2023-07-01 20:23:46
Stone faces at the Red Bull Racing command post on the first lap of the Austrian sprint: Max Verstappen didn’t get off well at the start (rear wheels were spinning too much), of course Sergio Pérez used that ice-cold to take the lead. To do this, he had to squeeze past Verstappen along the pit wall on the right, there wasn’t much room left.
What then happened on the ascent to the Remus curve (3) was borderline: Sergio Pérez pushed his RBR stablemate onto the grass on the right, Verstappen had his hands full trying to keep his racing car under control.
A duel a few centimeters apart through turns 3 and 4 followed, Pérez didn’t want to give up that quickly. Verstappen placed his car so skilfully that he not only took the lead, but was also able to slip past Nico Hülkenberg at the Mexican.
Max followingwards: “I wasn’t quite sure what had happened and I wanted to clarify that immediately in the parc fermé. We talked, everything is cool between us now.”
The Mexican explained: “After a good start, I went a little too deep into Turn 1 and wanted to defend my line. But I didn’t know that Max was already lying next to me in this high-speed bend up to turn 3 and even had to go onto the grass. Visibility was bad. Of course we talked regarding it following the race.”
Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner: «The two spoke out following the sprint. Checo had Max in the blind spot when driving up to curve 3, luckily it didn’t crash.”
What rules of conduct do Verstappen and Pérez have in the wheel-to-wheel duel? Horner: “The rules are clear, fair and unchanged – you can drive hard once morest each other, but you have to leave yourself enough space.”
But have these rules of conduct been observed? Horner: “Let’s put it this way – in turns 1 and 3 yes. It got a little crunchy in between, but that was because Checo hadn’t seen Max.”
Austria Sprint, Red Bull Ring
01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 30:26,730 min
02. Sergio Perez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +21.048 sec
03. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +23,088
04. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +29,703
05. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +30,109
06. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +31,297
07. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +36,602
08. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +36,611
09. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +38.608
10. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +46,375
11. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +49.807
12. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +50,789
13. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +52,848
14. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +56.593
15. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +57,652
16. Yuki Tsunoda (J), AlphaTauri, +1:04,822 min
17. Nyck de Vries (NL), AlphaTauri, +1:05,617
18. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, +1:06,059
19. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Alfa Romeo, +1:10,825
20. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Alfa Romeo, +1:16,435
World Championship standings (following sprint in Spielberg)
driver
01. Verstappen 203 points
02. Pérez 133
03. Alonso 121
04. Hamilton 102
05. Sainz 74
06. Russell 66
07. Leclerc 54
08. Stroll 42
09. Ocon 31
10. Gasly 15
11. Norris 12
12. Hulkenberg 9
13. Albon 7
14. Plates 5
15. Bottas 5
16. Zhou 4
17. Tsunoda 2
18. Magnussen 2
19. De Vries 0
20. Sargeant 0
Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 336 Punkte
02. Mercedes 168
03. Aston Martin 163
04. Ferrari 128
05. Alpine 46
06. McLaren 17
07. Haas 11
08. Alfa Romeo 9
09. Williams 7
10. Alpha Tauri 2
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#Christian #Horner #VerstappenPérez #Crisp