F1 Journal Official Race Round Up: Austria 2023

5/7/2023

What a weekend at the Redbull Ring!!!
Max Verstappens dominance continues, Mclaren returned to form, alot of track limits talk & a sprint weekend with a lot to cover. Lets look team by team at their Austrian weekend.

REDBULL-

Max Verstappen-

Sprint- Max dominated the sprint! After a small amount of back and forth on the first lap with his team mate which almost got spicy, Max disappeared into the stunning Austrian distance and stayed there till the end where he took victory.

Race- It was a similar story in the Sunday feature race for Max, he briefly lost the lead during the pit stops but ultimately he was in control the whole race, so much so he was comfortable enough to pit on the penultimate lap and go for the fastest lap, which he did in commanding form! 2023 is Max Verstappens season but I do wonder if he misses the racing he doesn't get to do that far out in front.

©Redbull media Pool

Sergio Perez-

Sprint- After a less than deal Friday Perez needed to bring his A game to this sprint Saturday and after putting his Redbull on the front row next to his team mate Sergio went on to finish 21 seconds behind Max as his closest rival and gave Redbull a 1-2 in the Sprint.

Race- Perez fought hard the whole race. After starting 15th, he needed to push forward and work the strategy and that just what he did. finishing the race in a brilliant 3rd. Perez was fun to watch he on Sunday and seeing him in some good, clean corner for corner dog fights with Sainz and others was one of the races highlights.

Ferrari- 200th Podium

Charles LeClerc

Sprint- LeClerc had a tough sprint after a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri. He started 6th but after a congested turn 1 ended up moving backwards and even further so after some inspired fighting with the Alpine with Ocon and Lando Norris' Mclaren. when others took the risk to switch to dry tyres Leclerc & Ferraris late call left them fighting outside of the points, ending the sprint being over taken by Albon & Piastri to finish 12th.

Race- Charles lead a calm consistant race from 2nd on the grid to 2nd on the podium. But would that have been the case if Ferrari hadn't ordered team mate Sainz to hold position for yet another race. The wont allow Sainz to race LeClerc even when Carlos is much much faster.

Carlos Sainz

Sprint- After Lando was blocked into turn 3 by the 2 Redbulls, Sainz capitalized on his misfortune and was up to 4th. He went onto hunt down and overtake a struggling Hulkenburg and held 3rd till the end with a confident performance in his Ferrari.

Race- there are 2 parts to Sainz' race. The first part Carlos had the legs on his team mate but was told to hold station till pit strategy separated them, top racing with Hamilton, Norris & Perez and a strong race to hold onto get 4th on track. the 2nd part of his race was track limits, Sainz was the 2nd most punished driver on Sunday after an in race 5 second penalty for track limits on lap 29 he was hit with a further 10 seconds added to his race time once the stewards has finished auditing all the track limit violations. This moved him to 6th overall

Mclaren

Lando Norris

Sprint- Lando had a great start but got caught up in the Redbull drama ahead and the car went into antistall and dropped him down the order. He fought back and held on at the end with aged intermediate tyres to finish 9th just out of the points but raced his heart out.

Race- Lando qualified 4th for the feature race and after Sainz post race track limits penalty thats were he finished. Norris was running the updated car this weekend and from it's qualifying pace to its race pace the Mclaren has found its form and Lando and the car showed what they are capable fighting the whole race to finish best of the rest and the highest Mercedes engined car!!

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Oscar Piastri

Sprint- LeClerc ruined Piastris sprint weekend when he blocked him in the sprint shootout, meaning Piastri started 17th. he fought hard and took the chance of switching to slicks earlier than most and it paid off when in the closing laps of the race he gained 6 positions, even overtaking leClerc and Alex Albon in one corner after an inspired move on the brakes.

Race- Piastri started 13th but his race was all but over when the HAAS of Magnuseen and an Alpha Tauri clashed ahead and ened up damaging Piastris from left suspension & front wing. despite changing the wing on lap 24 the damage was to much for the Mclaren to make any meaningful progress. He finished 18th.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso

Sprint- It was a quiet Sprint race for Alonso. he capitalized om the misfortune of Norris, Hulkenburg & Leclerc on the first few laps but was jumped by a ast moving Stroll off the start. He finished the race behind his team mate despite mounting a last minute attack on the closing couple of laps.

Race- Alonso was one of very few drivers who started on the hard tyre and that strategy was paying off for him until the lap 15 Virtual Safety car triggered a knee jerk pit stop that killed any chance of the alternative strategy working. But he fought hard and finished the race in 7th on the track but gained a position from Sainz' post race penalty.

Lance Stroll

Sprint- Lance has a great Sprint race, he had a great start from 8th moving forward and over taking his team mate, he raced well to finish 4th in what was a tough sprint race where others like Norris', Leclerc and Hamilton fell behind the Canadian driver.

Race-Sunday wasn't as kind to Stroll and a mistimed pit stop and getting stuck in a DRS train. Stroll did well to recover to get points in Austria finishing 10th.

Mercedes-

Lewis Hamilton

Sprint- Track limits violations in the sprint shoot out qualifying meant Lewis started in 18th but this seemed to stir something in the 7 time world championship because the racing between Hamilton & Magnussen and Hamilton and LeClerc was fantastic and like watching Lewis in 07'. some mega moves and mistakes from others meant Hamilton climbed to finish 10th.

Race- Lewis was not happy with the car. He started 5th but was frustrated with the drivablity of the car, and that frustration was made worse when on lap 17 Lewis was handed a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits. At this point he was angry and it took Toto coming on the radio to say "the car is bad" "please drive it". But in Hamilton style he persevered and raced hard with the equipment he had and brought the car home in 7th only to incur another 10 seconds worth of track limit violations added to his race time, demoting him 1 place to 8th. at least it was his team mate George Russell who gained from Hamilton's pain.

George Russell

Sprint- A hydraulic issues meant that Russell couldn't compete past SP2 so started the sprint 15th. As the conditions changed Russell switched to the slick tyres and made massive head way through the field to finish in the last of the points paying positions 8th.

Race- Russell started 11th but got stuck behind a fast moving Pierre Gasly, which halted his campaign to the front. Ultimately George finished 8th behind his team mate to be promoted after Hamilton's post race penalties were applied to 7th. On this day keeping out of trouble and inside track limits got George some points on a weekend im sure he would sooner forget.

Alpine-

Pierre Gasly

HSprint- Starting 12th Gasly got stuck in the midfield DRS train and despite switching to the dry tryes at the end he left it to late for them to make a meaningful effect on his race position and he ended the race 15th.

Race- Gasly had a great race, at the beginning he had a great on track battle with Nico Hulkenburg and others but unfortunately after receiving a warning black and white flag on lap 32 Pierre got a penalty for exceeding track limits 11 laps later. He went on to finish where he started in the points in a strong 9th. Beating his team mate on the day.

Esteban Ocon

Sprint- A good Sprint Qualifying for Ocon meant he started from 9th and ended up in a heated but brilliant battle with Charles LeClerc who hadn't had the best start. Ocon was one of the first to opt for the dry tyres in the changeable conditions and this paid off as he made his way up to 7th in the closing laps of the race.

Race- It was not Ocons race, despite racing well, an unsafe release during his pit stop left Ocon with a 5 second time penalty that left him in the lower midfield battle that lead him to finish in 12th but after the race the FIA added an additional 30 seconds worth of time penalties for track limits violations which demoted the Frenchman to 14th. Not a race Ocon will enjoy when he looks back maybe?

Williams-

Alex Albon

Sprint- Albon started 11th and struggled at the start of the 100km sprint race. he battled hard and at the end pit for the dry tyre but could only manage 13th position at the end of the race after being over taken by Oscar Piastri on the last lap.

Race- The feature race was kinder to Alex, starting 10th after a solid qualifying he raced hard had some great battles for position and in spite of a black and white flag for track limits on lap 33 he avoided an in race penalty for that although in the aftermath of the race and the slew of track limits violations Albon had 10 seconds worth of penalties added to his race time. Luckily for Alex, Ocon taking 30 seconds worth of the same penalties meant he retained his 11th place.

©Williams racing

Logan Sargeant

Sprint- Sargeant started the sprint last on the grid but raced well and moved up but in the end couldnt compete with the others who chose to swap to the slick tyre as the track dried. He finished 18th.

Race- Logan started in 18th and gained 2 places off the start and after the safety car brought put by tsnonda on lap 2, Sargeant kept pace with the cars infront and was having a great race. During the race Sargeant incurred a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits and after the race was handed a subsequent 10 seconds to be added to his race time leaving him in a very respectable 13th. his best result of the year.

Alfa Romeo-

Guanyu Zhou

Sprint- Zhou didn't have a good sprint race, a bad start from 16th and not changing onto the dry tyre at the end left Zhou 19th at the end.

Race- Zhou started 17th and with a great start gained 2 places on the first lap and after the Tsunoda safety car Guanyu made some inspired moves and raced well and escaped and penalties finishing 14th which for Alfa Romeo in 2023 isn't a bad day at the office at all.

Alpha Tauri

Valtteri Bottas

Sprint- The sprint went from bad to worse for Bottas. He started 19th & ended the race 20th. The Alfa Romeo car isn't delivering the performance that a driver like Valtteri deserves.

Race- Bottas started on the hard tyre 'the alternative strategy' which he didnt get to use to his advantage after his front wing was damaged with the end plate quite literally flapping in the wind. He was forced to pit early which ruined his strategy advantage and killed the race for him. he finished in 16th.

Nyck De Vries

Sprint- De Vries had the best qualifying of his Alpha Tauri career, starting 14th for the sprint but a tight mid pack and a late tyre change left Nyck down in 17th at the end of the sprint race.

Race- De Vries started from the pit lane after changing components of his car during parce ferme the night before. Off the start he gained 2 places and raced well but after a particularly aggressive incident with Magnussen, he was given a 5 second penalty for forcing another driver off the track. He finished in 15th beating his team mate Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda

Sprint-Another race for Yuki that just didn't come to him. He started 13th after an average qualifying performance Yuki got caught up in other people incidents and didn't time his tyres at the end of the race well enough to finish higher than16th.

Race- Not a good day for Yuki, after a good start and running well he was given multiple track limits penalties and the briefly a 10 second penalty for 'not serving a penalty properly' that was later viewed and removed from his race time only to have another 5 seconds added after the race for further track limits infringements. He finished last.

HAAS

Kevin Magnussen

Sprint- Kevin had a great Sprint qualifying getting into SQ3 and starting 10th. he had a great battle with Hamilton and others through the race but tyre strategy at the end was his Achilles heel and ultimately he finished 14th.

Race- After Friday qualifying Magnussen started the feature race 19th and it didn't get any better from there. A hybrid issue slowing the car down and being forced off the track during a battle with Nyck De Vries, Magnussen finished where he started(19th) and will be happy to move onto Silverstone.

©HAAS Media

Nico Hulkenburg

Sprint- Nico kicked arse in Sprint Qualifying putting his HAAS in 4th, lining up next to the Mclaren of Lando Norris behind the 2 Redbulls and when they blocked Lando into Turn 3 Hulk took advantage and was up to 2nd at one point. From there he started to fall down the order till he was the 2nd to make the dry tyre call and fought his way back up to 6th. Great race for him.

Race- Hulkenburg put his HAAS inside the top 10 again for the Austrian Grand Prix, starting a respectable 8th. Off the start he caught Stroll napping and was moving forward when on lap 14 the car lost power and he was forced to retire.

Onto Silverstone

Joanna Blackmore
Writer @F1Journal

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