Racing
© Spencer
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton reignited the feel of their 2021 fights in the opening phase of the Austrian Grand Prix, with Verstappen first denied in a fierce scrap for second place before making the move stick after the pit stops at the Red Bull Ring.
The first flashpoint came on laps 11 and 12. Verstappen closed rapidly on Hamilton, dived to the inside at Turn 3 and briefly drew ahead, only for Hamilton to hit back before Turn 4. The fight then stretched through the long sequence from Turn 3 to Turn 9, with both cars locking up at one stage as Verstappen tried to hang on around the outside through the left-handers but could not find enough room to clear the Ferrari.
The duel carried the same edge off the track as on it. After feeling he had been squeezed toward the gravel, Verstappen told Red Bull over the radio, “That is a clear penalty.” The move was looked at, but the stewards rejected Red Bull’s request and Hamilton kept the place.
Federico Albano’s telemetry notes showed why Hamilton survived that first attack. Verstappen used heavy battery deployment into Turn 3, reaching 339 kph under braking, but Hamilton took advantage of Verstappen’s energy drop on the run downhill to Turn 4 and carried 6 kph more minimum speed through the corner. Through Turns 7 and 8, Verstappen had to lift from 181 kph to 161 kph, then spent the rest of his energy up to Turn 9. Hamilton still had enough left to regain the upper hand in the final part of the sequence, including a move at Turn 10 that was 11 kph faster than Verstappen.
The battle had formed after Verstappen fought his way forward while George Russell escaped at the front. Russell was already 2.2 seconds clear by lap 8, and Hamilton reported oversteer on lap 9 as he admitted he could no longer match the Mercedes driver’s pace. Before he reached Hamilton, Verstappen had also needed to work through Ferrari traffic involving Charles Leclerc and Oliver Antonelli.
A few laps after the stops, around lap 22, the same contest resumed with almost the same script. Verstappen attacked again at Turn 3, Hamilton answered at Turn 4, and the pair went wheel to wheel once more. This time, though, Verstappen finished the job with a final lunge into Turn 3 that caught Hamilton by surprise, forcing the Ferrari driver to leave the door open and surrender second place.
That second pass gave Verstappen the result he had missed in the first exchange and turned one of the race’s standout early fights into a meaningful shift in the battle behind Russell.