed by BWT Racing Point’s Sergio Perez with one corner to go in the race after the Mexican suffered front wing damage from contact with Albon.

Perez finished sixth, ahead of teammate Lance Stroll, whose late-race pass on Renault DP World’s Daniel Ricciardo saw the Australian finish eighth. After a frustrating day, P3 starter McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was ninth, taking an extra point for fastest lap, while Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Daniil Kvyat rounded off the top 10.

Ferrari’s 2020 difficulties continued, meanwhile, with Charles Leclerc losing control of his SF1000 racer on the run up to Schlossgold (Corner 3) on Lap 1, ramming into teammate Vettel. The impact heavily damaged Vettel’s rear wing, forcing both racers to retire. This is the second time (after the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix) that a Leclerc/Vettel collision has caused the team a double DNF.

Below are the standings of the point-scoring drivers after race 2 at the Red Bull Ring:

Note: Provisional results. Sainz scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.