2022 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix results: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari land a blow on Red Bull's home track

Leclerc gets Ferrari home to first to reinvigorate his championship challenge against Max Verstappen

With questions before the race of how hard his teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr., was pushing him in Saturday's Sprint race, Charles Leclerc preferred to point out that the Ferraris were quite fast and would be able to challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull on Sunday.

They not only challenged -- they made it look easy.

A race after Leclerc was questioning the strategy calls by the team, Ferrari pretty much got everything just right at the Red Bull Ring, with Leclerc showing that they have made up the power gap to Red Bull with several convincing passes on the defending series champion.

It wasn't all roses, as Sainz suffered a scary engine failure around Lap 57 that brought out a virtual safety car period, the fourth mechanical failure the team has suffered this season. But other than that, it was pretty much to script for Ferrari.

Show that they can compete on speed and power with Red Bull Racing? Check. Alleviate worries that they can't handle making the right call when the race is on the line? Check. Dominate at a rival's home track? Check.

"It was a really good race," Leclerc said. "We had a good fight with Max. ... I really needed this one, to show that we have the pace in the car."

It actually wasn't quite that easy, as a sticky throttle pedal slowed Leclerc's progress with five laps to go and allowed Verstappen, who was turning fast lap after fast lap, to close up the gap. 

"I knew it wasn't a problem with the engine," Leclerc said. "It was tricky."

But there simply wasn't enough race left and Leclerc was able to bring his Ferrari to the start/finish line first for the win. 

"It's a good result for us on a day that's theirs," Verstappen said. "I just had too much tire wear at the end to really attack Charles."

Official results

1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4. George Russell, Mercedes
5. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
6. Mick Schumacher, Haas
7. Lando Norris, McLaren
8. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
9. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
10. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
11. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
12. Alexander Albon, Williams
13. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
14. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
15. Pierre Gasly, AfphaTauri
16. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
17. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
18. Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
19. Nicholas Latifi, Williams
20. Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

What we learned

The drivers' championship is game on again after the performance of Leclerc and Ferrari at the Red Bull Ring. Perhaps they loosened the screws a touch too much on Sainz's car to get all that extra power, but Leclerc told Formula 1's official website afterward that he knew he wasn't having an engine problem and was instead being bothered by a throttle that would get stuck at 20-30 percent when he was at low speed.

"The past five races have been incredibly difficult for myself, but also for the team, obviously," Leclerc said at the finish. "To finally show that we've got the pace in the car and what we can do is incredible, so we need to push until the end."

And perhaps Leclerc has finally convinced Mattia Binotto and the team that he is their best driver and deserves to be put into the best situations for the rest of the season.

It is not doom and gloom at Red Bull Racing, however. Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring may not have gone their way, but for all the troubles Verstappen and Perez had at both races, the Bulls only lost five points to Ferrari. Verstappen showed resilience in fighting as best he could with a car that never seemed to find its handling balance on Sunday, and a case could be made that Leclerc's passes came easy because Verstappen was on old tires that were going away and the Ferrari was on fresh rubber.

In any case, with the calendar now at the halfway point, and with two more races (France on July 24 and Hungary on July 31) before the summer break, momentum seems to have swung to Ferrari for the moment.

[Jul 10, 2022 at 10:28 am ET · Richard Biebrich Jr.]

And Leclerc is able to get the job done for Ferrari, claiming the win at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen finishes second, with Hamilton, Russell, Ocon in the top five. Mick Schumacher collects points again with his best finish in an F1 race at sixth, followed by Norris, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Alonso.

[Jul 10, 2022 at 10:22 am ET · Richard Biebrich Jr.]

Leclerc radios that he is having an issue with the throttle, which has to be music to the ears of Verstappen. But with only five laps to go, does he have enough race left to try to snatch the victory out from under Leclerc and Ferrari?

[Jul 10, 2022 at 10:18 am ET · Richard Biebrich Jr.]

Ten laps to go and it's Leclerc at the front. Is he wondering if is engine is also going to let go before the finish? He calls to his  pit wall, asking if the telemetry is showing anything worrying, and they tell him all is good.

Verstappen, in second, will be hoping that is not the case.