F1 World in Splits as Austrian GP Blunder Unlocks Bizarre Alternate Reality for Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen & Charles Leclerc

Did you know not Charles Leclerc but Sergio Perez won the Austrian Grand Prix? Even Lewis Hamilton was not on the podium. At least, this is what the authorities conveyed on the screens when they put Perez P1 for Ferrari. While the Austrian GP was already an event filled with surprising action, this particular instance made it even more dumbfounding.

The Austrian GP was a rather one-of-a-kind race. With penalties being thrown around every other lap, every driver was under threat of warnings, 5 more seconds, and whatnot. In fact, many of them got their lap times deleted during qualifying, with Perez falling a big victim to this and starting P13 for the sprint.

Clearly, victory in Austria was tough and came to Leclerc finally only after many tussles. However, Twitter simply couldn’t forget the blunder of the graphics displayed on the podium. Notably, Carlos Sainz came in 2nd for Red Bull while Max Verstappen has started driving for arch-rivals Mercedes now.

Funnily enough, two of the three drivers that were named couldn’t even finish their races; Sainz and Perez. The Mexican faced a big shunt on his machinery after colliding with a Mercedes on the turn 4 exit. Sainz, on the other hand, looked confirmed for P2, when engine failure blazed his car on fire.

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Moreover, Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc (who won the race) had their names removed from the graphics. No doubt, this will go down as one of the funniest moments in F1 history.

Lewis Hamilton looked satisfied after a tough Austrian weekend

The Austrian Grand Prix was a peculiar time in its own right. Though it was possibly an annoying time for the teams and drivers, the race itself was enjoyable. From lap 1 crashes to three Leclerc overtakes on Verstappen, it really put on a show for the crowd. This race could well enough be a turning point for Ferrari and Leclerc.

Astonishingly, the Maranello camp, plagued by strategy blunders the whole season, made no mistake this time. Even Mercedes’s Hamilton managed his third consecutive podium of the season. Post-race he confessed, “Especially after a difficult Friday with the crash which was not expected and I’m really so….so proud of everyone for working so hard to rebuild the car…this is a great recovery for us as a team…”

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So, with three different team members up on that podium, what do you expect? Can the race to the title see a shift?