Charles Leclerc wins the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in P2 and Lewis Hamilton completed the podium for Mercedes in P3 – after Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez retired.

Leclerc took the lead when the Sprint winner and championship leader Verstappen pitted on Lap 12. Leclerc pitted much later, on Lap 27, and retook the lead with a pass on Lap 37. With Sainz challenging Verstappen for P2, the Dutchman pitted again on Lap 37.

“It was a really good race,” said race winner Leclerc. “The pace was there, at the beginning, we had some good fights with Max and the end was incredibly difficult. I had this problem with the throttle and it would get stuck at 20 or 30% throttle in the low speed, so it was very tricky but we managed to make it stick until the end and I’m so, so happy.

“I definitely needed that one. I mean, the last five races have been incredibly difficult for myself but also for the team obviously, and to finally show that we’ve got the pace in the car and that we can do it is incredible, so we need to push until the end.”

Leclerc took his second stop on Lap 51 and retook the lead on Lap 53. With Sainz right on Verstappen’s tail, the Spaniard suddenly slowed – the fire at the rear of his Ferrari signalling the end of his race. That promoted Hamilton, who had battled from P8 to P4, to the final podium place.

Despite a late-race scare in which Leclerc reported his throttle pedal to be sticking, making downshifts difficult and allowing Verstappen to close to within 2.3s, he won for the first time since Round 3 at Melbourne, Verstappen missing out on a third-straight win at the Red Bull Ring.

George Russell was a distant fourth having started there, the Mercedes driver losing time in his first pit stop – a five-second penalty also tacked on as he collided with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez early on. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounded out the top five having started sixth, Perez having retired soon after that Russell collision.

Mick Schumacher was the fans’ Driver of the Day, having overtaken both McLaren’s Lando Norris (P7 having served a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits) and Haas team mate Kevin Magnussen in P8. Daniel Ricciardo made it a double points finish for McLaren in P9, both the team’s drivers enjoying renewed pace with their medium-hard-hard strategy.

Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10 from last on the grid for Alpine, having had to pit three times – a potentially unsafe release causing him to come in twice during the Virtual Safety Car caused by Sainz’s retirement.

Starting from the pit lane, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas made it up to P11 at Alex Albon’s expense, the Williams driver having finished 12th after starting 15th.

Lance Stroll was next in the order, 13th for Aston Martin, with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu just behind in P14. Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda struggled for AlphaTauri, finishing 15th and 16th respectively. Damage picked up early on, however, left Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel 17th following a collision with Gasly for which the Frenchman was penalised.

Sainz was the third retiree, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Perez also bowing out, yet Ferrari have scored two consecutive victories to pile some pressure on championship leader Verstappen ahead of the French Grand Prix.

2022 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race classification

1. Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1:24’24.312
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull 71 1:24’25.844 1.532
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 1:25’05.529 41.217
4. George Russell Mercedes 71 1:25’23.284 58.972
5. Esteban Ocon Alpine 71 1:25’32.748 1’08.436
6. Mick Schumacher Haas 70 1:24’29.612 1 lap /5.300
7. Lando Norris McLaren 70 1:24’32.519 1 lap /8.207
8. Kevin Magnussen Haas 70 1:24’35.928 1 lap /11.616
9. Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 70 1:24’40.656 1 lap /16.344
10. Fernando Alonso Alpine 70 1:24’42.737 1 lap /18.425
11. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 70 1:24’44.287 1 lap /19.975
12. Alexander Albon Williams 70 1:24’48.889 1 lap /24.577
13. Lance Stroll Aston Martin 70 1:24’53.789 1 lap /29.477
14. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 70 1:24’55.511 1 lap /31.199
15. Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 70 1:25’02.718 1 lap /38.406
16. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 70 1:25’04.452 1 lap /40.140
17. Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 70 1:25’06.144 1 lap /41.832
18.      Carlos Sainz Ferrari 56 1:06’24.986 Engine
19.      Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 48 58’46.702 Retirement
20.      Sergio Pérez Red Bull 24 30’16.716 Retirement