F1: Lewis Hamilton looks deflated as Verstappen cruises to easy victory in Austria

Max Verstappen claimed an easy victory last Sunday at the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. His pole to chequered flag run has forced defending world champion Lewis Hamilton to admit that he has no answers for his rival's pace.

The season started with Hamilton winning the opening race in Bahrain,, and many believed that he would cruise right through the season to claim his eighth Drivers World Championship title. Fast forward seven rounds later, and Verstappen is leading by eighteen points.

Things have been tight between the two top teams this season, but Red Bull is slowly showing that they have a definite advantage both during qualifying and on the race itself. They have even out-smarted Mercedes in the pits as well.

"It was pretty impressive speed that they had and there was nothing I could do," said Hamilton at the post-race press conference. "I was giving it absolutely everything. I don't really know where they were gaining all the speed but I think it was everywhere in general but particularly on the straights as far as I'm aware, so they've definitely made some big steps over the last couple of races and we've not really got an answer for it."

Hamilton also admitted that Mercedes have not brought any upgrades to their car. Unfortunately, team principal Toto Wolff has stated that they have no immediate plans of upgrading either. Basically, they are being conservative this year as they look towards the 2022 season. Meanwhile, Red Bull appears to be taking the opposite approach in their bid to give Verstappen his first world championship title.

"I don't remember the last time we brought an upgrade, but they have; they've clearly brought the engine upgrade and they've brought some other part of the package and it's just eked them ahead," said Hamilton, seemingly baffled by the Red Bulls' advantage.

The F1 circuit returns to the Red Bull Ring on Sunday, and Hamilton's body language made it clear that he wasn't optimistic. "So whilst there's a really long, long way to go, with speed like that, we've not really got much we can do, so we've just got to keep pushing. I've got confidence in the team that we'll somehow find something," he concluded.