Lewis Hamilton’s F1 championship hopes suffer blow as Max Verstappen cruises to third consecutive victory at Austrian GP

MAX VERSTAPPEN romped to victory in this afternoon’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull star, 23, began the race on pole – and never looked in danger as he cruised to his third consecutive victory.

Max Verstappen cruised ahead of the rest of the fieldVerstappen waves to the fans after romping to victory

Raucous fans let off flares to celebrate Verstappen’s win

The Dutchman was cheered to victory by his travelling compatriots

Lewis Hamilton started proceedings in fourth, but quickly managed to leapfrog Sergio Perez and then Lando Norris into second – with the latter being slapped with a five second penalty.

But the Brit was reeled in by team-mate Valtteri Bottas during lap 54, with Norris also overtaking him as he fell back to fourth.

The seven-time champion, 36, will now head into next week’s British Grand Prix still trailing Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship standings.

MORE FOLLOWS…

The stands were packed with passionate Verstappen fans

Max Verstappen began the race on pole ahead of Lando Norris and Sergio Perez

Lewis Hamilton started the race fourth on the grid