Max Verstappen was feeling the heat in a much cooler Austrian Grand Prix as he struggled to keep his Ferrari rivals at bay.
The Red Bull ace came into the weekend as the heavy favourite to win at his team's home track. After all, he led every lap at both Grands Prix at this circuit in 2021, and did the same in Saturday's Sprint race which was run in the hot sunshine.
But the track was much cooler for Sunday's main event, which was clearly working in favour of the red cars. Verstappen was able to break the DRS cycle early on in the Sprint, but couldn't manage it here as Charles Leclerc kept himself within a second of the leader in the early stages.
And the Monegasque got his reward midway through the race as he overtook after a brief battle. Verstappen came back to the front after both drivers had pitted, but he was quickly reeled back in by the Ferrari star.
Leclerc, with tyres that were 12 laps younger, made the move on his championship rival and faced little resistance from Verstappen, who knew he was beaten. And the Dutchman made it clear over team radio that he was not happy with the performance he was getting from his car.
"One lap I have front grip, one lap I don't..." he said over team radio. "The car is so unpredictable it's really crazy." To make matters worse for the Red Bull man, Leclerc was pulling away and Carlos Sainz was closing in from behind.
With Sergio Perez out of the race after contact with George Russell, all of Red Bull's eggs were firmly in Verstappen's basket. That forced them to act quickly, bringing the Dutchman in for a second stop to give him fresher tyres in the hope of a battle with the two Ferrari drivers in the later stages of the race.
But Leclerc reeled him back in and sped off into the distance. But Red Bull were pleased to see Sainz disappear as a threat, as his Ferrari caught fire just as he looked poised to overtake Verstappen.
