Sunday Debrief: FIA dish out Penalties in a busy Austrian GP
- mallikarull
- Jul 2, 2023
- 3 min read
Saturdays sprint
Max Verstappen started the second sprint of the season on pole, his teammate Sergio Perez starting with his teammate on the front row. Behind the Bull’s on the second row, Lando Norris with McLaren’s new upgrades started the sprint from P3.
Both the Mercedes’ started from the back of the grid, with Hamilton starting from P18 after failing to make it out of SQ1, George Russel starting from P15. Russel failing to compete in SQ2 after a hydraulic failure in the car, the team favouring the idea to prepare the car for the sprint later that day.
Image credit: Motorsport.com
In a wet 24 lap dash to the chequered flag, 19 out of 20 drivers started the race on Intermediate tyres, Valtteri Bottas making a gamble to start on a set of Medium compound tyres. The gamble not paying off the Bottas as he returned to the pits at the end of Lap 1 for a set of Intermediate tyres.
An eventful lap 1 saw the Red Bulls fight each other for the lead of the race, Perez temporally taking the lead before Verstappen took it back in a battle going into Turn 3. Norris getting caught in the conflict at Turn 3 causing him to lose 7 places, demoting the British driver to P10.
With 8 laps to go, George Russell was the first to make the change from Inters to slicks on Lap 16, a gamble that would later pay off as he takes the final available point of the session, as well as continually lighting up the time screen.
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Verstappen finished the race 20 seconds clear of Perez, giving Red Bull another 1-2 for the season and a dream start to their home race weekend. Behind the Bull’s, Carlos Sainz crossed the line for P3. In a race to the flag Ocon fended off Russell by 0.009seconds, both drivers taking the final two points positions.
Sunday’s race:
Verstappen takes his 5th consecutive win at the Red Bull ring; Charles Leclerc crossed the line to finish in P2 with Perez rounding off the podium.
Image credit: Motorsport.com
Max Verstappen takes pole for the 5th consecutive time after qualifying on pole for Saturdays sprint, where he led for all 24 laps. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez starts from P15 after having his lap time deleted in Q2. The two Ferrari’s started up front with Leclerc starting behind Verstappen on the front row.
Both Kevin Magnussen and Nyk De Vries started the race from the pit lane after taking a new power unit, both drivers to start from the back of grid anyway after qualifying P20 and P19 respectively on Fridays Qualifying.
The safety car was deployed on Lap 1 after Tsunoda went into the gravel, Tsunoda was able to get his car back out on track, making his way back into the pits telling the team over the radio that “I’ve got damage”.
Not long after the Safety Car on Lap 14 the VSC was brought out for Nico Hulkenberg after the Haas went off track with smoke coming out from the back of his car, causing him to retire out of the race.. In the battle for P4, Hamilton and Norris came into the pits on Lap 15 the order staying the same as the pair exited the pits. Ferrari double stacked their drivers on Lap 16, race leader Verstappen staying out on track, holding on to the lead of the race.
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Hamilton was the first driver of the race to receive the black and white flag for exceeding track limits. Hamilton shortly after became the first of many drivers to receive a 5-second penalty for exceeding track limits. In response to the penalty Hamilton calls “bulls***” , complaining at Norris for the penalty.
Tsunoda, Sainz, Gasly, Sargeant and Magnussen were the other drivers who receive a penalty for track limits. Ocon was another driver who served a penalty in the race for an unsafe release in a pitlane incident involving Logan Sargeant. De Vries was another name noted by the FIA for a penalty for forcing Magnussen off track.
Verstappen made his first stop in Lap 25, both Ferrari’s getting ahead of the Dutch driver. Verstappen quickly passing Sainz on Lap 26 in his pursuit to take back the race lead. Verstappen lunging at the Monegasque driver at Turn 3 of Lap 35, taking back the lead of the race.
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