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Verstappen's Red Bull 'came alive' to claim dramatic win

Max Verstappen said his Red Bull "came alive" at the Austrian Grand Prix after he snatched victory from Charles Leclerc.

Verstappencropped

Spielberg, July 1: Max Verstappen said his Red Bull "came alive" at the Austrian Grand Prix after he snatched victory from Charles Leclerc.

Race stewards investigated Verstappen's pass of Leclerc on lap 69 at the Red Bull Ring, but the Dutchman received no sanction and kept his first win of the Formula One season.

Verstappen attacked Leclerc down the inside at turn three and overtook the Monegasque after they touched wheels and the Ferrari driver ran wide.

The 21-year-old dropped from second to eighth after a poor start but recovered in spectacular fashion to become the first non-Mercedes winner of the campaign at the track where he took the top step of the podium last year.

"At the start I had anti-stall, we set the clutch too aggressive," said Verstappen, who was roared on by a huge contingent of Dutch fans.

"But from then onwards, my first stint was a little bit limited with a flat-spot I had after lap one, but still we stayed out quite long.

"Once we came out again, we had great pace, we were looking after the tyres a bit, just settling in. One by one we were overtaking the cars ahead. The car really came alive."

Verstappen passed Valtteri Bottas, who finished third ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, with 15 laps remaining and was rewarded for applying huge pressure on Leclerc.

He added: "Once I got past Valtteri, I knew that with the pace that we had I could definitely have a go at it. But you never know, you just keep pushing."

Story first published: Monday, July 1, 2019, 16:19 [IST]
Other articles published on Jul 1, 2019