INDIA in F1

Tag: Austrian GP

  • George Russell wins Austrian GP; Verstappen, Norris collide

    George Russell wins Austrian GP; Verstappen, Norris collide

    Spielberg, 30 June 2024: George Russell took a surprise Austrian Grand Prix victory after a dramatic late-race clash between long-time race leader Max Verstappen and arch-rival Lando Norris dumped the McLaren driver out of the race and dropped championship leader Verstappen to fifth at the flag. 

    After seizing the lead from pole at the start, Verstappen looked comfortable for the bulk of the race as he built an eight-second gap back to Norris, with Russell in third. However, the gap narrowed in the closing stages as Verstappen suffered with tyre degradation and when the champion suffered a slow final pit stop, Norris closed in. 

    Verstappen repelled several assault into Turn 3 on the inside but on lap 64 Norris went for broke around the outside and when Verstappen reacted there was contact. Both suffered punctures and while the Red Bull driver was able to pit for Soft tyres and shrug off a 10-second penalty for causing the collision to eventually finish fifth, Norris’ damage was too severe and he had to retire. 

    The incident handed the lead to Russell and the Mercedes driver seized the opportunity with both hands to take his second career win. In the final laps Piastri managed to get past Sainz to take second and the Spaniard was left with the final podium place. 

    At the start, Verstappen powered into the lead ahead of Norris who was forced to defend against a challenge from Russell and Sainz. 

    Sainz then became embroiled in a tussle with Lewis Hamilton and on the run up to Turn 3 the Mercedes driver managed to get ahead to steal P4. Further back, there was contact in Turn 1 between Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and as both went wide, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez swept past both to claim sixth. 

    At the front, Verstappen began to eke out a gap to Norris. Russell and Hamilton were battling however and on lap three Hamilton powered past, only to be passed once again by Russell in Turn 4. Hamilton, though, was under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his pass of Sainz and the seven-time champion was forced to hand back the place won at the start. Pérez and Piastri were also battling, and on lap 7 the Australian pounced in Turn 6 to muscle his way around the outside to drop Checo back to seventh. Verstappen, meanwhile, was drawing away and on lap 14 he had built up a five-second gap to Norris, who was a little under four seconds clear of Russell.

    On lap 22 Hamilton and Pérez were the first of the frontrunners to pit and both moved to Hard tyres. Russell and Sainz made their way in at the end of the following tour and then on lap 24 Verstappen made his first stop, for Hard tyres. Norris came in on the same lap and when Piastri finally made his first tyre switch on lap 26, Verstappen returned to lead with 6.7s in hand over Norris with Russell two seconds further back in third. Sainz held fourth ahead of Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver was quickly handed a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry. Piastri emerged from his pit stop in sixth place. 

    Midway through his second stint, Verstappen looked comfortable, eight seconds clear of over Norris. However on lap 40 the Dutchman reported that his Hard tyres suddenly felt “really bad”. Over the following laps Norris began to chip away at the gap and by lap 46 the Red Bull driver’s advantage had shrunk to a little over 6.5s. 

    Russell then sparked the second round of stop on lap 47 but when Verstappen made his stop an issue with the rear right kept him stationary for over six seconds and when he and Norris rejoined, the McLaren driver was just 1.7s behind. 

    Norris was able to haul his way into DRS range of the Red Bull driver, and on lap 55 the McLaren driver attacked into Turn 3. Verstappen defended well to hold the lead but with three DRS zones available to Norris the attacks kept coming. And on lap 64 the McLaren driver made his fateful move. 

    The clash left Vestappen with a punctured rear left and though Norris got past Verstappen’s stricken RB20 his own right rear tyre let go and the pair limped back to the pits. Verstappen was fitted a set of Soft tyres and released again, into P5, but Norris damage was too severe and the Briton was forced to retire.

    The dramatic incident handed the lead the Russell, ahead of Piastri who had managed to pass Sainz, with Hamilton in fourth and moment after a flurry of final laps, the Mercedes driver took his second career grand prix win. 

    Further back, Max held on to fifth behind Hamilton, despite being handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Norris Hülkenberg took Haas’ best finish of the season so far after passing Pérez  on the final tour and the Mexican was left with seventh place ahead of the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who took the final point. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 George Russell Mercedes 71 – 
    2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 71 1.906
    3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 4.533
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 23.142
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 37.253
    6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 54.088
    7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 54.672
    8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1’00.355
    9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 71 1’01.169
    10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 1’01.766
    11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1’07.056
    12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1’08.325
    13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
    14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 – 1 lap
    15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
    16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
    17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
    18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
    19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 69 – 2 laps
         Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 64 – Retirement

  • Max Verstappen takes pole, less than half a second ahead of Lando Norris: F1

    Max Verstappen takes pole, less than half a second ahead of Lando Norris: F1

    Spielberg, 29 June 2024: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen powered to an emphatic eighth pole position of the season four tenths of a second clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris. George Russell qualified third for Mercedes after Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren had his final lap of Q3 deleted for a track limits violation. 

    Verstappen was first out on track at the start of Q1 and with used Soft tyres on board he set the pace at 1:06.054, with team-mate Sergio Pérez in P2. Both were shuffled back as better times came in and Verstappen dropped to sixth. 

    However, a second run on used tyres again jumped Verstappen to the top of the order with a lap of 1:05.336. Once again though better times began to come in and this time the Red Bull driver dropped to third behind new P1 man Carlos Sainz and second-placed Piastri. 

    Comfortable with their efforts, the top three chose to stay in the garage for the final runs, and though there were a slew of improvements the order at the top stayed the same. However, at the bottom of the order there was no place in Q2 for Williams’ Alex Albon who went out in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu who were split by the second Williams of Logan Sargeant. 

    In the first runs of Q2, Verstappen, now with new tyres onboard, gave a first indication of the pace in the RB20 and he powered clear of the field with a time of 1:04.577, almost a full second clear of Leclerc whose opener had been completed on used rubber. Russell jumped ahead of the Ferrari driver but the gap only closed to 0.491. Sainz then jumped to second on fresh tyres, six hundredths of a second quicker than Russell, but there was still a yawning gap to the championship leader to overcome. 

    And it widened in the final runs of Q2. Verstappen improved once more, closing out the middle session with a P1 time of 1:04.469. Sainz, with only two fresh sets of Softs in reserve, chose to sit out the final runs, but when none of the Spaniard’s rivals was able to eclipse his run one time, the Ferrari driver went through in P2 ahead of Russell, Hamilton and Piastri. 

    Eliminated at the end of Q2 were RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the 11th-placed Australian missing out on the top-10 shootout by just 0.015s, along with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

    In the first runs of Q3, Verstappen shaved four hundredths of a second off his Q2 best to take provisional pole, 0.351s ahead of Norris who slotted into second ahead of Russell and Leclerc who was on used tyres. In the final runs Verstappen was untouchable and once again he improved, this time by over a tenth of a second to take his 40th career pole position with a lap of 1:04.314, 0.404 clear of Norris, with Russell in third place. The Mercedes man might have been beaten by Piastri but the Australian’s final flyer was deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 6 and he slid back behind Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc, who went off at the final corner, and qualified in P7 just ahead of Pérez, Hülkenberg and Ocon. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’04.314 – –
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’04.718 0.404 
    3 George Russell Mercedes 1’04.840 0.526 
    4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’04.851 0.537 
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’04.903 0.589 
    6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’05.044 0.730 
    7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’05.048 0.734 
    8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’05.202 0.888 
    9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’05.385 1.071 
    10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’05.883 1.569 
    11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.289 0.975 
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’05.347 1.033 
    13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’05.359 1.045 
    14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.412 1.098 
    15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.639 1.325 
    16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’05.736 1.422 
    17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.819 1.505 
    18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’05.847 1.533 
    19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’05.856 1.542 
    20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’06.061 1.747 

  • Max Verstappen to start Sprint race on pole ahead of Lando Norris: F1 Austrian GP

    Max Verstappen to start Sprint race on pole ahead of Lando Norris: F1 Austrian GP

    Spielberg, 28 June 2024: Max Verstappen will start the Sprint at the Red Bull Ring from the front of the grid after the championship leader beat McLaren’s Lando Norris to top spot in Sprint Qualifying but less than a tenth of a second. 

    At the start of SQ1, after Lewis Hamilton had his first lap of 1:06.416 deleted for track limits at Turn 6, it was George Russell who set the early pace with a lap of 1:06.765. 

    Verstappen soon beat that, however, and the Dutchman stole top spot with a lap of 1:05.690, 0.074 ahead of the Mercedes driver. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz sat in third place, ahead of Norris, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in fifth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. 

    The order at the top remained static in the final runs, but at the other end of the timesheet there was no place in the second session for RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who was bumped from P15 into the drop zone by a good final lap from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who jumped to P11, two places ahead of the fortunate Lewis Hamilton who managed to recover to P13 thanks to a lap of 1:06.504. 

    Ricciardo was edged out just over two hundredths of a second behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who had a lurid off on his final flying lap when he put a wheel into the new gravel strip at the exit of Turn 9 and spun through the run-off at the final corner. The Japanese driver was able to recover, however, and progressed in P15. 

    Eliminated along with Ricciardo were Haas’ 17th-placed Nico Hülkenberg, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Alex Albon in P19 and the last placed second Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu. 

    Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez were first on track at the start of SQ2 and Verstappen set the pace at 1:05.186, with Pérez crossing the line more than half a second behind. 

    That left the door open for Russell to take second place with a lap of 1:05.325 and he was followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who took third ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris, who shuffled Pérez, down to eighth place. With the first runs completed, the Mexican was the last man to have posted a time, with the remaining drivers targeting a single run in the session. 

    The top four drivers elected to stay in the pit lane for the final runs and with Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris and Pérez all failing to improve or backing out of their final runs it became a battle for the final two SQ3 spots.

    And it was Alpine that made the best of the final laps. Esteban Ocon went through in eighth place with a lap of 1:05.686, just over three hundredths of a second behind Pérez. Gasly took the final SQ3 spot 0.071s behind team-mate Ocon. 

    Behind them, out went Haas’ Kevein Magnussen in P11 along with the Astons of Stroll and Alonso in P12 and P13 respectively, while Tsunoda exited in 14th ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant. 

    Brinkmanship in SQ3 saw all 10 drivers hold station in their garages until the last possible moment and with drivers seeking a gap to the car in front, it meant that the last in the queue were in danger of not having enough time to make it round to start a final flyer. 

    That was the case for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari was one of the last in line and when his car went into anti-stall in the pit lane he was halted long enough to then take the chequered flag first as he tried to start his final flying lap. 

    Ahead, it was Norris who looked to have enough pace to take top spot with the McLaren driver jumping to P1 three tenths clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri. All day long, though, Verstappen had just enough in the tank to edge ahead of the Briton and it was the case once again as the championship leader to P1, 0.093 clear of his chief rival. 

    Behind the top three Russell was fourth ahead of Sainz, with Hamilton in sixth. Pérez finished seventh in the second Red Bull, with Ocon in P8 ahead of Gasly and the unfortunate Leclerc. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:04.686 – –
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.779 0.093 0.144
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.987 0.301 0.465
    4 George Russell Mercedes 1:05.054 0.368 0.569
    5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:05.126 0.440 0.680
    6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:05.270 0.584 0.903
    7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:06.008 1.322 2.044
    8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:06.101 1.415 2.187
    9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:06.624 1.938 2.996
    10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari – – –
    11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:05.806 1.120 1.731
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.847 1.161 1.795
    13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.878 1.192 1.843
    14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:05.960 1.274 1.970
    15 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes – – –
    16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:06.581 1.895 2.930
    17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:06.583 1.897 2.933
    18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:06.725 2.039 3.152
    19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:06.754 2.068 3.197
    20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:07.197 2.511 3.882

  • Max Verstappen wins Austrian GP ahead of Leclerc and Perez

    Max Verstappen wins Austrian GP ahead of Leclerc and Perez

    Spielberg, 2 July 2023: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took an emphatic Austrian Grand Prix victory, carving out a large enough gap to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pit for new tyres, take the point for fastest lap, and still take the flag five seconds clear of the Monegasque driver. Sergio Pérez delivered a superb recovery in the second Red Bull to claim the final podium position after starting in 15th place. 

    At the start, Verstappen got away well from pole position and took the lead ahead of Leclerc as the grid streamed towards Turn 1. Behind them, Sainz held third but fourth-place starter Lando Norris was beaten off the line by Lewis Hamilton. 

    Further back, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, starting 16th, tangled with one of the Alpines and damaged his front wing and with debris on the track the Safety Car was released and the race was neutralised.

    The hazard was soon cleared and when running resumed Verstappen controlled the restart perfectly ahead of Lelcerc and Sainz, with Hamilton still fourth ahead of Norris and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. 

    In 13th place Pérez went on the attack and he was soon able to get past Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Mercedes’ George Russell and then Williams’ Alex Albon. 

    Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg then pulled over with technical issues and that led to the Virtual Safety Car being deployed. A host of drivers pitted for new tyres. However, Verstappen and Pérez stayed out and when the track went green again Verstappen led Leclerc by 17.7s, with Pérez ion P3. Sainz held fourth ahead of Hamilton, with Norris in sixth ahead of Alonso, Gasly, Tsunoda and Russell. The Red Bulls were now the only cars in the top 10 still on their starting tyres and they began to lose ground to those who had pitted and on lap 21 Sainz passed Pérez to take back third place. 

    Verstappen made his first regulation pit stop of the race on lap 25 and he moved to Hard compound tyres in a 2.3 second halt. That allowed Leclerc to sweep through into the lead and as Verstappen trundled out of the pit lane he was also passed by Sainz to put Ferrari 1-2 in the order. Verstappen soon closed up to the Ferrari and on lap 26, the Dutchman got a better exit out of Turn 3 and used DRS to outdrag the Spaniard on the run to Turn 4. 

    Pérez made his first tyre change on lap 26 and after taking on another set of Medium tyres he rejoined in tenth place. He was soon on the move, however, and he quickly made his way past Albon and Russell to rise to eighth place behind Pierre Gasly. 

    At the front, Verstappen was steadily reeling in Leclerc and on lap 35 he dived down the inside of the Ferrari in Turn 3 to reclaim the lead. He then began to carve out a gap and on lap 41 he was seven seconds clear. 

    Pérez, too, was advancing, and after overtaking Gasly in Turn 3, he chased down Alonso and breezed past the Aston Martin driver in the same corner to rise to fourth place as other drivers pitted. 

    On lap 46 Sainz made his second stop for new tyres and to serve a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, and that allowed Pérez to sweep past into third place. Leclerc stopped two laps later and Pérez was boosted to P2, though the Mexican would need a final pit stop. 

    Verstappen made his second stop on lap 50 and after fitting a set of medium tyres and he emerged in the lead, six seconds ahead of his team-mate. Pérez then pitted on the following lap and after taking a set of Hard tyres he rejoined in fifth place, four seconds behind Norris and on fresher tyres. The gap was erased in just five laps and on lap 56 he powered past the McLaren on the run to Turn 4. 

    Sainz was now just a second ahead and Pérez went on the attack. And after an epic battle Pérez at last got DRS out of Turn 3 and roared past through Turn 4 to take P3. 

    At the front, Verstappen was in imperious form and in the closing stages he extended his lead over Leclerc to a mammoth 24 seconds. On lap 70, he pitted for Soft tyres and set a blistering final lap of 1:07.012 to take the win and the bonus point. 

    Leclerc crossed the line five seconds adrift and 12 seconds later Pérez took the flag to complete a stellar recovery and to seal a double podium for the team. Fourth place went to Sainz with Norris fifth ahead of Alonso. Hamilton and Russell took seventh and eighth places respectively for Mercedes, while Gasly was ninth for Alpine and the final point went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. 

    2023 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 71 – 
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71  5.155
    3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 71  17.188
    4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71  21.377
    5 Lando Norris McLaren 71  26.327
    6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 71  30.317
    7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71  39.196
    8 George Russell Mercedes 71  48.403
    9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 71  57.667
    10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 71  59.043
    11 Alexander Albon Williams 71  1’09.767
    12 Esteban Ocon Alpine 70 – 1 lap
    13 Logan Sargeant Williams 70 – 1 lap
    14 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 70 – 1 lap
    15 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 70 – 1 lap
    16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 70 – 1 lap
    17 Oscar Piastri McLaren 70 – 1 lap
    18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 70 – 1 lap
    19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 70 – 1 lap
         Nico Hülkenberg Haas 12 – Retirement

  • Verstappen achieves third consecutive victory: Austrian GP Analysis

    Verstappen achieves third consecutive victory: Austrian GP Analysis

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    Max Verstappen achieved his third consecutive victory of the season as he extended his championship lead over title rival Lewis Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas achieved his highest finishing position of the season in P2 as McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the podium positions.

    London, 5 July 2021: Max Verstappen made a clean sweep of the triple header with a win in France, Styria and now Austria as Valtteri Bottas finished a distant second just being able to stay ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who got his third podium of the season. Lewis Hamilton nursed his car to P4 as he suffered downforce loss, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Sergio Perez recovered to P6 after falling to P10 on the opening lap. Daniel Ricciardo recovered his McLaren to P7 after a disappointing qualifying on Saturday ahead of Charles Leclerc in P8. Pierre Gasly could only manage P9 in AlphaTauri and Fernando Alonso completed the points paying position.

    George Russell finished P11 after a long battle with Alonso, losing out at the end of the race.  Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda finished in P12 and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll crossed the line in P13. Both Alfa Romeo drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen finished P14 and P15 respectively, with Raikkonen having a late coming together with Sebastian Vettel, the German not finishing but classified in P17. Williams’ other driver Nicholas Latifi finished P16. Both Haas cars finished two laps down with Mick Schumacher in P18 and Nikita Mazepin in P19. Esteban Ocon was the only non- classified DNF as he retired due to contact on lap one.

    Rain threatened once again this week but eventually failed to materialize. Verstappen got off cleanly from pole on lap one. Behind, Ocon’s contact meant he retired, and a safety car was called out.

    Racing got underway on lap 4, with once again Verstappen starting smoothly. In P2 was Norris who being challenged by Perez. Perez tried to pull off a move outside turn 4, but the gap closed,and he ended up in the gravel falling to P10. Meanwhile, Bottas got past teammate Hamilton, but Hamilton returned the favor by passing Bottas after 2 corners.

    With Perez out of the way, Hamilton chased Norris trying to overtake him. Finally on lap 20 Hamilton was able to get past his countryman. But the damage had already been done as Verstappen already had a lead of 5s in the lead. The stewards gave Norris a controversial 5 second time penalty for the incident with Perez after the safety car restart.

    Spectators seen during the FIA Formula One World Championship 2021 in Spielberg, Austria on July 4, 2021. Photo Philip Platzer for Red Bull Content Pool

    The AlphaTauri pair of Tsunoda and Gasly were the first cars to pit as they started on the soft tyres and changed to hard tyres. They pitted on lap 12 and 13 respectively. Everyone else was on mediums in the points, hence, they carried on longer.

    In the midfield Ricciardo was the first one to pit for hard tyres. In the lead Bottas and Norris pitted on the same lap, Bottas getting ahead of Norris as the McLaren driver served his 5-second time penalty before the pit stop could be completed. Hamilton pitted on lap 31 and Verstappen followed him one lap later. The last one to pit and change to hard tyres was Leclerc on lap 34. The only exception being his teammate Sainz who started on hard tyres and went long. Finally pitting on lap 48 for a set of medium tyres.

    Ahead Hamilton was unable to close up to Verstappen and started losing time relative to the Dutchman. Behind Bottas and Norris were closing as well. As it emerged, he had lost a piece of bodywork on the left rear of his car due to the aggressive nature of kerbs at the Red Bull ring. It cost him 30 pints of downforce according to Mercedes. He let Bottas past him and tried to defend from Norris but to no avail lost out to him. He pitted again on lap 53 for a new set of hard tyres but remained P4 for the rest of the race.

    In the midfield four cars were involved in the fight for P5, the leader of them being Perez. Leclerc tried to pass Perez on the outside of turn 4, much like the Mexican had tried at the start of the race. Leclerc got squeezed on the gravel and Perez was duly handed a 5 second time penalty. Leclerc once again tried to pass Perez on the outside of turn 6, again resulting in the same outcome with Perez getting another 5 second time penalty. Sainz who was on fresh medium tyres got past Leclerc and Ricciardo. He finished ahead of Perez due to the Red Bull driver’s penalties.

    Alonso overtook Russell at the dying moments to extend his point scoring streak after a proper battle with the Williams driver. On the last lap ex-teammates Vettel and Raikkonen tangled with the Finn getting a 20-second time penalty for the mishap. The day belonged to Verstappen as he took a dominant victory and made a clean sweep of the triple header.

    Red Bull have wind in their sails and their car on average is faster than their German title rivals. With Perez up to speed and supporting Verstappen, arguably it’s their championship to lose for the first time since 2013. Mercedes’ W12 clearly lacks pace especially in qualifying trim as they were outqualified by a McLaren. They have confirmed that they will bring upgrade packages in the near future to claw back performance, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to return to the front.

    McLaren, especially in the hands of Norris almost got pole position, missing by less than 0.05s. Ricciardo is still struggling to extract one lap pace from the car but does well to recover positions in the race, exhibiting the McLaren’s race pace. Norris was just about to keep up with Bottas in the race as well. This is a positive step for the team who are looking to stamp their authority on P3 in the constructor’s championship. Ferrari struggled in qualifying as both cars were eliminated in Q2 but were the fourth fastest car in the race. Leclerc even had the pace to challenge Perez for positions. Ferrari need to solve the consistency problems with their car as some tracks they are faster in qualifying but struggle in the race and vice-versa.

    AlphaTauri showed impressive qualifying pace once again. They lost out to superior cars of McLaren and Ferrari in the race, admittedly a big part of it was due to an inferior strategy as they had to start on the soft tyre instead of the mediums. Tsunoda had a positive race as well if not for penalties received for crossing the pit entry line, an amateurish mistake on his behalf. Alpine were on the fringes of points as Alonso got P10, but they still lack the pace to challenge the midfield front runners. Alonso was blocked by Vettel otherwise he could have made into the top 10 in qualifying. Ocon retired on lap 1, therefore it was a race of ‘what could have been’ for Alpine. Aston Martin struggled in qualifying and race, as the softer allocation of tyres did not seem to suit them compared to last weekend. They made it to Q3 but were unable to convert position into points as both cars finished outside the top 10.

    Williams have showed a turn of speed since France with Russell progressing into Q3 on the medium tyres and then holding onto P10 until a late pass by Alonso. It is not long before Williams score points with their current form. Alfa Romeo similar to last weekend lacked pace in either of the main sessions as they finished well outside the top 10 and points. Haas’ struggle continue as scoring points looks bleak with an underdeveloped car and rookie drivers.

    Saturday Qualifying Results were:

    P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull)P2: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)
    P3: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull)P4: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes)
    P5: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes)P6: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)
    P7: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)P8: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin)
    P9: George Russell- 63 (Williams)P10: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)
    P11: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)P12: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)
    P13: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)P14: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)
    P15: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo)P16: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo)
    P17: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)P18: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)
    P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)

    Note – Vettel penalised three grid places for impeding Alonso in Q2.

  • Max Verstappen takes pole ahead of Norris and Perez

    Max Verstappen takes pole ahead of Norris and Perez

    Spielberg, 3 July 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took his second Red Bull Ring pole position in a week with a dominant performance in qualifying for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix. However, despite topping every segment of the hour–long session he was push closer in the final top 10 shootout by Lando Norris who claimed the first front-row start of his F1 career just four hundredths of a second behind the championship leader. Sergio Pérez took third place for Red Bull as Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth.

    In Q1 Verstappen went out earlier than usual and with his first flying lap he jumped to the top of the order with an opening flying lap of 1:04.249. Hamilton wasn’t far behind the Dutchman on track and when he crossed the line he slotted into second place with a lap of 1:04.506, six hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Bottas. Pérez, meanwhile, found his way to sixth place with his opening lap of 1:04.833. However, as rivals crossed the line he dropped to eighth place and while Verstappen would stay in the garage for the final runs, Pérez had to go again. 

    In the end of though, the Mexican didn’t need to the boost of an extra flyer and as McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second behind Verstappen and ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Pérez backed out of his final flyer as other failed to make significant gains he settled for his opening lap time and P8.

    Eliminated at the end of the first segment were Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in P16 ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. 

    In the second segment Pérez was first out on track, on medium tyres, and the Mexican gave the remaining drivers in the field a target of 1:04.554 to aim at. Verstappen then headed out on mediums and immediately jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:04.208. 

    Hamilton then took second but was soon eclipsed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Pérez who went for a second attempt of 1:04.483. 

    In the final runs, Verstappen went quicker again hold top spot with a lap of 1:03.927, while Hamilton rose again to take P2 over three tenths down on the Red Bull. Bottas took third place ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris and Pérez settled for P6 thanks to his second run time. 

    Fernando Alonso though appeared to be blocked by seventh placed Sebastian Vettel and the stewards quickly announced that they would investigate the incident after the session. George Russell did make it through, however, taking Williams into Q3 for the first time this season. 

    It meant that both Ferraris failed to make it through, with Carlos Sainz being eliminated in P11 ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Alonso and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi. 

    In the first runs of the top-10 shootout Verstappen once again set blistering pace to open his Q3 account with a lap of 1:03.720. McLaren’s Lando Norris also showed good pace to take P2 just over two tenths of a second behind the Dutchman, with Hamilton in third place almost three tenths off Verstappen. Pérez, though, found himself in P5 after the first runs, a little under two tenths of a second behind Bottas.

    The Mexican would need to find good gains in the final runs and when the final runs began he was third in the queue out of the pit lane, behind Norris. 

    Verstappen was at the head of the pack and though the Red Bull driver tried to find more time on his final run he couldn’t make an improvement. Aided by a tow from the championship leader Norris found more time but the Briton couldn’t quite match Verstappen’s opening time and the Red Bull driver’s opening lap was good enough to claim the team’s 67th pole position. 

    Pérez also benefited from a tow, this time from Norris, and the Mexican found the pace he needed to leapfrog both Mercedes drivers, taking P3 ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.

    Behind the Mercedes drivers Pierre Gasly took sixth for AlphaTauri ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. Vettel finished eighth but will face investigation, while Russell qualified in P9 ahead of Stroll. 

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:03.720 7 243.954
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:03.768 0.048 7 243.771
    3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:03.990 0.270 7 242.925
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.014 0.294 6 242.834
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:04.049 0.329 6 242.701
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.107 0.387 6 242.482
    7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.273 0.553 6 241.855
    8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.570 0.850 6 240.743
    9 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:04.591 0.871 3 240.665
    10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.618 0.898 6 240.564
    11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:04.559 0.632 6 240.784
    12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.600 0.673 6 240.631
    13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.719 0.792 6 240.189
    14 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:04.856 0.929 6 239.681
    15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.083 1.156 6 238.845
    16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.009 0.760 9 239.117
    17 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:05.051 0.802 6 238.963
    18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:05.195 0.946 6 238.435
    19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:05.427 1.178 9 237.589
    20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:05.951 1.702 9 235.702