Aston Martin has protested the results of the Austrian Grand Prix and the stewards have ordered a revisiting of the deleted lap times for track limits after errors were noted. The race at the Red Bull Ring saw more than 100 lap times deleted for …
Aston Martin has protested the results of the Austrian Grand Prix and the stewards have ordered a revisiting of the deleted lap times for track limits after errors were noted.
The race at the Red Bull Ring saw more than 100 lap times deleted for drivers exceeding track limits, and penalties handed out to Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen during the race for repeat infringements.
Aston Martin protested the race result that was published, claiming “that a number of cars were not penalized for a breach of Article 33.3 of the Sporting Regulations” — relating to track limits — but that protest has led to another move by the stewards to ask for the race results to be reviewed.
“In the meantime, the Stewards, having become aware of the existence of a number of deleted laps (due to exceeding track limits) that were drawn to our attention after the receipt of the protest, have requested race control to perform a reconciliation of all deleted laps with penalties applied.”
Aston Martin’s protest is most likely to be targeting the cars within 10 seconds of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with Alonso within that window of Sainz in fourth and Lando Norris in fifth, and Stroll 10th but just 1.3s behind Gasly.
Max Verstappen dominated the Austrian Grand Prix after seeing off an early strategic challenge from Charles Leclerc. The Red Bull driver got away easily from pole, and after swatting away a pass attempt from Leclerc around the outside of Turn 3 and …
Max Verstappen dominated the Austrian Grand Prix after seeing off an early strategic challenge from Charles Leclerc.
The Red Bull driver got away easily from pole, and after swatting away a pass attempt from Leclerc around the outside of Turn 3 and then Turn 4, Verstappen set about building a comfortable lead.
Leclerc’s biggest challenge quickly became holding off Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who radioed his team several times to suggest he be allowed to fight for second place, though he was rebuffed on each occasion.
After holding off Leclerc at the first corner Verstappen was soon in firm command. Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
The race settled into a rhythm among the top three, with Ferrari slipping gradually away from the lead, but the afternoon broke open on lap 14 when Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas car stopped at the exit of Turn 3 with smoke spewing from beneath the engine cover.
A virtual safety car was triggered, and Ferrari called both cars into the pits for fresh mediums to capitalize on the reduced pace. It worked wonderfully for Leclerc, who guaranteed his place inside Verstappen’s pit stop window at the first tires changes.
Sainz fared less well, however, dropping to sixth thanks to the double-stack delay. It took him six laps to rise back to third, but by then he’d lost five seconds to his teammate and was effectively out of the lead battle.
Verstappen bit the bullet on lap 24, pitting for a fresh set of hards and rejoining immediately behind Sainz, He made short work of the Spaniard and set about the hunt for Leclerc. The harder compound meant the chase was long, but by lap 35 he was back in the lead with a straightforward DRS move into Turn 3.
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Both Ferrari and Red Bull Racing considered converting their drivers to one-stop tactics in an attempt to snooker the other into an unfavorable strategy, but degradation was proving too high on a warm and generally sunny Sunday for either to seriously attempt it.
Ferrari, historically far worse on tire wear this season, was the first to blink, bringing in Leclerc on lap 47 for fresh hards. From more than 14 seconds in the lead, Verstappen covered him easily and powered to an unassailable lead.
The Dutchman was more than 23s ahead of the back with two laps to go, and to underline his supremacy at Red Bull Racing’s home race he was brought into pit lane for a fresh set of softs with which he set the fastest lap of the race.
Verstappen credited his dominance to sticking to his pre-race strategy when the Ferrari drivers responded to the VSC period.
“I think that worked out really well,” he said. “Tire life was not that high around here and our stints were perfect.
“I could see already a few laps before the virtual safety car came out that we were pulling out quite a gap, so I knew I would get them back eventually. Great day. I enjoyed it a lot.”
The victory extended his championship advantage to 81 points, more than three clear race victories.
Leclerc was a comfortable second, more than 12s ahead of the rest of the pack in a much-improved showing after his difficulties in slippery conditions during the Saturday sprint.
It was a big tick for Ferrari’s upgrade package relative to fellow front-runners Mercedes and Aston Martin, though the gap to Red Bull Racing remains large.
“It’s good to be back on the podium,” Leclerc said of his first rostrum appearance since Azerbaijan in April. “The upgrades that we brought on the car made me feel a bit better in those conditions, which is good for the future. But obviously there’s still a lot of work to do because Max and Checo [Perez] too had a lot of pace.”
Indeed, Sergio Perez recovered from 15th to third in a storming recovery drive that restored some much-needed confidence following a downturn in form. The Mexican used his car’s significant DRS advantage and two opening stints on medium tires to rise through the field with a ruthlessness he’s been lacking for months. The Mexican’s final stop had him rejoin fifth, and after easily passing Lando Norris, he engaged in a titanic battle with Sainz for a spot on the podium.
For four laps the duo sparred from Turn 3 down to Turn 6. Perez complained Sainz was moving in the braking zone, while the Spaniard accused his rival of “intimidating” movements on the brakes.
Eventually Perez broke Sainz’s defense by allowing him to lead into Turn 3, ensuring he could use DRS on the run down to Turn 4 for an easy pass. With Leclerc too far up the road to catch, Perez was forced to accept third, his best finish the Miami Grand Prix in May.
“I’m really happy,” he said. “It’s been a bit of a rough patch for me. Now hopefully we are back and we can keep the consistency.”
Norris finished an excellent fifth in a strong showing for his upgraded McLaren. The Briton used DRS to stick with the Ferrari drivers early in the race but ultimately had the pace to head Aston Martin and Mercedes on merit, beating Fernando Alonso to the place by four seconds.
Lewis Hamilton was a deeply dispirited seventh in a Mercedes he repeatedly complained about over team radio, prompting team principal Toto Wolff to intervene to ask him to focus.
Teammate George Russell followed ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll completing the point-scoring places.
Formula 1 has announced a new agreement with the promoter of the Austrian Grand Prix – the second in four months – to keep the race on the calendar through 2030. The Red Bull Ring has been an ever-present since returning to the schedule in 2014, …
Formula 1 has announced a new agreement with the promoter of the Austrian Grand Prix — the second in four months — to keep the race on the calendar through 2030.
The Red Bull Ring has been an ever-present since returning to the schedule in 2014, hosting doubleheaders in both 2020 and 2021 as the sport reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, a new deal to run from 2024 until 2027 was announced, but F1 has now confirmed a further extension.
“I am delighted to announce this news with our exceptional partners in Austria,” Domenicali said. “The vision and passion of Dietrich Mateschitz, a man who loved this sport, made this all possible and it is a very special moment and a tribute to him that we can confirm we will be racing at this incredible venue until 2030. The race in Austria is a big favorite for the drivers and all our fans and we are looking forward to many years of excitement and action that are ahead of us.”
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Austria is a sprint event this season, and Red Bull Ring general manager Erich Wolf says the commitment shows the importance of the event to the wider Red Bull brand.
“The Red Bull Ring is excited to announce that we will continue our special relationship with Formula 1 until 2030,” Wolf said. “This long-term deal represents Formula 1’s strong commitment to Austria and Styria.
“The fact that the Formula 1 keeps the home grand prix of Oracle Red Bull Racing is of great importance for the Murtal region and for the employees of the Red Bull Ring. With pride and joy we celebrate the 10th joint year at Spielberg. Our special thanks goes to the fans and all supporters.”
Red Bull’s backing has added significance as it comes as F1 prepares to discuss an extension of the Concorde Agreement with all of the 10 teams, binding them to the sport from a commercial point of view.
Max Verstappen says a post-race discussion with Sergio Perez about incidents at the start of the sprint quickly resolved any anger at the Austrian Grand Prix. Perez took the lead from Verstappen at Turn 1 and then appeared to force his teammate …
Max Verstappen says a post-race discussion with Sergio Perez about incidents at the start of the sprint quickly resolved any anger at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Perez took the lead from Verstappen at Turn 1 and then appeared to force his teammate slightly onto the grass on the run out of the corner, before both went deep at Turn 3 and the Mexican had to go off, losing two positions. Each of the drivers complained about the other on team radio and Verstappen said words would be needed after the race, duly discussing the incidents in parc ferme afterwards.
“We just spoke about it, because when the moment happens you don’t know why it gets to that, but then after the race we talked about it and it’s all good,” Verstappen said after winning by over 20s.
Sat alongside his teammate, Perez explained what had happened from his point of view, saying he hadn’t been aware how quickly Verstappen had pulled alongside.
“I had a good start but then just went a bit deep into Turn 1,” Perez said. “So at the exit I was trying to protect my line and didn’t realize that Max was pretty much alongside me and that he was into the grass.
“The visibility was quite poor, and although it wasn’t raining that much on those first laps, it was quite hard to see behind. And when I realized that Max was there I was a little bit too late and I think that was it. We spoke about it after the race and it was just a bit of a shame that I lost a place to Nico (Hulkenberg), but other than that we got the maximum points for the team.”
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When it was put to Verstappen that the incident could have been more costly, he further downplayed its significance.
“It might have (cost us more), but it didn’t. We don’t need to make it a big story, you know? It’s what happens sometimes — we talk about it, we clear it and it’s fine. That’s how human beings work sometimes. You question, you answer, you solve it, done. You don’t need to write a whole article about it.”
Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint after a fraught dice with teammate Sergio Perez on the first lap. Perez got the better start from second on the grid and used his position on the inside of the first turn to snatch the lead. But the …
Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint after a fraught dice with teammate Sergio Perez on the first lap.
Perez got the better start from second on the grid and used his position on the inside of the first turn to snatch the lead. But the Mexican ran slightly deep and onto the wet exit curb, which cost him momentum. Verstappen cut underneath him on the run to the Turn 3, to which Perez responded by crowding him to the edge of the track, forcing him to dip his right wheels onto the grass.
Verstappen retaliated by braking very late down Perez’s inside into the uphill Turn 3. He only just made the corner, which had the useful side-effect of guiding Perez into the run-off zone, switching their positions.
Perez attempted to fight back by taking the racing line into Turn 4, but Verstappen again got his elbows out, holding him high in the corner to disrupt his momentum.
It was super-effective, allowing Nico Hulkenberg, who had started fourth, to slip through into second place and form a useful buffer between the warring teammates.
In the wet conditions the Haas’s presence was enough to give Verstappen a chance to make a break. By the time Perez found his way past on lap 12 Verstappen was already almost 10 seconds up the road. His victory was secure, and he crossed the line a thumping 21 seconds ahead of the pack.
But the incident with Perez hadn’t left his mind once he took the flag, and he radioed his displeasure on the cool-down lap.
“The exit of Turn 1 — that was not really nice,” he said. “That could’ve been a really big shunt, so we need to have a chat about that. That was not OK.”
He sought out his teammate in parc ferme, and the two were spotted debating their battle before the podium interviews.
“I think Max was angry that I went [to the edge of the track] into Turn 2, but I didn’t see him there. I just had a very bad Turn 1, so I tried to protect. Once I realized he was there, I opened up the door. It’s all fine. We just spoke about it.”
Perez eventually got past Hulkenberg courtesy of a better exit from Turn 4 that carried him around the outside of the German at Turn 5 and through into second at Turn 6.
Hulkenberg couldn’t cling to the podium places despite his fast start, with the Haas car’s chronic tire consumption problems hobbling his rear intermediates.
Sainz made easy work of him on lap 13 through Turn 4 and 5 to deprive him of third place, though the Ferrari driver couldn’t move any further up the order from there.
“I wish I could stay close to Checo, but the Red Bulls were just a bit too quick for us today,” he said.
Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso dueled in the final laps of the sprint for fourth, with the Canadian scoring a rare victory over the Spaniard in the damp.
Hulkenberg secured sixth after a gutsy switch to medium tires on lap 17 of 24, following the lead of George Russell, who had stopped for slicks two laps earlier. It dropped him to 12th, but the dry tires were significantly faster than the wets once up to temperature, and he scythed his way back up into the points to make good on the strategy gamble.
Esteban Ocon remained on inters and was overwhelmed late by Hulkenberg and came close to being dropped to eighth by Russell, but a drag out of the last corner secured seventh by just 0.009s ahead of the Briton.
Lando Norris was unlucky to end up ninth, down from third on the grid, after getting balked by the battling Red Bull Racing drivers at Turn 3, dropping him to 10th.
Lewis Hamilton finished a racy 10th, up from 18th on the grid, after a sizzling first lap and well-timed stop for slicks, beating Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc.
Alex Albon had been running comfortably in the points but stopped late for slicks, on lap 18, which was too late to make the most of the fresh rubber. He finished a distant 13th ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly and AlphaTauri teammates Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries.
Logan Sargeant finished 18th, and Alfa Romeo teammates Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas propped up the table in 19th and 20th.
Charles Leclerc has been given a three-place grid penalty for the sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix after impeding Oscar Piastri in the sprint shootout. The Ferrari driver was on the apex at Turn 9 as Piastri approached on a flying lap, with the …
Charles Leclerc has been given a three-place grid penalty for the sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix after impeding Oscar Piastri in the sprint shootout.
The Ferrari driver was on the apex at Turn 9 as Piastri approached on a flying lap, with the McLaren driver having to slow to avoid contact and being eliminated in Q1 of the Saturday morning qualifying session for the sprint. Although a substantial proportion of the blame was attributed to Ferrari for a lack of communication with Leclerc, a grid penalty was handed out that applies only to sprint events.
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“The driver of Car 81 stated that as he approached Turn 9 he saw that Car 16 was traveling slowly and had to brake, reducing his speed by approximately 45 km/h over the previous push lap,” the stewards’ decision read. “This was verified by the stewards referencing the telemetry of Car 81. It was confirmed Car 81 lost approximately 0.5 of a second in that mini- sector (5.3s v 4.8s).
“The driver of Car 16 stated that the last call he had from his team was when he was approaching Turn 4 (‘Piastri six seconds’) and that he saw Car 81 in his mirrors as he was in Turn 8 and Car 81 was in Turn 7.
“The Team Representative of Car 16 stated that the team ‘could have done better’ in communicating the rapid approach of Car 81 and its driver stated that, ‘If I had been warned I could have done something earlier.’
“Accordingly we determine that although this was not entirely the fault of the driver, and that the team’s lack of communication was the major contributing factor, a grid position penalty must be imposed as Car 81 was ‘unnecessarily impeded,’ because there is no doubt that the situation could have been avoided.”
Leclerc is demoted from sixth on the sprint grid to ninth place, promoting Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon. In the unlikely event that Leclerc doesn’t take part in the sprint, the penalty will only carry over to the next sprint event and not Sunday’s grand prix itself.
Max Verstappen lead a Red Bull front-row lockout ahead of Sergio Perez in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix sprint after the team’s chief rivals fumbled their way through the damp session. Verstappen was in commanding form on the still-drying …
Max Verstappen lead a Red Bull front-row lockout ahead of Sergio Perez in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix sprint after the team’s chief rivals fumbled their way through the damp session.
Verstappen was in commanding form on the still-drying track following morning rain to beat Perez by 0.493s despite a wobble through Turn 3 that the team guessed cost him as much as 0.15s.
“The car was in a good window, good balance,” he said. “Very happy of course to be first.”
Perez put in a much-improved performance to back up the title leader on the front row, albeit almost half a second adrift.
He was aided by the absence of Ferrari and Mercedes in the fight for pole, however.
Ferrari mystifyingly lacked the pole-challenging pace it enjoyed in warmer conditions on Friday. Both drivers flirted with the knockout zone in both qualifying segments, with Sainz almost eliminated from SQ1 due to a brake-by-wire system failure that required rapid repairs.
The Spaniard ended up fifth on the grid but almost 0.7s off the pace, while teammate Charles Leclerc wallowed to sixth and 0.8s adrift.
But Mercedes fared even worse, losing Lewis Hamilton in 18th and George Russell to 15th.
Hamilton was a victim of track limits in a frenetic SQ1 segment on a drying circuit. The Briton had set a time that would’ve comfortably seen him through to SQ2 but was judged to have overrun the track boundary at Turn 9.
He had time to go again, but he was poorly placed on the circuit and caught traffic as the clock counted down. Unable to improve, he returned to pit lane to accept 18th on the sprint grid.
Russell compounded matters by radioing that he had suffered a hydraulic failure on his way back to the pits. The team worked frantically to repair the car, but hope was abandoned when it became clear a steering rack change would be required, leaving him without a time in SQ2 and eliminated in 15th.
With those big hitters out of the way, Lando Norris could improve on his fourth on the grand prix grid to put himself third for the sprint, 0.57s off the pace. He pipped a sensational Nico Hulkenberg, who put his Haas fourth.
Sainz and Leclerc followed ahead of the similarly wayward Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in seventh and eighth, while Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen completed the top 10.
Alex Albon will start the sprint 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly and AlphaTauri teammates Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries and the stricken Russell, who didn’t set a time due to his hydraulic issues.
Zhou Guanyu missed out on SQ2 by just 0.001s, that tiny fraction allowing Leclerc to progress through to the top 10.
Oscar Piastri will start the sprint ahead of the knocked-out Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant.
McLaren has lodged a petition for its right of review into the penalty given to Lando Norris during the Canadian Grand Prix. Norris was handed a five-second time penalty for “unsportsmanlike behavior” in Montreal having been deemed by the stewards …
McLaren has lodged a petition for its right of review into the penalty given to Lando Norris during the Canadian Grand Prix.
Norris was handed a five-second time penalty for “unsportsmanlike behavior” in Montreal having been deemed by the stewards to have slowed down excessively behind the safety car in order to create a gap to teammate Oscar Piastri in front before pitting. Norris was confused by the penalty — that dropped him from ninth in the race to 13th in the results — and McLaren is now seeking a review.
In order to be granted that review, the team must convince the FIA that it has a significant and relevant new element that was not available to the stewards at the time the decision was made.
“We are very supportive of the FIA and the stewards, and we trust them while they carry out what is a difficult job,” a McLaren statement read. “We appreciate stewards need to make decisions in a short timeframe, analyzing complex scenarios and often with partial information and multiple elements to consider.
“In Canada, we were surprised by the penalty and uncertain as to the rationale behind the decision. We spoke to the stewards immediately after the race to help understand the reasoning for the penalty.
“The FIA’s regulatory framework has tools and processes which allow them and the sport to deal with the operational complexity of Formula 1, especially for decisions which need to be made during the race. The “right of review” is one of those processes which showcases the strength of the institution in allowing decisions to be reviewed, should that be in the best interest of the sport and this is something McLaren fully embraces and supports.
“Given this provision, the team took the initial explanation onboard and decided to review the case in a calm and considered manner, performing comprehensive due diligence, which included looking at the precedents. After this careful and extensive review, we believe enough evidence exists to…submit a “right to review” to the FIA, which we have done…
“We will now continue to work with the FIA closely, in the same constructive and collaborative manner in which we normally do, and will accept the outcome of their deliberations and decision.”
Lando Norris believes he should have been third on the grid at the Austrian Grand Prix but backed out of the final corner fearing he’d exceed track limits and so lost out to Carlos Sainz. McLaren brought a major upgrade to the Red Bull Ring that …
Lando Norris believes he should have been third on the grid at the Austrian Grand Prix but backed out of the final corner fearing he’d exceed track limits and so lost out to Carlos Sainz.
McLaren brought a major upgrade to the Red Bull Ring that looked immediately more competitive, but Norris didn’t complete a late soft-tire run in practice after picking up some floor damage. With the car repaired for qualifying, he duly secured a spot on the second row but says he was on the verge of beating his former McLaren teammate before a scare at the final corner.
“I’m super happy,” Norris told Sky Sports. “The guys did a good job to get all the bits here this weekend and it’s paid off straight away. A very good day from start to finish. We had a few issues this morning which meant we were even more limited on running, but to be here with quite a new car and to get it to just work as it should and so on, I think that the guys did a very good job to allow that.
“So, yes, a big thanks to them. But P4, as a driver I’m complaining because I could have been P3. I made a little mistake but I’m happy nevertheless.
“It’s just difficult to commit. The last corner is a very tricky corner because you kind of hit the curb on the entry, which makes the car very nervous. I just missed the apex by a little bit and as it compresses, if you miss it, you understeer so badly, and so I thought I was on track limits and just had to back out of it. So it definitely cost me P3, which I’m a bit annoyed by because I would have loved to beat Carlos.”
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Norris has been on the podium twice at the Red Bull Ring and has put himself in a strong position for Sunday, but he says his past record slightly tempers his excitement with the updated McLaren even if he’s seen clear progress.
“Decent, huh? I don’t know any of the true numbers or anything just yet, but it’s definitely been a step forward. There have definitely been things that are shown to have improved. I have more confidence with the car in certain places. I wouldn’t say it’s changed everything — it’s not like the characteristic is loads better — but at the same time, we didn’t expect it to be a lot better. We just expected like a global improvement, which it’s done.
“I think today we’ve managed to prove it even on the short circuit, so it makes us look a bit better. Even if you doubled it and say, well half a second off, I think we’d still be happy with it. I’m always a negative guy — this track’s always been a good one for us so I don’t want to get too ahead of myself and say it’s amazing. I’d like to wait to Silverstone for that, but, like I said, the team did a good job to get everything here and to make such a big step so far. So, it’s down to me on Sunday, to turn it into some points.”
Max Verstappen has retained his pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix after escaping punishment following an investigation into whether he impeded Kevin Magnussen in Q1. Magnussen was starting a flying lap and exited the first corner to find …
Max Verstappen has retained his pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix after escaping punishment following an investigation into whether he impeded Kevin Magnussen in Q1.
Magnussen was starting a flying lap and exited the first corner to find Verstappen on the exit curb after having just completed a lap of his own. The Haas driver continued his lap, but took to team radio to say: “Max Verstappen was completely in the way.”
After Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive pole position, the stewards issued a summons for both him and Magnussen — who was eliminated in Q1 — to explain the incident for potentially unnecessarily impeding.
However, the stewards found that Magnussen did not have to significantly alter his line to pass Verstappen and chose to take no further action.
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“The driver of Car 1 stated that he saw a car approaching after he crossed the line at the end of his push lap and moved to the left of the track after the exit of Turn 1,” the stewards’ decision read. “The driver of Car 20 stated that he had to move to the right to avoid Car 1 and hence lost time on his fast lap.
“The Stewards determined from the video (and audio) evidence that Car 20 had clipped the curb in Turn 1 and that this subsequently caused a slight change in acceleration which in turn resulted in a slightly slower time on the next mini sectors.
“The Stewards further determined that Car 20 did not have to take significant evasive action.”
