Verstappen banks runner-up finish in Red Bull Racing’s home race

By Jul 3, 2016, 2:15 PM EDT
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Spanish Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen has secured the second podium finish of his F1 career, and first off the top step of the podium with a runner-up finish in today’s Austrian Grand Prix.

It’s the best result yet for Red Bull Racing at its home track, the Red Bull Ring, because the last two years only saw two lower end points results. Daniel Ricciardo came eighth in 2014 and 10th last year; today the likable Australian made it two Red Bull TAG Heuers in the points with fifth place.

The 18-year-old Dutchman’s result was, to a degree, overshadowed by the drama at the front of the field with Mercedes AMG Petronas teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton clashing on the final lap of the race, with Rosberg later receiving a time penalty and penalty points that did not change the result.

Anyway, Verstappen started in eighth and made it forward methodically over the course of the race. He, like others, ran a longer stint on Pirelli’s soft tires to finish and then defended well in the final few laps ahead of Kimi Raikkonen – as he had in Spain.

“Yeah, it was a great start and also a good first lap and straight away I could feel the pace was there in the car,” Verstappen said during the post-race press conference. “So I just moved up to the front and once I cleared some guys I just started to go into my own rhythm.

“The Mercedes cars at the moment are still a bit too quick, but yeah, I think everything was going quite well. I did a long stint on the soft tire and especially the last 10 laps, including with some traffic made it very hard. I could see Kimi behind me, he was catching up a lot.

“At the end to come home in second after what happened on the last lap is of course a bonus. Also, to finish here second, as a Red Bull driver at the Red Bull Ring, is a great feeling.”

Verstappen explained how the Barcelona defense helped him here to be able to do the same thing on the team’s home soil.

“As soon as I saw him in the mirrors I was thinking about Barcelona,” he said. “Only the problem was he was catching quite a lot now compared to Barcelona! He was there all the time and catching up a lot. I just tried to make no mistakes and at the end we kept him behind which of course is what we wanted. It was great for myself to be on the limit all the time until the end of the race.”

IndyCar Power Rankings: Pato O’Ward moves to the top entering Texas Motor Speedway

By Mar 29, 2023, 6:00 AM EDT
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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17th after qualifying 14th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)