Max Verstappen leads every lap of Styrian GP for first consecutive F1 wins

SPIELBERG, Austria — Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen dominated the Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday to win consecutive races for the first time in his F1 career.

With a clean start from pole, the Red Bull driver denied Lewis Hamilton an early attack, and he remained ahead for the entire race, beating his Mercedes rival by more than 35 seconds.

Hamilton made an extra stop late in the race to turn the fastest lap and gain an extra point for his team in the constructors’ championship.

Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third ahead of Sergio Perez as Red Bull and Mercedes occupied the top four places once more.

Win #4 of the season for @Max33Verstappen 🏆🏆🏆🏆#StyrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/RwXtB55a33

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 27, 2021

It was Verstappen’s 14th career win and fourth of the season, increasing his lead over the seven-time world champion in the drivers’ standings to 18 points after eight races. A race win is worth 25 points.

The Dutchman started on pole position for the third time this season and generally dominated the race weekend.

Racing on its home track in the Austrian Alps, Red Bull stretched its winning streak to four races, as Hamilton’s wait for his 99th career victory reached the seven-week mark.

The last time Hamilton went without a win in four straight races came more than three years ago, spanning the last three races of 2017 and the first three of the following season.

Red Bull squandered a potential 1-3 finish with a slow pit stop for Perez. The team needed nearly five seconds due to an issue with the left-rear tire.

The Austrian GP on the same track is scheduled for next Sunday.

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Max Verstappen leads every lap of Styrian GP for his fourth F1 victory this season

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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