Max Verstappen wins Austrian Grand Prix for fifth consecutive Formula One win

SPIELBERG, Austria —  Reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen continued his relentless march toward a third straight world title with a dominating win at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen started from pole position for the fourth straight race and notched his fifth straight win — and seventh in nine races so far this season. He increased his championship lead to 81 points over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

“I think our stints were perfect so a great day, I enjoyed it a lot,” Verstappen said. “I am just enjoying driving this car and racing for this team.”

He even got his way to come in two laps from the end for a shot at the fastest lap, despite his team’s reluctance to take the risk. Typically, he got the bonus point for it on the final lap to complete a perfect weekend after his victory from pole in Saturday’s sprint race.

“I saw the gap and said ‘We have to pit,’” Verstappen said. “From the outside maybe it looks like a big risk, but when you’re in the car it doesn’t feel like a risk at all.”

It also took the 25-year-old Dutchman to 42 F1 wins overall, one ahead of the late Ayrton Senna and alone in fifth place on F1’s all-time list of winners.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen steers his Formula One car out of a turn during the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg.

(Darko Bandic / Associated Press)

Charles Leclerc — last year’s winner here — finished 5.2 seconds behind Verstappen in second place with Perez placing third, 17.2 seconds behind.

Yet Verstappen’s winning margin was shortened by his late pit stop, and it was another comfortable victory on his team’s home track in Spielberg.

Making a clean start from pole, he held off Leclerc on Turns 2 and 3 and easily regained the lead from him following a pit stop at the halfway point of the 71-lap race at the Red Bull Ring.

“Most important to me was lap one, stay in front after that (so) we could do our own race,” Verstappen said.

It was only Leclerc’s second podium of the season, but put him in optimistic mood.

“The upgrades we brought made me feel better. It’s looking good for the future,” Leclerc said. “Obviously, there’s still a lot to do, Max and Checo (Sergio) have a lot of pace.”

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and several other drivers received five-second time penalties for going off track boundaries.

Perez started 15th and passed Sainz with 10 laps left to collect his first podium finish since his second place at the Miami GP two months ago. Sainz was fourth ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in sixth, Hamilton in seventh and George Russell in eighth.

Red Bull has won all nine races, all 11 when including the two sprint races with Verstappen’s victory in Saturday’s sprint following Perez’s success in Azerbaijan.