Austrian Grand Prix: Race Stats and Facts

F1 saw it’s youngest ever top-two finish as Max Verstappen staged a mesmerising comeback to win a crazy Austrian Grand Prix, denying Charles Leclerc a first ever F1 victory. The result is Honda’s first win since Jenson Button’s Hungarian Grand Prix victory in 2006 and only their second in 27 years. Here are some other notable statistics from the Austrian Grand Prix.

• Max Verstappen’s sixth F1 win was his second consecutive victory in Spielberg after he topped the podium from fourth on the grid in 2018. The Dutchman was the last person to beat either Mercedes driver, back in Mexico last season.

• Charles Leclerc lost victory having led the most laps in a race for the second time this season after suffering mechanical woes in Bahrain. The win would have secured Leclerc the honour of a lights-to-flag victory in all three FIA categories in Spielberg, having achieved the feat in GP3 and F2. But second place is still Leclerc’s best F1 result to date as he outscored his more-experienced team mate for the second consecutive race.

• Sebastian Vettel was hindered with a P9 grid slot, but recovered to snatch fourth from Lewis Hamilton in the race's closing stages. The German has traditionally struggled on this track, having never won here and led just five laps from the races he has started in Spielberg.

• Mercedes were unable to match the race pace of Ferrari and Red Bull, with Bottas best-placed in third. This is the first time a Mercedes hasn't topped the podium in 2019 and brings to an end a run of 10 consecutive race wins, falling one short of matching McLaren’s record set in 1988.

• Lewis Hamiton had an afternoon to forget after front wing damage dropped him back to P5, bringing to an end his streak of 10 back-to-back podium finishes. It was the first time team mate Bottas made the podium without Hamilton alongside him since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix.

• McLaren topped the midfield for the third time in four races after Lando Norris grabbed P6. The team were quick all weekend, with Norris mixing it with the frontrunners early on while Carlos Sainz staged a dramatic comeback from the back of the grid to eighth. The British squad have now scored 52 points this season, beating their points tally from 2017, while they are now just 10 points off their total from 2018.

• Alfa Romeo had a strong weekend in Austria. The team backed up a double Q3 appearance with their first double points finish of the season. The result means Antonio Giovanazzi ticked off another milestone by grabbing his first F1 point with a P10 finish.

• Despite a string of accidents on Friday, everyone stayed out of trouble in the race. Austria was only the ninth Grand Prix in history to be completed without a single retirement, and the fifth in F1’s hybrid era.