Max Verstappen was powerless to prevent Charles Leclerc from winning the Austrian Grand Prix and narrowing the gap marginally in this year's Formula 1 title race.
Verstappen led the race from the starting line, but unlike in Saturday's Sprint was unable to shake the two Ferraris behind him in the early stages. And it soon became clear that the red cars were performing much better in the cooler conditions compared to earlier in the weekend.
Leclerc overtook Verstappen on several occasions between pit stops and made the final one stick to win the race. Had Carlos Sainz not suffered an engine failure which quickly developed into a large fire, it looked like it might have been a one-two for Ferrari.
Reflecting on the race, Verstappen admitted there wasn't much he or Red Bull could do on the day to match the imperious Ferraris. "It was a tricky day," said the Dutchman, who went on to suggest that try problems were the main culprit behind the pace deficit.
"It mainly seemed like we were struggling quite a bit with the tyres. That continued on every single compound. (We had) too much degradation to really attack Charles, especially. Second place is a good result for us on a difficult day."
The result was not what many of those in attendance at the Red Bull Ring would have wanted. The 'orange army', which made its presence at the track very much known across the entire race weekend, would dearly have wished for another victory for the defending world champion.
Though it wasn't to be, Verstappen still feels the result was one he and his fans could be reasonably happy about. He also thanked all those who had made the trip from his native Netherlands to cheer him on, and commented on the orange smoke which floated across the track throughout the three days of action.
"It was nice. It's a great colour anyway, so I don't mind having to drive through it," he said with a grin. "It's great to see so many fans coming here to Austria. Of course, unfortunately I couldn't give them a win today but I think second is still a decent result."
