The elements of Leclerc’s Austria win that bode well for his F1 future

OPINION: By winning at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, Charles Leclerc ended a 19-year victory drought for Ferrari in Austria. But it was the manner of his triumph over Max Verstappen that Formula 1 fans should savour now and recall later. Here’s why.

Charles Leclerc’s victory in last weekend’s 2022 Austrian Grand Prix was Ferrari’s first at what is now the Red Bull Ring since 2003 – when Michael Schumacher was victorious at the then A1-Ring.

Most of that long drought is down to the track’s absence from the Formula 1 calendar until its 2014 return. But before this year, Mercedes and Red Bull shared the spoils. Leclerc got close in 2019, but Max Verstappen’s brutal and canny racing stopped him taking a maiden win that day.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.