Kimi Raikkonen admits Ferrari waited a little too late before starting their push to catch eventual race-winner Max Verstappen at the Austrian GP.

The Finn enjoyed one of his most competitive races in some time in Spielberg, as he challenged the two Mercedes' into the first corner, but a few mistakes proved critical allowing both Red Bulls past and dropping down to fourth at one stage.

Later retirements for Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo pushed the 2007 world champion back upto second, however, he would come just short when trying to challenge the Dutchman, finishing just 1.5 seconds behind at the checkered flag.

“The car came very good but we ran out of laps," Raikkonen commented afterwards. “I think we took it [too] easily for too long. It’s a shame but we had a great car today in the end.”

It was the 38-year-old's bold move at the start that many will remember, as Kimi got a better start and tried to go between the two Mercedes' on the run to Turn 1, inside the cockpit though, he acknowledged some anxiety.

“I had to back off a little bit because they were going to squeeze together, my decision was already gone there,” he explained.

“I was scared I was going to be hit but after that we ran wide and lost places.”

With teammate Sebastian Vettel running close behind in third, some did wonder if Ferrari would consider team orders to benefit the German in the championship.

Vettel himself insisted there was no desire to make what would have been a controversial move and even Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praised the decision not to.

“We wouldn’t have and I’m not surprised that they didn’t,” the Austrian told Autosport. “I think for the sake of the sport and the fans and the drivers, at that stage in the season, the beginning of July, switching drivers is quite a brutal call.

“Obviously towards the end of the season, if you go into the last third of the championship and you see there is a solid advantage for one of the drivers, this is the unfortunate situation within any racing team that you need to look at the situation.

“But not now.”

Max Verstappen has revealed just some of the challenges he faced en route to what was an "unexpected" victory at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Following a difficult qualifying, which left both Red Bull drivers bickering over the radio, expectations were low for the race their home circuit. However, the stars aligned and as others faltered around him, the Dutchman was left to take a fourth Formula 1 win.

For the 20-year-old it was also a sense of vindication after a tough first third of the season marred by incidents and came with the added bonus of a large 'orange army' watching on in Spielberg.

"It's amazing to win with Red Bull at the Red Bull Ring," he stated. "So many Dutch fans around here, it's incredible.

"I don't think I could have chosen a better Grand Prix to do it! It was also very unexpected and that makes it even better."

The big twist that moved the race in his favour was Mercedes' decision not to pit Lewis Hamilton under an early Virtual Safety Car, ironically called to clear his stricken teammate Valtteri Bottas.

That was when both Red Bulls and both Ferraris decided to double stack with Verstappen coming out ahead and later inheriting the lead.

There was still plenty of work to do for the No.33 though, as teammate Daniel Ricciardo suffered severe blistering on his Soft tyres taking him out of the fight and Max had to adapt to avoid a similar fate.

"It was tougher than maybe it looked like because I just had to be on top of my tyres," he explained. "I tried to do my lap times but I knew Kimi was two or three tenths faster at one point. Then traffic was also coming in so I was trying not to lose too much time.

"I was just driving around the blisters, they were starting to open up, but I was just managing it especially in the fast corners. We managed to hang on until the end."

The result also sees Verstappen jump upto fifth in the Drivers' Championship, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and just three points behind teammate Ricciardo.

"It was always the aim, to have good results," he said. "Initially it wasn't happening, but we never gave up and we're on a good run now.

"I needed to catch up with the points, so today was definitely a very good day for me," he said. "I hope we can continue with this.

"We'll see. I think after Silverstone we start to go into a few tracks - especially Hungary - that's a track where we should aim for. We never give up!"

Romain Grosjean finally saw his 2018 season take an upward turn as he scored his first points and led Haas to their best finish at the Austrian GP on Sunday.

A combination of poor luck and several crashes had haunted the Frenchman since Australia, but he was the quickest midfield driver all weekend in Spielberg and would split the two Red Bulls on pure pace in qualifying, going on to start fifth.

Then, as three of the top six cars retired, he would be the man to capitalise, leading teammate Kevin Magnussen to a fourth and fifth place result at the Red Bull Ring, more than double their previous best total number of points at a single race.

"It is great, our 50th Grand Prix, finishing P4 and P5, a best-ever result for the team," he declared

"I got a lot of criticism but the team has always been behind me but this weekend was just what we wanted to stop that negative spiral and eventually try and go back to a positive one.

"It was mainly for me and my boys and for my team. Here we are and showing that we can still do some really good racing.

"Obviously I feel better now, I am happy that we are starting to get some luck and I feel for Lewis [Hamilton] and Valtteri [Bottas] and Daniel [Ricciardo] but it was just more places we could get.

"Just going back home and knowing my boys are proud of me, it makes me go ‘Yes!’."

For Grosjean, the main hurdles came in the form of Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel making their way through after starting behind but also the tyres as he looked to avoid the fate that befell the Australian and also Hamilton.

"To be fair, the last 20 laps, I was looking at my rear tyres thinking that I was never going to make it," he claimed. "I had massive blistering and I was avoiding every kerb.

"We don’t want any bad luck, we don’t want anything to explode right now. I just took it carefully, I knew the gap was big behind so let’s roll on and give the boys what they deserve."

Lewis Hamilton has called on Mercedes to make improvements in all areas after an angry Austrian Grand Prix saw his 33-race finishing streak end.

The world champion looked in a strong position to secure his second win in a week at the Red Bull Ring, after claiming the lead into Turn 1 and then pulled away from the chasing pack in the early laps.

However, when teammate Valtteri Bottas retired with a hydraulics problem, a strategic error not to pit under the subsequent Virtual Safety Car while both Red Bull and Ferrari did with their two cars, left the Briton down in fourth after his own stop.

An irate Hamilton let his feelings be known over the radio before also venting frustration after he later retired with a fuel pressure problem.

"I’m not going to lie, all areas we are going to have to work on," he declared to Channel 4. "The car has been great all weekend. We were the quickest and to have two different faults on each car, which is very unusual but we really can’t throw away points.

"We’ve [also] got to find a bulletproof method to move forward for strategy. If our car was still going it was an easy win for us.

"We were comfortably ahead but we will work on it and will try to re-evaluate to come back stronger for the next race."

Mercedes has already played down suggestions the failures were linked to the new power unit which was introduced in France, one race after it was delayed in Canada, or to the aero upgrades which included new-look sidepods and bargeboards.

Ahead of the final leg of Formula 1's current triple-header this weekend, which is also Hamilton's home race at the British Grand Prix, the world champion maintains trust in his team.

"I feel fine about it. It is what it is," he told Sky Sports. "There's nothing I can do about it, and all we do is move forward.

"I'm looking forward to getting the car back and trying to understand what the problem is, and I know the guys will be working hard to rectify it and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"[It is] an unfortunate day. Everyone in the team is going to be feeling the pain but we've had such great reliability for so many years," he added.

"This is definitely the worst weekend I can remember us having for a long, long time but I have every confidence in my team."

Daniel Ricciardo didn't want the disappointment of his second retirement of the season on his birthday to overshadow what he called a "perfect day" for Red Bull at the Austrian GP.

The Australian was enjoying a strong race in Spielberg, moving ahead of Kimi Raikkonen shortly after pitting and creating hopes for a team 1-2, ultimately, tyre blisters and a broken exhaust would be his downfall, retiring with just over 10 laps to go.

As the team celebrated a great victory for teammate Max Verstappen, however, the now 29-year-old insisted he didn't want to be the party pooper.

"I'm obviously disappointed with how the day went but there’s no point being upset,” Ricciardo told Channel 4. “I know what I signed up for with this sport as a kid and sometimes it does this. Things happen out of your control, it is what it is.

“I don’t want to stand here and talk about my sob story and how my birthday didn’t go well. For Red Bull, the team, everyone here, it’s the perfect day.”

"I'm happy for Red Bull," he declared. "The team, the brand, the people and happy for Max who has so many fans here.

"I saw [Red Bull owner] Mr Mateschitz earlier and I can imagine what he is feeling right now.

"It's not my day, but from the team's point of view, for the Austrians and for Max, it's a big day for them. So I'm happy that some part of the team will be celebrating today."

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Team boss Christian Horner revealed Ricciardo's failure did lead to Verstappen's engine also being turned down and, despite his happiness for the 20-year-old, did have some sympathy for the 'Honey Badger'.

"From my perspective, I’m looking at 43 points, that’s our objective and we lost 18 today,” he also told the British broadcaster. “It was gutting because its not just the one race, it’s the championship as well.

"Those 18 points, on a day where both Mercedes retire, that’s points given away."

Max Verstappen took advantage of a rare bad day for Mercedes to claim a memorable home win for Red Bull at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Moving upto third on a chaotic opening lap, the Silver Arrows would fall by the wayside as a strategic mistake and poor reliability saw the German manufacturer suffer their first double retirement since the infamous Lap 1 crash at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

Then, the hotter than expected temperatures in Spielberg made it all about tyre management in what was a controlled performance from the Dutchman and arguably the best of his career to beat both Ferraris to the finish.

The race began with Kimi Raikkonen getting the better start from third on the grid, thanks to his Ultrasoft tyres, and opting to try and go between the two Mercedes on the run to the first corner.

Unable to draw ahead enough, it would be Lewis Hamilton on the inside who took the lead at Turn 1 with the Ferrari driver moving upto second and polesitter Valtteri Bottas demoted to fourth, behind Verstappen.

In the slipstream of the lead Mercedes, Raikkonen would look to the outside of Hamilton approaching Turn 3 only to run wide. He would come back on the track alongside Verstappen with the pair squabbling down to Turn 4.

As they did, it would allow Bottas to sweep around the outside at the tight right-hander and reclaim second, with Verstappen securing what would be a vital move on Kimi at Turn 7 after making slight contact with the Finn.

Ricciardo would run fifth in the second Red Bull as Vettel lost places having also gone off track at Turn 3 but quickly the German would re-pass the Haas cars and sit in sixth.

With the order somewhat settled, Mercedes began to show the dominant pace they had in qualifying as their cars stormed clear. Further back, Nico Hulkenberg would suffer a fiery end to his race as his Renault engine failed spectacularly on the main straight.

He would park up by a fire marshal at Turn 1 but no sooner had his car being cleared, the key moment occurred as Valtteri Bottas pulled off at Turn 4 with a hydraulics problem.

The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to recover the Mercedes with both Red Bulls and both Ferraris opting to pit for the Soft tyres while Hamilton stayed out in the lead.

This would be the wrong decision as the slower pace allowed Verstappen, Raikkonen and Ricciardo to pit and come out within the time margin it would take the leader to pit a full racing speed.

Ricciardo, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Sunday, would then capitalise on a mistake from the 2007 world champion at Turn 3, to use DRS and sweep past at Turn 4 into third.

That would soon become a Red Bull 1-2 as Hamilton would pit earlier than perhaps expected to ensure he remained ahead of Vettel in fifth.

All appeared ripe for a remarkable result for the Anglo-Austrian team at their home track, but it on the Soft tyres that the hotter temperatures had an impact with Ricciardo suffering a major blister on his right-rear.

That saw his pace began to drop and would allow Raikkonen the chance to re-pass the Australian at Turn 4.

Eventually, he would have to pit again, switching to the Supersofts, but when he slowed to enter the pits, it would be enough to allow Vettel to close up on Hamilton and make a bold move on his championship rival into Turn 3 for third.

The world champion's day would get worse as he then suffered his own blisters, forcing a second stop, while Verstappen and the Ferraris continued out front.

Coming out behind Ricciardo, Hamilton would regain fourth as the Red Bull was forced into retirement with a broken exhaust. The Briton would then see his remarkable 33-race points scoring streak end with a fuel pressure problem forcing him to stop at the top of the hill.

That just left the top three to battle it out to the finish, as the Ferraris tried to catch a slower Verstappen, who was managing tyres and his engine.

Ultimately, it would be in vain as the 20-year-old scored the biggest win of his career so far in front of thousands of Dutch fans and cued big celebrations at the Red Bull Ring.

Raikkonen enjoyed his best race of the year in second, as the Scuderia elected not to impose team orders and ask him to allow Vettel behind in third.

With half of the top six cars out, it allowed Haas to score their best result in Formula 1 in fourth and fifth, as Romain Grosjean finally scored his first points of the season ahead of teammate Kevin Magnussen.

Force India also scored a better-than-expected result as Esteban Ocon took sixth ahead of Sergio Perez in seventh.

Fernando Alonso was forced to start from the pit-lane after McLaren changed parts after qualifying but the Spaniard would fight his way upto eighth, his first points since Spain.

The two Saubers would complete the top 10, with Charles Leclerc recovering from a trip through the gravel on Lap 2 to come home ninth just ahead of teammate Marcus Ericsson.

Those drivers would be involved in a great battle with Pierre Gasly in the Toro Rosso over the closing laps, with the Frenchman just missing out on points in 11th.

Carlos Sainz was another victim of blisters and also a botched pit-stop in 12th, meaning Renault failed to score points at a race for the first time this season.

The two Williams' would follow with Stoffel Vandoorne the last finisher in P15.

Full results can be seen below:

Fernando Alonso took the honour of making up the most places at the Austrian GP, as he claimed an eighth-place finish after starting from the pit-lane.

McLaren elected to take the Spaniard's car out of parc ferme following qualifying, fitting a new MGU-K as well as other new parts in the hope of making progress in the race.

Initially, the situation looked bleak running at the back, with Alonso calling for strategy options to be considered to try and make up some places and it would work as he passed seemingly his arch nemesis this season Charles Leclerc en route to his first points since Spain.

“I’m very happy," he said afterwards. "We didn’t expect points today, so that was a very nice surprise.

“It was a strange race. I started from the pit-lane, was then running 19th after the first laps, then I got stuck behind a group of cars and wasn’t able to run at my proper pace.

"Also, the front wing we ran was last year’s, so we didn’t know exactly how it would behave with the rest of the aero package."

The determining factor though would be his ability to watch the tyres, as the double world champion didn't suffer the problems that several ahead did, allowing him to gain more places.

“The race was quite chaotic," he admitted. "The hot track temperatures caused a lot of blistering for everybody, but I was able to take care of them and capitalise on that.

“The points were a nice reward, but we need to keep improving. The next race is our home Grand Prix and we need to be more competitive there.”

Valtteri Bottas insists he will not be holding back in his quest to put early-season disappointments behind him and claim a second straight win at the Austrian GP.

The Finn produced two excellent laps in Q3 to take his first pole of the season at the Red Bull Ring in qualifying, just beating teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.019s as Mercedes once again flexed their renewed strength.

Upgrades both to the engine and the car in consecutive weeks have resulted in consecutive lock-outs of the front row and it was making the most of them that Bottas considered key to his success.

“The whole weekend we’ve been making good progress with the set-up,” he claimed. “We’ve got new bits in the car this weekend, we’ve been working to get the car well balanced with those and finally we did and the car felt so good.

“In the last run, I knew there was still one-tenth or so I could improve from the first run, managed to find it and apparently I needed it.”

In his own remarks, Hamilton would praise the 28-year-old, who could have scored victories in Bahrain, China and Baku with better luck.

"Valtteri did a stunning lap on the first run and I had a bit of a mistake so that ended the run. But I'm happy with the second one," he said.

"This is a great result for the team, and Valtteri deserves that. He went a completely different way with the set-up and maybe in hindsight I should have gone that direction as well.

"Valtteri did a better job today, which I'm happy for him. I'm going to work hard to improve my qualifyings."

It is that feeling of redemption for the missed opportunities that is firing Bottas up for Sunday, with his results often masking his strong pace.

“I just need a good, clean start, nothing amazing. No need to be a hero in Turn 1 and then go for it," he declared.

“I can guarantee I’m more hungry for a win than anyone else on the grid now I’m really going to go for it.”

Sebastian Vettel wasn't entirely satisfied with third place at the Austrian Grand Prix, even if it was enough to see him reclaim the championship lead.

Following a three-place grid penalty given after qualifying for impeding Carlos Sainz, it appeared as though the Ferrari driver would be simply limiting the damage done to his main title rival Lewis Hamilton particularly after the Briton took the lead and Vettel dropped to eighth on Lap 1.

However, Mercedes' decision not to pit the race leader under the Virtual Safety Car, caused by the retirement of Valtteri Bottas, put the 33-year-old back in the pack just ahead of Vettel, allowing him to pounce up the inside at Turn 3 and move ahead.

Eventually, a fuel pressure problem would see a run of 33 consecutive points finishes end for Hamilton and see Vettel move ahead by a single point, but that wasn't his main focus speaking afterwards.

"No, I think it's boring if I take that!" he told Sky Sports F1 as to whether third was a good result. "I don't want to sound arrogant but you never know what the race is offering.

“It would have been nice to start further up. I tried to get some back at the start at Turn 1 but it didn’t quite work. I was left with no place to go and then lost momentum and it was the same thing a little bit at Turn 3.

“I had to fight with the Renault and the Haas at the beginning of the race and lost a little bit of ground. And obviously we lost a little bit of time at the stop. "So for us it was pretty much damage limitation," he concluded. "But I think the pace was very good, the tyre management was very good, so a positive day."

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Following Hamilton's retirement, some pondered with the two Ferraris running line astern if the call would be made for teammate Kimi Raikkonen to let Vettel by in a repeat of the infamous team orders at the end of the 2002 race in Austria.

"No, why?" Vettel replied when asked if he was expecting such an order. "I was trying to hunt both of them [Max and Kimi] down. Kimi was pushing as hard as he could, I was pushing as hard as I could, I think the bost of us were catching but not enough.

"We had great speed, the difference was made with the tyres today which worked well, the strategy worked well.

"But Max won the race because he deserved to. He did very well managing his tyres to the end. He didn't have any mistakes by my understanding, I didn't see him going off, so that's a strong performance from him.

"Kimi did everything he could," he declared. "He had one lock-up I believe where he lost a position to Daniel [Ricciardo] but he recovered after that.

Romain Grosjean is desperate to convert a fifth-place start for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix into his first points of the 2018 Formula 1 season.

The Frenchman is one of just two drivers still without a top 10 finish to his name this year, this despite his Haas car often being one of the more competitive packages in the midfield.

Poor luck and crashes have been the reason for that but at the American team's strongest weekend of the year so far, it was the former Lotus driver who stepped up, splitting the Red Bulls at their home track.

“I’m very happy. I want tomorrow to go well it is nice that I still know how to drive and it was a bad spiral going on and it was hard to stop it,” Grosjean said.

Austria marked the first time this year a midfield team has managed to break the top three teams' stranglehold on the top six in qualifying with Haas repeating their incredible pace from 12 months ago.

“It is great we have built our weekend nicely, we didn’t think we could catch one of the Red Bull but we did,” Romain claimed. “We are in a good spot to score some points. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully we stay out of trouble.”

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His teammate Kevin Magnussen was also within a tenth of Daniel Ricciardo in eighth and is confident Haas can remain competitive in the race.

"We’ll see how Sunday goes," the Dane said. "Our pace yesterday in FP2 on the long runs was pretty good. We’ll take what we can get, but we need to get those points. We’re going to keep our feet on the ground and see what we can get tomorrow.”