Charles Leclerc clinches Austrian Grand Prix title, outshines Max Verstappen

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc trumped Red Bull's Max Verstappen to win the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring as Carlos Sainz suffered an unfortunate retirement.

The racers who obtained the top-eight finish are (in order): Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, George Russel, Esteban Ocon, Mick Schumacher, Lando Norris, Kevin Magnussen.

Leclerc claimed the much-needed win for him and his team as he overcame the throttle issues that he faced in the latter part of the race. Taking the lead in the race on the 12th Lap, Leclerc was looking confident at the start. He later fell short in the 27th lap as he dwindled his lead, keeping his composure up he took the lead again after 10 laps.

The Ferrari driver took his second stop in the 51st lap and easily regained the lead in the 53rd lap. Unfortunately, he started facing issues at the near end of the race when his throttle started sticking and which made downshifts difficult. He was able to pull through and won the race. Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton finished in the top 3. Following are the top 8 finishers of the race.

The fight for the second spot was also heating up with Sainz tailing Verstappen for a good portion of the race. Sainz later had to slow down his car and pull it off track as flames and debris started pouring out of the engine. The Spaniard had to retire from the race because of the incident.

The retirement of Sainz helped Lewis Hamilton grab the 3rd spot in the race. Sergio Perez also had to retire from the race because of his early collision with George Russel who finished the race in 4th position.

"It was a really good race," said winner Leclerc in a statement to F1. "The pace was there, at the beginning, we had some good fights with Max and the end was incredibly difficult. I had this problem with the throttle and it would get stuck at 20 or 30 per cent throttle in the low speed, so it was very tricky but we managed to make it stick until the end and I'm so, so happy," he added.

"I definitely needed that one. I mean, the last five races have been incredibly difficult for myself but also for the team obviously, and to finally show that we've got the pace in the car and that we can do it is incredible, so we need to push until the end." he continued.

( With inputs from ANI )

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