Lewis Hamilton lost the big showdown lead subsequent to resigning from a calming Austrian Grand Prix for Mercedes, as Max Verstappen took a surprising triumph for Red Bull.
Hamilton resigned because of lost fuel weight with eight laps to go as he was hoping to recover his title lead following a Mercedes methodology bumble and tire issues.
What had seemed set to be an agreeable voyage to a one-two for Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas started to go into disrepair for Mercedes moderately from the get-go.
Bottas began from shaft yet Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen ripped between the Finn and Hamilton off the line and took second place, with Hamilton into the lead and Bottas quickly falling back behind Verstappen into fourth after the main corner.
Bottas recovered second place with an overcome move around the outside of Verstappen and Raikkonen into Turn Four and Mercedes seemed to be in charge.
Be that as it may, Bottas resigned on lap 14 of 71 with lost water driven weight, and Mercedes’ strategists neglected to respond to the burden of the virtual wellbeing car, which remotely powers all cars to lessen speed, as his car was recuperated.
Halting under the VSC costs less time than amid dynamic racing and all the main groups separated from Mercedes exploited. The title holders before long acknowledged they had made a grave mistake.
Verstappen rejoined only 13 seconds behind Hamilton, with Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo additionally sufficiently close to mean the Briton would turn out behind them when he ceased.
His retirement, with title equal Sebastian Vettel completing third in his Ferrari behind partner Kimi Raikkonen, places Vettel into a one-point lead heading into one weekend from now’s British Grand Prix.
Mercedes will leave Austria and make a beeline for Silverstone with bounty on their brains as they contemplate how what had looked set to be a simple one-two on an end of the week they had overwhelmed came apart.
Their issues gave a first win on their home track to Red Bull, for whom Verstappen drove delightfully to control the race once Mercedes hit their issues, well far from the seeking after Ferraris.
