Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the checkered flag Sunday at the Austrian Grand Prix with a performance the Monegasque driver needed to reestablish his threat to the Formula One world title.
Reigning champion and current points leader Max Verstappen crossed the finish line second in his Red Bull while Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium once again in third.
Here's what you need to know from the Austrian Grand Prix and we'll try not to be shown the black-and-white flag for exceeding takeaway limits.
LECLERC/VERSTAPPEN TITLE CHASE BACK ON
That was more like it for Leclerc, who had a dominant Sunday drive more akin to his earlier wins this season in Bahrain and Australia — before a series of misfortune and questionable strategy calls saw him slip to third in the standings.
Possibly due to cooler track temperatures, the Ferrari team came out flying and set the pace as Leclerc passed pole-sitter Verstappen not once, not twice but thrice on track. The last of the trifecta came on Lap 53 with Leclerc making the ol' outside-inside switchback at Turn 3.
Even when Leclerc experienced late throttle issues, he had built up enough of a lead to cushion his way to the checkered flag with 1.5 seconds to spare.
Leclerc leapfrogged Red Bull's Sergio Perez for second place in the championship as the title fight is now back on at the midway mark of the season.
"NO! NO! NO!"
From 25 points one week to none the next, Ferrari's headaches were transferred back to Carlos Sainz.
Last week's first-time winner at Silverstone was on pace to pass Verstappen and possibly make it a dominant 1-2 Ferrari finish. However, Sainz's engine blew up just as he had the Dutch driver in his sights. Flames emerged from the back of the car just as Sainz appeared to be struggling to get out as it started rolling back down the incline. Fortunately, Sainz was able to get free and was all right.
Sainz now has an uncharacteristic four DNFs on the season with only Alfa Romeo rookie Zhou Guanyu having as many retirements. Fortunately for Sainz, his consistency when he has finished hasn't diminished as he's never fallen outside of the top four this season.
Sure it was a Ferrari win but it was also an opportunity lost to steal points from Verstappen, who maintains first in the championship with a 38-point advantage over Leclerc. OK, that's enough beating up on Ferrari.
THREE IN A ROW FOR HAMILTON
Hamilton finished third for the third consecutive grand prix following a challenging weekend. Both Hamilton and Mercedes teammate George Russell crashed during Friday's qualifying for the sprint race and Sunday saw mechanics working on a brake issue with Hamilton's car while on the grid with the race start mere minutes away. Talk about crazy.
Hamilton cruised to the podium although it must be said he was well off of the pace crossing the finish line 41 seconds after Leclerc had taken the checkered flag. The podiums are coming back for Hamilton but the wins still remain just out of reach.
WHAT ABOUT GEORGE?
Russell started P3 but was penalized for making contact on the opening lap with Perez, who spun off of the track (and eventually out of the race). Russell shuffled to the back of the field but it was still early in the race and the Mercedes driver managed to swoop through the field including a nifty switchback on Alpine's Esteban Ocon at Turn 3 ala Leclerc on Verstappen that got him into P4.
Russell recovered from retiring at his home British GP last week to earn his 10th top-five finish through 11 races on the season. After one points streak was snapped, a new one now begins.
HAAS HEATING UP
Just two races ago the Haas F1 Team was in a "Haas of Pain" but they've been trending upwards since the Canadian Grand Prix.
Mick Schumacher, who picked up his first points with an eighth-place finish at Silverstone, improved on his career best with a P6 result while teammate Kevin Magnussen (P8) made it another double points finish for the crew.
Once again, this calls for a Guenther Steiner meme.
Haas (34 points) has now surpassed AlphaTauri (27) for seventh in the constructors' standings.
While Haas is hot, AlphaTauri is not and heading in the opposite direction. Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda finished outside of the points for the third consecutive race and sixth time in the past seven events. Both drivers were also shown the black-and-white flag for exceeding track limits with Gasly even having to serve a five-second penalty in the pits as a result.
FIVE FOR FIGHTING
The new regulations to increase competition appear to be working in the midfield as we saw five cars fighting for eighth place on Lap 24 with McLaren's Lando Norris, Magnussen, Alpine's Fernando Alonso, Schumacher and Zhou all in the mix together. Combined with last week's thrilling grand prix at Silverstone and it's making nail-biting moments up and down the field.
The battle for fourth place in the constructors' standings is also heating up with McLaren and Alpine now tied with 81 points apiece.
Also, were there any drivers who weren't shown the black and white flag for exceeding track limits? Seems like everyone was having problems keeping their cars on the course.
UP NEXT
The F1 season resumes in two weeks with the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard. Verstappen is the defending race winner while Hamilton was victorious back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
