Tag: Austrian GP

Sprint

The 24 lap Sprint Race was cut down to 23 after an aborted start. This was due to photographers at turn one. The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri set their sights on Max Verstappen, who led from lights out.  

A bold move down the inside of Verstappen at turn three on lap five saw Norris take the lead, which would be swiftly taken from him one corner later as the world champion sent it back down the inside. Piastri moved up to second position.  

Behind the leading pack, both Mercedes cars set after Carlos Sainz, who had overtaken George Russell earlier in the race. The Brit would take his place back on lap eight, moving himself up to P4.  

A battle between the McLarens would allow Max Verstappen to take a comfortable victory, with Piastri and Norris finishing second and third respectively, followed by Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc and Perez to finish out the points. Nico Hulkenberg received a ten second penalty after the race for forcing Fernando Alonso off the track.  

Qualifying

A busy qualifying session that eventually saw Verstappen once again take a dominant pole position. Hamilton and Perez made it to Q2 on their final laps of Q1, whilst Kevin Magnussen undoubtedly put in the lap of the session to get himself through in P5.  Fernando Alonso found himself just about squeezing into the second part of qualifying, out qualifying Stroll for the first time in two races. Logan Sargeant found himself out in P19 along with Zhou (P20), Bottas (P18), Stroll (P17) and Albon (P16).  

Q2 started with Hulkenberg being under investigation for jumping Perez in the pitlane, before Verstappen decided to show his true pace setting a blistering lap time of 1.04.577; which he would later beat setting a 1.04.469 to top Q2. Esteban Ocon made Q3 for the second time this season, slotting himself into P10, while teammate Pierre Gasly was out in P13 alongside Alonso (P15), Tsunoda (P14), Magnussen (P12) and Ricciardo (P11).  

Perez and Ocon started Q3 on the back foot as they had no new softs for the session. Verstappen once again set the pace, setting a 1.04.426 on his initial lap. Lando Norris was his closest rival yet again, slotting himself in P2, albeit 0.404 behind the pole sitter.  

Oscar Piastri’s P3 was short lived as his time was deleted for track limits, sending the Aussie down to P7. Charles Leclerc met the gravel on his lap in turn six. The Ferrari driver clattered the kerb at turn nine to end his lap. He ended in P6. His teammate, Carlos Sainz, ended with a second row start in P4. An okay showing from Mercedes gained them P3 (Russell) and P5 (Hamilton). The top ten was rounded out by Perez (P8), Hulkenberg (P9) and Ocon (P10).  

Race

A crazy end to the Austrian Grand Prix saw Russell walk away with his second race victory.  

Leclerc had to box at the start after picking up damage during a typical turn one incident with Piastri. At the front, Verstappen held the lead. First pit stops were seen around lap 11-13, with drivers further down the grid putting on the hard tyres. This turned out to be a poor decision as these tyres degraded quickly.  

Alonso picked up a five second time penalty after an incident on lap 21. The Spaniard was unable to slow down and ran his car into the rear of Zhou. Hamilton and Albon picked up five second penalties as well for crossing the white line at the pit entrance. Perez was also awarded a penalty after speeding in the pitlane.  

Battles throughout the field continued with the Alpines getting a bit too close for comfort on a few occasions. The final round of pit stops saw the action really hot up at the red bull ring.  

As the hards fell off, both Verstappen and Norris pitted on lap 51, with a seven second gap separating the top two in the championship. A slow pitstop for Verstappen saw that gap cut down to just over a second as the pair emerged from the pitlane. The battle for the lead was well and truly on. It was looking like Norris had the pace out of the pits as he put the pressure on Verstappen. Arguments went back and forward on both teams radios as the pair scrapped with Norris lunging on Verstappen on lap 63, looking to stay on track as Verstappen ran wide. He came back on the track in front but it would be on lap 64 where it would all come to blows. Norris sent his car around the outside of Verstappen, the Dutchman seemingly moving to the left to cut Norris off which caused the pair to collide. An instant puncture for Verstappen caused him to run wide, shortly followed by a similar puncture for Norris. The pair was left trundling back to the pitlane as Russell, who was 14 seconds behind, found himself taking the lead of the race.  

Too much time lost and damage sustained left Norris out of the race as Verstappen was handed a ten second penalty for the incident. This penalty did not affect the Dutchman’s race. He finished in P5.

The podium was rounded out by Piastri in P2, and Sainz in P3.  

Written by Meg.

Featured Image Credit: ps-aws.com