Battle for Bronze: Who’s on top after the Styrian Grand Prix?

It was, once again, Max Verstappen standing atop the podium as he claimed a comfortable victory in the Styrian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver claimed the team’s fourth victory in a row as he beat out Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in style at the Red Bull Ring. However, it wasn’t as an exciting race for the aforementioned and Sergio Perez, who finished in fourth, as it was for the midfield scrap that took place behind them.

McLaren regained their lead in the midfield battle from Ferrari in the French Grand Prix last week, due to the Italian team scoring no points in the first race of a triple-header. AlphaTauri were relying on Pierre Gasly again to secure them points, as he finished in seventh and helped his Italian team extend their lead over Aston Martin and Alpine, who are chasing behind. It was a poor weekend for both the British and French teams named above, but Alpine actually finished the weekend with more points, despite only having one of their driving pairing placing in the top 10.

As our weekend in Styria has now ended, which team is leading the way?

McLaren

After a superb start to the triple-header last week at the Circuit Paul Ricard, McLaren fans and members of the team would be hoping for a similar result at the fast Red Bull Ring. However, Daniel Ricciardo was unable to find any pace during the race after suffering a loss in power early on, halting the chance of repeating the success from last weekend. The Aussie gained five places and found himself running in eighth, but due to the loss in power, he dropped all the way back to his starting position and was unable to move back into the top 10. Lando Norris was in fine form and claimed another top-five finish.

Ferrari

A bounce-back weekend from Ferrari was needed and that’s exactly what happened. Both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc missed out on top 10 finishes last week and were extremely hopeful of securing points for the Italian team in the first of two races in Austria, which they did. The Spaniard drove to a strong sixth-place finish whilst the Monegasque driver got awarded with the driver of the day award after he finished in seventh, following a superb drive from the back of the grid. The Prancing Horse gained four points over their British rivals.

AlphaTauri

Sunday can only be described as a day of ups and downs for AlphaTauri, as Gasly had to retire after only one lap of the race, whilst Yuki Tsunoda claimed a point. The rookie finished in the final points position after running in the top 10 throughout the majority of the race, which allowed the Italian team to now hold a two-point lead over Aston Martin. Gasly’s race was very short and quite unlucky. The Frenchman took damage from Leclerc at turn one before colliding with three more drivers at turn three, which resulted in a puncture. He then limped around the other seven turns on the track before returning to the pits and retiring from the race.

Aston Martin

Chapeau Lance Stroll. The Canadian drove a quiet yet superb race yesterday and secured an eighth-place finish, scoring four points for Aston Martin. His performance alone has helped the British team move closer to AlphaTauri in the Constructors’ Championship and now sit only two points behind. It was an even quieter day for Sebastian Vettel, as the German was only able to best a 12th place finish and didn’t seem to threaten anyone in the top 10 throughout the 70 laps.

Alpine

Alpine turned to Fernando Alonso again to score points as the two-time World Champion finished in ninth on Sunday. The Spaniard had the Japanese rookie Tsunoda close on his tail throughout the latter stages but was able to hold on and score two points for the French team. Esteban Ocon missed out on points in his home race last week and missed out on them again at the Red Bull Ring, as he finished in 14th.

Which team in the midfield had the strongest performance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!