Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix for the third time in a row on Sunday, consolidating his world championship lead over Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth and said his Mercedes team was "miles away from Red Bull."
Verstappen's latest move toward eliminating Hamilton's grip on the drivers' title sparked a carnival atmosphere in Formula One's first capacity audience since the coronavirus outbreak, with the majority of the 100,000 in attendance dressed in his Dutch orange colors.
"Seeing so much orange in the stands is great, it's an extra motivation, thank you," he told the Red Bull-owned Spielberg circuit's adoring crowd.
"The vehicle was unreal," said the 21-year-old challenger to Hamilton's pursuit for a record ninth world title, who had won at the track the week before.
"It's insane - I'm surprised at how well today went. I wasn't expecting it to be this way. To deliver something like this, everyone did an incredible job."
Verstappen moved up to 182 points in the standings after his fifth win of the season, 32 points ahead of Hamilton, ahead of the seven-time world champion's home British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 18.
After qualifying on Saturday, Hamilton, who hasn't won since early May in Barcelona, predicted that overcoming Verstappen would be difficult.
Apart from his Red Bull rival's greater speed, Hamilton's car suffered damage late in the race, costing him a potential second place finish.
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