2023-07-02 15:30:39
Max Verstappen completed a clean sweep of pole position and race wins at the Austrian Grand Prix with another dominant display in Sunday’s main event, leading Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Despite an action-packed encounter at the Red Bull Ring in which several drivers were penalized for track limits and strategies differed (Verstappen was one of the few drivers to sit out during an initial Virtual Safety Car stint). ), the Dutchman might not be stopped en route to his fifth. win on the rebound, and seventh of the season.
Leclerc briefly led the way following taking advantage of the VSC, but fell behind Verstappen as the two worked through their opposing tire plans and Red Bull showed off their raw pace, underscored by a late and successful bid for the bonus lap point. faster.
Pérez made a good recovery from 15th on the grid to end a difficult stage and take his first podium since the Miami Grand Prix four races ago, beating Carlos Sainz in the closing stages and making the most of the driver’s time penalty of Ferrari by the limits of the track.
Lando Norris capped off his and McLaren’s encouraging weekend with his batch of improvements en route to fifth place, beating the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and the Mercedes machines of another penalized Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to the finish.
Pierre Gasly overcame his own five-second penalty to give Alpine a pair of points in ninth, and Lance Stroll’s other Aston Martin passed Williams’ rival Alex Albon, also penalized, late on for the final point offered.
A time penalty for an unsafe release left Esteban Ocon in 12th in the second of the Alpine cars, with Williams rookie Logan Sargeant, another to miss at track limits, returning home in 13th while continues his wait for his first F1 point.
Alfa Romeo had a smooth race as Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas finished 14th and 16th respectively, beating the AlphaTauri of Nyck de Vries, who was penalized five seconds for forcing Haas driver Kevin Magnussen off the track. .
Oscar Piastri’s race was hampered by contact and the need to replace his front wing, meaning the McLaren man returned home 17th, followed by Yuki Tsunoda, who was damaged on the opening lap and crashed. he drove off the track in his AlphaTauri, before being hit with a track limits penalty.
Haas’s strong start to the event ended with the disappointment of P19 for Magnussen, making his 150th Grand Prix start, and the retirement of Nico Hulkenberg, whose loss of power forced him to park at the side of the track, which caused the aforementioned VSC.
After a hectic day of independent Sprint action, the drivers and teams met once more at the Red Bull Ring for the main event, the Austrian Grand Prix, with Verstappen starting from pole position in front of the Ferrari pair Leclerc. and Sainz, Norris’s updated McLaren and Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Before the start of the race, a minute’s silence was observed for Dutch racing driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff, who tragically lost his life in an accident at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, while there was also a moment to remember the impact from Red Bull. co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who passed away late last year.
A couple of pre-race communications saw Magnussen and De Vries move from the back row of the grid to pit lane due to component changes in parc ferme conditions, meaning 18 drivers, most opting for medium tyres, with only Alonso, Bottas and Magnussen on hards – assumed their respective slots.
As the lights went out in dry but cloudy conditions, polesitter Verstappen made a clean break away to fend off Leclerc at Turn 1, before positioning his Red Bull perfectly to fend off subsequent Ferrari attacks at Turn 3. and 4.
Leclerc took second following his series of looks at Verstappen, with teammate Sainz looking in third, Hamilton making the jump to Norris for P4, followed by Alonso, Hulkenberg, Stroll, Gasly and Albon, who took the positions end of payment of points. .
SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA – JULY 2: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing gear up
Verstappen lined up on pole position for the sixth time this season
Further back, Tsunoda touched Ocon at Turn 1 and lost part of his front wing, with Bottas also involved, before losing grip under braking at Turn 4, locking up and sliding off the track; subsequently, the safety car was deployed.
Tsunoda and Magnussen (both swapped tires to check the box for the two compounds used) pitted under the Safety Car, which pitted once more at the end of Lap 3, with Verstappen dominating the restart to maintain his lead over Leclerc and moving more than a second cleared in a handful of corners.
On lap 8 of a scheduled 71, Verstappen’s lead was two seconds, while Leclerc began to feel pressure from his teammate Sainz, and Norris complained on the radio that Hamilton was apparently exceeding track limits on multiple occasions.
“I think you can see, I don’t need to warn you,” Sainz said over the radio as he edged closer and closer to Leclerc – the Ferraris getting further and further away from race leader Verstappen as the corners and turns went by. “We continue with the plan, no attack for now,” was the response.
In midfield, Perez and Russell, both out of position following their qualifying woes, went wheel to wheel as they battled their way to the points, the Mexican finally finding a way past the Brit at Turn 4 following an exciting fight. , while Gasly also made a move on Hulkenberg at Turn 3 for eighth place.
After further complaints from Norris, Hamilton was given a black and white flag, meaning any further violation of the track limits would put the seven-time world champion on the brink of a penalty. “I can’t keep it on track, the car won’t turn,” he said when informed of the situation by the Mercedes pit wall.
As Hamilton struggled to keep his car on track, Hulkenberg parked his smoking Haas to the side in the midst of a loss of power, activating a Virtual Safety Car and causing a flurry of pit lane activity from the cars above to below.
Hamilton, Norris, Gasly, Albon, Russell, Ocon, Piastri and Sargeant took the opportunity to pit under caution, saving them valuable seconds in pit lane. One lap later, Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso and Stroll pitted, but Verstappen remained in front.
As the VSC ended and green flag conditions returned, Verstappen led Leclerc by just under 18 seconds, with Pérez (who has yet to stop) taking third from Hamilton, Norris and Sainz, who lost following the double. Ferrari buildup, questioning why his first stint was not extended.
Sainz’s fight began with a pass on Norris at Turn 3 for fifth place, while the stewards handed Hamilton a five-second penalty for track limits, something he would have to serve in another pit stop or at the end of the race.
An incident was also noted in the pit lane between Ocon and Sargeant, which nearly hit the wheels.
Result, F1 Austrian Grand Prix:
POS
# Driver Car Laps Time/retirement PTS 1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 71 1:25:33.607 26 2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +5.155s 18 3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 71 +17.188s 15 4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +21.377s 12 5 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 71 +26.327s 10 6 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 71 +30.317s 8 7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +39.196s 6 8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 +48.403 s 4 9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 71 +57.667s 2 10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 71 +59.043s 1 11 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 71 +69.767s 0 12 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 70 +1 la p 0 13 2 Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 0 14 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 70 +1 lap 0 15 21 Nyck De Vries ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 70 +1 lap 0 16 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 70 +1 lap 0 17 81 Oscar Pias three MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 0 18 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 70 +1 lap 0 19 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 0 NC 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 12 DNF 0
Championship positions:
DRIVER POSITION CAR NATIONALITY PTS
1 Max Verstappen NED RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 229
2 Sergio Perez MEX RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 148
3 Fernando Alonso ESP ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 129
4 Lewis Hamilton GBR MERCEDES 108
5 Carlos Sainz ESP FERRARI 86
6 Charles Leclerc MY FERRARI 72
7 George Russell GBR MERCEDES 70
8 Lance Stroll CAN ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 43
9 Esteban Ocon FROM ALPINE RENAULT 31
10 Lando Norris GBR MCLAREN MERCEDES 22
11 Pierre Gasly FRA ALPINE RENAULT 17
12 Nico Hulkenberg GER HAAS FERRARI 9
13 Alexander Albon THA WILLIAMS MERCEDES 7
14 Oscar Piastri AUS MCLAREN MERCEDES 5
15 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 5
16 Zhou Guanyu CHN ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 4
17 Yuki Tsunoda JPN ALFOR HONDA RBPT 2
18 Kevin Magnussen DEN HAAS FERRARI 2
19 Logan Sargeant United States WILLIAMS MERCEDES 0
20 Nyck De Vries NED ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 0
TEAM POINTS POSITION:
1 RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 377
2 MERCEDES 178
3 ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 172
4 FERRARI 158
5 RENAULT ALPINO 48
6 MCLAREN MERCEDES 27
7 HAAS FERRARI 11
8 ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 9
9 WILLIAMS MERCEDES 7
10 ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 2
Foto Cover: ctv news
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