What Verstappen's victory tells us about F1's future

In the three hours between Max Verstappen crossing the line and stewards confirming him as the Austrian Grand Prix winner, the prospect of him being penalised was a very real one. That he wasn't, after a late-race scrap that hinted at the next big rivalry, made this a great day for Formula 1

Edd Straw Jul 1, 2019, 8:58 AM

Upd: Jul 1, 2019, 2:10 PM

Motorsport.com's Prime content

The best content from Motorsport.com Prime, our subscription service. Subscribe here to get access to all the features.

The first 30 seconds of Max Verstappen's Austrian Grand Prix could not have gone much worse. He bogged down at the start, later suggesting it was because the clutch was set too aggressively, so the anti-stall kicked him and he dropped to seventh. That became eighth when he was boxed in behind Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari at Turn 2 and teammate Pierre Gasly drove around the outside of him.

Verstappen then locked up the front-right tyre going into Turn 4, giving him a vibration that would remain throughout the first stint. But just over 80 minutes later, he took the chequered flag to win on home soil for Red Bull - and take the landmark first victory of Honda's fourth stint in Formula 1.