F1 Austrian Grand Prix LIVE RESULT: Max Verstappen seals dominant win, Lewis Hamilton given penalty
MAX VERSTAPPEN has increased his mammoth lead at the top of the Driver's Standings with victory at the Austria Grand Prix!
Charles Leclerc came in second while Sergio Perez was third.
Lewis Hamilton picked up a five second penalty as he endured an unhappy afternoon.
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Follow all the action with our live blog below…
Stroll in the park in qualifying
Lance Stroll finished ahead of Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the first time this season.
Booking sixth place on the grid, he will be looking to build on this foundation in the race today.
Alonso has been in fine form this season and will be looking for another podium finish.
Car does not make the driver
While many people say that the Red Bull car is far superior to the others this season, Sergio Perez is proof that is not the case.
Perez will start today's race in 15th place on the grid while Verstappen has yet another pole position.
Despite his victory earlier in the season, Perez has struggled to post a podium finish since.
Dutch driver leading the way
Many fans believe the winner of this season's F1 championship has already been decided.
Max Verstappen is 70 points ahead of his nearest competitor in the standings.
It is hard to see how anyone can prevent him from retaining his crown as world champion.
Atmosphere building in Austria
As the drivers' parade takes place at the track, it is a fantastic atmosphere as we head towards the start of the race.
Fans are salivating at the thought of today's race, to see if Max Verstappen can cement yet another victory.
It will take some drive from his competitors to displace him.
Credit: Reuters Aston Martin driver speaks out about change
After the death of 18-year-old driver Dilano van 't Hoff, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll spoke out about the Spa track:
It's not fair what happened today. That corner needs to be changed. We've been saying it for years. They need to do something. Playing with fire in a couple of weeks' time. Again. We seriously need to think about what to do with that corner because it's never fun going through there. Every time we go through there we put our lives on the line, and today we saw something bad happen and it's not right. We discussed it and then it blows over and it needs to be changed.
Lance StrollStarting grid for today's race
Here is how the cars will line up after this weekend's qualifying:
Credit: @F1 Formula One agrees new deal
Despite the track causing laps to be deleted in qualifying, a new deal was struck prior to today’s race.
It has been confirmed that the Austrian Grand Prix will now be held until 2030.
The news will be welcomed just before lights out today and fans will be hoping it can be followed up by an exciting race today.
Leclerc needs to produce on track
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, pushed Max Verstappen in qualifying, finishing only 0.048 seconds behind the defending champion.
Leclerc now needs to take that form into the race as podium finishes have been distinctly lacking this season.
The Ferrari driver has lamented problems with his car but he has the chance to prove his worth today, starting in second place on the grid.
Credit: Reuters Red Bull at odds in sprint race
Max Verstappen took the win in the sprint race, although he was not happy with a move from teammate Sergio Perez.
He felt that he was pushed off the track by Sergio Perez and told his Red Bull teammate what he thought of the move.
After the race, Verstappen said that the move was “really not okay” and that he and Perez would “have to have a chat about it”.
Red Bull will take some stopping
Max Verstappen is proving to somewhat of an immovable object on the top of the podium this season.
Even when he finished further back on the grid, the defending world champion came through to win the race.
Having finished on pole position, it is hard to see how anyone will displace him, other than the Dutch driver making a monumental error.
Verstappen speaks out about track limits
Defending world champion, Max Verstappen, spoke about how the track limits affected qualifying:
It was very difficult because of all the track limits. We don't do this on purpose but with these speeds and high-speed corners it is very difficult to judge the white line. A lot of people were being caught out, including me. It takes out the joy a little bit but still a very good lap. We looked very silly - we almost looked like amateurs and some of them were very, very marginal.
Max VerstappenWelcome to the Austrian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen managed to take pole position over Charles Leclerc after the Ferrari driver put the pressure on the defending world champion in qualifying.
Leclerc finished 0.048 seconds behind the Red Bull driver as Carlos Sainz finished third, to make it a successful day for Ferrari.
Talking about Red Bull, Sergio Perez finished outside of the top ten for a fourth race in a row.
Lando Norris impressed once again as he finished fourth, but the British driver needs to take this form into the race which has been lacking in previous races, despite impressive qualifying performances.
Lewis Hamilton finished in fifth spot with Lance Stroll finishing in sixth place, ahead of his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso.
Stroll finishes above Alonso for the first time this season, but holding onto that position through the race will be a tough ask of the Aston Martin driver.
Track limits saw a lot of drivers laps deleted, with the circuit in Austria proving a testing one for all the drivers.
Verstappen commented how the amount of deleted laps in qualifying made the F1 drivers seem like amateurs.
Track limits are simply defined as the white lines surrounding the race surface and if the car’s four wheels cross over that, it is defined that the car has exceeded track limits.