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- Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix, making it a hat-trick of wins for the Dutch driver.
- Lewis Hamilton is without a win in the last five races, his longest drought since 2016.
- Verstappen is the first driver to genuinely challenge Hamilton's dominance in five years.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
After four years of total dominance, Lewis Hamilton has a worthy challenger to his F1 crown.
At the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, Max Verstappen's commanding performance in front of a packed crowd made it a hat-trick of wins and proved for good that Hamilton finally has a serious contender to challenge his supremacy.
Six of the past seven Formula One World Drivers Championships trophies have been won by Hamilton, but nine races into the 23-race 2021 calendar, the likelihood of the Brit making it seven from eight is seemingly diminishing every week.
-Formula 1 (@F1) July 5, 2021
Before the French Grand Prix on June 20, Verstappen had never won consecutive races. He has now been succesful in three on the spin and his 15th win of his career stretched his drivers championship lead to 32 points.
Meanwhile, Hamilton suffered his fifth race in a row without a victory, his longest drought since 2016, the last season in which he did not win the championship.
Backed by a crowd of fans from his native Netherlands and racing at his team's home track, Verstappen was unstoppable throughout the weekend.
He took pole, finished 17 seconds ahead of second place Valterri Bottas and picked up the fastest lap, earning him the first grand slam of his career.
For Hamilton, it was a weekend to forget. After qualifying in fourth he failed to make the podium, finishing in the same spot he started, ending the race behind Verstappen, Bottas and McLaren's Lando Norris.
Hamilton has now missed the podium more times in nine races this season than he did in the whole of the 2020 campaign.
-Formula 1 (@F1) July 4, 2021
"It's not the result I wanted but it's still some decent points. Max is clear out front at the moment so we need to improve our car and start performing better each weekend." said Hamilton.
He and his Mercedes team find themselves in an unfamiliar position right now.
Since rejoining the sport in 2010, the German manufacturer has won seven constructors championships, winning every year since 2013. That's the longest streak in the history of the sport.
For almost a decade, Mercedes' only real worry has been working out which of its drivers would become world champion.
But now, with Formula One heading to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, it is Red Bull in the ascendancy.
The Milton Keynes based team, whose factory is only 20 miles away from the iconic British track, is 44 points ahead of Mercedes and team principal Christian Horner was bullish on its prospects after the Austrian GP.
"We know Mercedes have been so strong at Silverstone the last seven years. With the British fans supporting Lewis, that's going to be more petrol in his tank." Horner told Sky Sports F1.
"But I think if we can carry this momentum into Silverstone then there isn't really anything we should fear."