2023-07-02 14:38:59
“That was an outstanding race. The car was ‘on fire’.” Max Verstappen dominated the Austrian Grand Prix: After the sprint race on Saturday, the Dutchman also won the Grand Prix on Sunday. Second was Charles Leclerc in Ferrari, third Red Bull colleague Sergio Perez.
The organizers were happy together with the series winner – for the world champion it was his fifth success of the season en suite: On the one hand 304,000 spectators were counted over the entire weekend, which means a record for the event in Upper Styria. The orange-clad Verstappen supporters shaped the scenery around the Red Bull Ring. “It’s incredible support that I get from my fans,” said Verstappen. On the other hand, the contract with Formula 1 was extended, which is why the Austrian GP is definitely part of the racing calendar until 2030.
Photo gallery: Austrian Grand Prix: The Formula 1 circus is making a guest appearance in Spielberg
(Photo: GEPA pictures/ Wolfgang Jannach (GEPA pictures)) View picture 1/227 gallery
Mourning for 18 year olds
Before the engines roared, however, there was silence: the horsepower circus thought of Danilo van’t Hoff. The 18-year-old Dutchman had a fatal accident at the weekend in a race of the European junior series Formula Regional in Spa-Francorchamps.
Compatriot Verstappen seemed tidy before the start of the race, he knew exactly what was going to be important. “If we have a normal start and handle the tires well, there will be no problems,” said the 25-year-old, who after the dial tone kept the Ferrari duo led by Leclerc in check. Only his pit stop on lap 26 ended an impressive series: Verstappen had led every race lap since Miami at the beginning of May. After Alberto Ascari (1952) and Ayrton Senna (1988), the total of 248 leading laps in a row is the longest series in Formula 1 history. To the delight of his fans, Verstappen retook the lead from Leclerc on lap 35.
How untouchable the world champion is at the moment was demonstrated at the end when, against the will of his racing engineers, who no longer wanted to take any risks, he got soft tires again in order to score the extra point for the fastest race lap at the last minute.
Mutual snitching
Checking the track limits – i.e. the route limits – takes on remarkable excesses. In the case of repeated crossing, there are first warnings, in the case of repetition time penalties. This happened to six drivers – including Lewis Hamilton, who had radioed his box just laps earlier that he could not keep his difficult-to-drive Mercedes on the track. From a Mercedes point of view, the answer from team boss Toto Wolff was profound: “The car is bad, we know that. Please drive it!”
The rule check is remarkable, however, insofar as the pilots now regularly blackmail each other over the radio. The accumulation – on Friday 47 lap times were therefore canceled – has already triggered a debate about possible adaptations.
Canceled lap times made Sergio Perez miss the last qualifying session on Friday for the fourth time in a row. In addition to the disappointing 15th starting position, the Mexican received criticism from Christian Horner.
“He had the speed, he had a car that he could easily get on the front or second row of the grid, he could match Max’s times – so stay inside the white lines,” the Red Bull team principal told Sky UK ” clearly. As third in the race, Perez limited the damage, but in the World Championship the gap between the first pursuer and the defending champion Verstappen increased to 81 points. “It wasn’t an easy weekend. It was a tough time for me,” said Perez, who was not at the ring on Thursday due to illness after the last three races without a podium finish.
While Mercedes – Hamilton finished seventh and George Russell eighth – had a poor weekend, Ferrari were the only team that could reasonably match Red Bull. Sainz (4th) missed his chance of third place because he exceeded the track limit.
Leclerc blamed the latest updates for the noticeable upswing. “They worked well. But we still have some work ahead of us,” said the Monegasque, looking ahead to the Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend.
Spielberg is secured until 2030
Before the race, it was announced that the PS circus would stop in Styria at least until 2030. The contract, which was only concluded in March until 2027, was extended by three years.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, dedicated the contract extension to the late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz. “The vision and passion of Dietrich Mateschitz, who loved this sport, made all of this possible a good ten years ago,” said the Italian of a “unique race track”. The Red Bull founder was also thought of before the start. The lettering “Always with us, Didi” was displayed before the national anthem sung by Juliette Khalil and Christopher Seiler. Oliver Mintzlaff, one of the three managing directors of the Red Bull Group, was also very happy about the contract extension. “The unique tradition of one of the most spectacular and atmospheric races on the calendar will be continued.” Since 2014, Upper Styria has again been an integral part of the Formula 1 calendar. Before that, there had been no races in Spielberg from 2004 to 2013.
Photo gallery: These celebrities cavorted in Spielberg
Celebrities at the Austrian GP in Spielberg (Photo: GEPA pictures/ Daniel Goetzhaber (GEPA pictures)) View picture 1/18 gallery
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