Verstappen wins Austrian GP to end Mercedes' unbeaten streak

SPIELBERG, Austria — Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix for a second straight year on Sunday as Red Bull ended Mercedes' unbeaten streak this season.

The Dutchman recovered from a poor start to work his way up to the front of the pack from eighth place, and overtook leader Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari with just two laps to go.

However, stewards were investigating Verstappen's move to pass Leclerc as both cars touched.

Starting from pole position for the second time in his career, Leclerc almost led the race from start to finish but ended up just missing his first career win.

Leclerc and Verstappen started the race 1-2 and, at an average age of 21 years, 265 days, they made for the youngest front row ever in a F1 race.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas completed the podium, ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who started fourth and lost time to replace the front wing of his Mercedes after 31 laps and finished fifth.

Hamilton posted the second-fastest time in Saturday's qualifying but was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen. He started fourth as fifth-ranked Kevin Magnussen also lost five places for changing the gearbox in his Haas.

Verstappen seemed to lose hope of a repeat of last year's triumph when his Red Bull barely moved as the lights at the start switched to green. He immediately lost six places and complained over the team radio about "clipping," hinting at a lack of power likely due to a hydraulic issue.