F1 Features

- Max Verstappen claimed the sixth win of his Formula 1 career on Sunday in Austria after a charge through the field, capped off by a late pass on Charles Leclerc to take the win.

Max Verstappen’s fan club has become an ever-present force at grands prix all across Europe in recent years, with Austria perhaps being the race they are most visible, turning the bowl cut out in the middle of the Styrian forests bright orange.

- Charles Leclerc scored the second pole position of his Formula 1 career in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday, following his first in Bahrain earlier this year. It was Ferrari’s third pole of the season.

Charles Leclerc’s readiness to lead Ferrari has been one of the big themes early in the 2019 Formula 1 season, with his bright start to life with the Scuderia prompting suggestions he was already better-placed than Sebastian Vettel to fight for the world title.

- The day in Austria started with a meeting between F1, the FIA, all 10 teams, Pirelli and a number of drivers to discuss a possible change back to the 2018 tyres after a number of complaints in the early part of the team.

- The fallout from last Sunday’s tedious French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard continued throughout Thursday’s media briefings in Austria, with a spotlight being placed on F1’s future and where the sport is anticipated to go from 2021 onwards.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Ferrari is in desperate need of sparking its 2019 Formula 1 season into life.

Formula 1 heads to Spielberg for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, which rounds off the first back-to-back events of the 2019 season.

While even the most hardened Formula 1 fans were resisting the urge to doze off over the closing stages of the French Grand Prix, the race unexpectedly sparked up with a last-lap scrap over the final points places which inadvertently plunged the sport into a fresh controversy.

In what was far from a classic French Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton once again underlined his current superiority in Formula 1. 

In the aftermath of Lewis Hamilton’s dominant victory in Sunday’s French Grand Prix that extended his championship lead and saw him edge ever-closer to Michael Schumacher’s all-time wins record, you would have forgiven the Mercedes driver for a little self-indulgence.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes – 10

-    Lewis Hamilton swept to the 79th victory of his Formula 1 career in dominant fashion on Sunday, leading every single lap of the French Grand Prix.

Mercedes’ domination of qualifying at Paul Ricard on Saturday proved to be just a taste of things to come in the race as it crushed its Formula 1 rivals once again in the French Grand Prix.

A lot has changed for Eric Boullier in the last 12 months, with his return to Paul Ricard this weekend seeing him operate in a drastically different capacity over his home grand prix weekend.  

- Lewis Hamilton took the 86th pole of his Formula 1 career in dominant fashion on Saturday at Paul Ricard, heading up a front row lock-out for Mercedes.

Even amid all the post-race furore over the time penalty, Sebastian Vettel’s dominant display over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend stoked some hope that Ferrari could begin a fightback against Mercedes this year, stopping the silver streak of success to start the season in its tracks.

- The FIA-appointed stewards held a hearing for Ferrari’s request to review the penalty given to Sebastian Vettel at the Canadian Grand Prix that cost him the race win.

- One of the big talking points at Paul Ricard on Thursday was, predictably, Sebastian Vettel’s time penalty in Canada, with drivers agreeing that it was a harsh but – going by the rulebook – fair decision by the stewards.

Almost two weeks on from the chequered flag falling in Canada and Sebastian Vettel losing victory due to a controversial stewards’ ruling, the dust is showing few signs of settling in the debate.

Formula 1 returns to Europe for the first of two races in a row - and the start of a busy stretch before the summer break - at the French Grand Prix. 

A combination of factors saw Mercedes face its "biggest struggle" of the 2019 Formula 1 season at the Canadian Grand Prix, yet it was still able to prevail.

The seventh round of the 2019 Formula 1 season, the Canadian Grand Prix, will unfortunately be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes – 8