F1 Styrian GP Live Commentary and Updates - race day | Live text

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Haydn Cobb, Megan White

Summary


	Summary Styrian GP is underway Verstappen wins from Hamilton, Bottas in third Russell forced to retire after suffering from PU issue Gasly out after early collision with Leclerc
	Leaderboard Verstappen, Red Bull Hamilton, Mercedes Bottas, Mercedes Perez, Red Bull Norris, McLaren Sainz, Ferrari Leclerc, Ferrari Stroll, Aston Martin Alonso, Alpine Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

Status: Stopped

17:47 And we'll see you again next week for the Austrian Grand Prix at...the same place! Enjoy the rest of the day.

17:46 Here's the report from the Styrian Grand Prix: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/styrian-gp-verstappen-dominates-to-beat-hamilton-to-victory/6615156/

17:37

17:34 Verstappen: "Straightaway, I felt a good balance in the car. It was good to manage the tyres from the start, so I could keep them in to the end."

17:29 "The car was on fire today, so nice to drive!" Verstappen says. "Another win at home."

17:29 Norris finished fifth - a lap down, ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Stroll, Alonso and Tsunoda claiming the final point of the day.

17:28 Perez was right on Bottas' tail, but just ran out of laps to claim third!

17:28 Hamilton finds a 1m07.058s to snatch the fastest lap!

17:27 Verstappen wins the Styrian Grand Prix at an absolute canter!

17:27 It's the final lap, will Hamilton grab that final point?

17:25 Hamilton comes in to stop for the soft tyre! Here's a bid for the fastest lap.

17:23

It all works out well for Raikkonen as he takes the opportunity to go around the outside of Vettel at Turn 4 to move up to 11th place with three laps to go.

17:24 Verstappen pulled out a 1m08.017s from nowhere, finding lots more life in his tyres. His lead is now a massive 17s.

17:22 Ricciardo, still in P13, is within DRS range of Raikkonen but the problem the McLaren driver has is the Finn also has DRS following Vettel. Worse is to come, as Ricciardo has to obey blue flags to let Bottas lap him.

17:22 The Mercedes duo are about a second a lap slower than the Red Bulls at this stage of the race - it won't be a very happy second and third at this rate.

17:21 Sainz unlaps himself from Hamilton now, which means he can continue his charge on Norris.

17:19 Perez is less than 10s behind Bottas now, but it looks like he's running out of time to catch the Mercedes driver.

17:16 Leclerc's overtaking masterclass looks over for today given the 14-second gap to Sainz ahead of him. Further back, Ricciardo is up to P13 having got by Ocon and Giovinazzi.

17:17 There's a big ol' cloud above the circuit. "Is there rain coming?" Hamilton asks - but the radar apparently says no.

17:16 Sainz's progress on Norris has stalled out a little, and is around 7.5s behind, as he's behind Hamilton having been lapped.

17:13 Clearly bored of overtaking rivals at Turn 4, Leclerc opts for a dive up the inside at Turn 3 on Stroll to move up to seventh place. After that clumsy first lap Leclerc has been very impressive today.

17:14 The forecast suggests Perez will be on Bottas' tail in seven laps, although it'll probably be longer given traffic and degradation. Regardless, the Red Bull driver is catching him quickly.

17:12 Perez bags the fastest lap, a 1m07.894s. Bottas is being told to carve through the traffic in response.

17:10 A lap later Leclerc gains another place, this time around the outside of Alonso at Turn 4, to move up to P8.

17:11 "What can I do? I can't close that gap," Hamilton says when told he's 8s behind Verstappen. He doesn't want to give up on the win here.

17:10

But Leclerc isn't giving up, as he manages a switch pass, looking to the outside and then passing on the inside at the exit of Turn 4, to take ninth place from Tsunoda.

17:10 Sainz has got the gap to Norris down to about eight seconds now, with 14 laps left on the board.

17:08 Leclerc looks to pull off the same move around the outside at Turn 4 on Tsunoda but this time he locks up under braking and fails to get by the AlphaTauri driver for ninth.

17:09 Perez, meanwhile, conducts a second stop for the medium tyre - given he's well ahead of Norris in fifth.

17:08 Hamilton reports blistering on his right front tyre, as it seems the one-stop might be on a bit of a knife-edge.

17:05

Leclerc has also been pinged for going over track limits at Turn 10 on a couple of occasions over the last handful of laps, so he'll need to be careful there for the rest of the race.

17:06 Verstappen getting more brake-by-wire messages, which he's told is related to the kerbs at the end of the lap. "We never take any kerb there", Verstappen retorts.

17:03

Leclerc is certainly in a feisty mood today - he takes a look up the inside of Vettel at Turn 3, who locks up, and then gets the move done on the outside of Turn 4, as Vettel locks up again. The Ferrari driver is up to P10.

17:04 Sainz is eating away at Norris now - the gap is 12s as it stands, but if Norris' tyres start to drop, Sainz's strategy would put him in contention for fifth.

17:00 The other Ferrari driver, Leclerc, has moved ahead of both Alfa Romeos and is up to P11 having made his second pitstop of the afternoon - but did get a little too close for comfort against Raikkonen at Turn 3.

17:01 "It's a struggle to get the tyres back up to temperature," Bottas says, as Perez has almost halved the gap to him on the previous lap.

16:57

Sainz, on fresh hards having just stopped, gets ahead of Stroll to regain sixth place. It is turning into a very strong race for the Spanish driver.

16:58 "How much are we losing on the straights to them," Hamilton asks - and the reply is about quarter of a second. Perez, meanwhile, is starting to catch Bottas again.

16:56 Stroll's now under pressure from Sainz - who has jumped a fair few cars after going long.

16:54

They must have heard us, as both Sainz and Ricciardo pit at the end of lap 42. Sainz comes back out in P7, ahead of Alonso and Tsunoda, with Ricciardo returning to the action in P15.