(Motorsports news) Charles Leclerc produced a clinical drive as he overtook Max Verstappen three times on track for a brilliant and long-overdue win at the Austrian GP, with Lewis Hamilton coming third after Ferrari's celebratory mood was dented by Carlos Sainz's dramatic engine failure. Leclerc hadn’t won in seven races in F1 2022 but was the dominant driver in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, passing Verstappen early on and then after the first and second stops he overtook the reigning World Champion again. Charles later on went on to survive a late reliability scare with his throttle to win by two seconds.

Verstappen's World Championship lead is down to 38 points, with Leclerc now his closest title rival after Sergio Perez was forced to retire from the race, following a first-lap collision with George Russell. Ferrari's day could have been even better as the Scuderia were looking set for a one-two finish, Carlos Sainz had gained on Verstappen on fresher tyres before he suffered his fourth engine blow-out this season. Sainz's car was engulfed in flames as he struggled to clamber out of his car, and it was subsequently Ferrari's fourth mechanical failure of the season which means that Sainz needs to take a grid plenty later on in the season. Sainz’s failure meant that it lifted Hamilton up to third place, with the Mercedes driver brilliantly recovering from eighth on the grid to show competitive pace but were still 40 seconds off the race winner at the chequered flag after a Virtual Safety Car following Carlos Sainz’s retirement from the race.

Russell continued his streak of finishing in the top 5 in races which he has completed as he finished fourth in the other Merc despite his five-second time penalty for the Perez collision. Esteban Ocon went on to  claim a brilliant fifth place for Alpine while Mick Schumacher followed up his first F1 points with a career-best sixth place for Haas. McLaren had a below-par weekend but both drivers ended up in the points, with Lando Norris managing seventh despite picking up five-second penalties for exceeding track limits infringements. Leclerc had gone three months without a victory and two races without even a podium coming into the Spielberg GP, but this weekend he was a man on a mission and not even the title leader could stop him.

Verstappen had an amazing start as he held Leclerc off at the start, the Ferrari throughout the weekend  appeared to be quicker than the Red Bull and the Monegasque driver took full advantage of this as he managed to stay in DRS range before getting past Max on Lap 12. Verstappen stopped early in a bid to get track position but when Ferrari pitted Leclerc after 12 laps, he made light work of the six-second gap to close in and pass his rival on Lap 33. Verstappen was clearly frustrated with his car's pace on team radio, the Red Bull stopped again to reclaim the lead. The same sequence repeated itself again later on, with Leclerc decisively getting ahead again out of Turn 3 with 18 laps remaining. Sainz was on the same strategy and had DRS on Verstappen before his extremely unlucky DNF. 

On the first lap, Perez tried to go around the outside of Russell before he was squeezed by the Mercedes as Perez went into the gravel. He continued after a pit-stop but had too much damage which ultimately made him retire. Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly also came together later on in the race, with the AlphaTauri driver giving Vettel even less room than Perez had earlier as both Gasly and Russell got five-second penalties for these infringements. Hamilton on the other hand wasn't involved in many wheel-to-wheel scraps but the Haas again had good pace in clear air which caused Hamilton trouble early on. Hamilton later on in the race made his way up to fourth as Mercedes mirrored Ferrari's lengthy stint which ultimately paid dividence. 

"This is a great recovery for us as a team to get a third and a fourth," said Hamilton. It's really good."

"Oh my god I was scared, I was really scared," said Leclerc on team radio. He added on his win: "I definitely needed that one."

Austrian GP Race Result: Top 10

1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) George Russell, Mercedes
5) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
6) Mick Schumacher, Haas
7) Lando Norris, McLaren
8) Kevin Magnussen, Haas
9) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
10) Fernando Alonso, Alpine

Also read: Max Verstappen finishes on pole during qualifying ahead of Austrian GP