In Canada, Verstappen's final lap in the second qualifying session was hampered by a red flag brought out by Kevin Magnussen's crash. This caused Verstappen to qualify 11th and start the race in 9th place. He later recovered to finish 5th. In France he started and finished in 4th place. In Austria, Verstappen started 2nd but suffered a poor start, dropping down to 8th. After a charge towards the front, he made his way up to 2nd before controversially passing Leclerc for the lead of the race with three laps to go. This marked the first Honda-powered race victory since the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. In Britain, Verstappen, running in 3rd place, was hit from behind during an overtake attempt by Sebastian Vettel and spun into the gravel. Verstappen was able to continue and crossed the line in 5th place.