Cloudy sky. Dry. Air +29…30С, highway +48…44С
The Grand Prix in Spielberg is a real holiday for Styria and Austria. A holiday for the sake of a holiday, where the commercial component has always been in the background. Dietrich Mateschitz left behind a remarkable legacy, including a Formula 1 race in his home region.
With Dietrich’s death began an inevitable struggle for power in the empire he created, the unpleasant consequences of which we have seen this weekend and will see in the future. But it is unlikely that these people will leave behind at least a hundredth part of what Mateschitz brought into this world.
The spectators in the stands didn’t think about it. They enjoyed the good weather, the colorful show, the success of Red Bull Racing, the victories of Max Verstappen and the evening concerts. From morning to night the circuit was full of adults and children – such a holiday in Spielberg happens once a year.
Just like a year ago, Verstappen did not give up a single session to his rivals. It seemed that the rivals had closed the gap, but Max’s half-second advantage in qualifying brought everyone back to earth.
Verstappen set the fastest time in Friday practice, qualified for the sprint, won the sprint and then took pole at the start of Sunday’s race. The weather was good, but the wind picked up before the start.
Verstappen and Norris started the race from the front row of the grid, Russell and Sainz from the second, Hamilton and Leclerc from the third. In the final session, the stewards annulled Piastri’s lap for exceeding the track limits – he set the third fastest time, but dropped back to seventh place. McLaren tried to protest this decision, but breached a number of procedures and simply did not accept the protest.
During the practice lap, Russell complained about the steering rack and returned to the pits to have the mechanics check everything. He took off again, locked his tires in the first corner and flew off the track without any consequences to the car.
Pirelli brought three ‘soft’ compounds to the podium: C3, C4 and C5 in the roles of Hard, Medium and Soft. On Sunday, everyone started on Medium, except for Zhou who opted for Hard.
At the start, Verstappen kept the lead and quickly pulled away. Hamilton got ahead of Sainz after he went off track.
Piastri and Perez overtook Leclerc – and Charles, after being hit by Oscar, pitted to change the front wing and tyres, rejoining in 19th.
Top Ten in Round 2: Verstappen – Norris – Russell – Hamilton – Sainz – Perez – Piastri – Hulkenberg – Ocon – Magnussen.
On lap 3 Hamilton took the lead from Russell, but George regained the position.
On lap six, at the request of the team, Hamilton let Sainz pass in the battle for fourth place, and the stewards did not issue him a penalty.
Top Ten in Round 10: Verstappen – Norris – Russell – Sainz – Hamilton – Piastri – Perez – Hulkenberg – Ocon – Magnussen.
On the 11th lap Magnussen and Ricciardo changed tires, on the 12th – Hulkenberg and Alonso, on the 13th – Albon.
On lap 14, Hulkenberg passed Magnussen for 14th place.
In 16th place, Albon overtook Leclerc for 18th place.
On the 17th lap, Leclerc made a pit stop.
On lap 18, Hulkenberg and Magnussen overtook Zhou.
On the 20th lap Ocon and Bottas changed tires, on the 21st – Gasly and Stroll.
Alonso attacked Zhou and Guanyu flew off the track. The stewards took note of the incident and gave Fernando a 10-second time penalty.
On the 22nd lap Hamilton, Perez and Tsunoda made a pit stop, on the 23rd lap – Russell and Sainz, on the 24th – Verstappen and Norris.
Norris told the team that Verstappen was immediately released into his car after the pit stop and was unable to turn around immediately, but the stewards did not penalize anyone.
Hamilton crossed the white line when entering the pit lane and was given a 5-second time penalty.
On the 26th lap Piastri made a pit stop.
On lap 28, Perez passed Hulkenberg for seventh place.
On the 29th lap, Zhou made a pit stop.
Top Ten in Round 30: Verstappen – Norris – Russell – Sainz – Hamilton – Piastri – Perez – Hulkenberg – Magnussen – Ricciardo.
Perez was given a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
On lap 34, Leclerc changed tires.
On lap 35, Ocon and Gasly Alonso came ahead, almost colliding in keeping with tradition.
On lap 36, Alonso served his penalty and changed his tires.
On the 38th lap Ricciardo made a pit stop, on the 39th – Magnussen.
On lap 40, Stroll passed Albon – Alex and Hulkenberg pitted for new tyres.
Albon was given a 5-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the entrance to the pit lane.
On lap 41, Ocon launched a counter-attack on his teammate ahead of him, but Gasly maintained his position.
On the 43rd lap Gasly and Bottas changed tires, on the 45th – Ocon and Stroll, on the 46th – Tsunoda, on the 48th – Russell and Sainz. Piastri was ahead of Hamilton.
On lap 52 Sargent, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Perez and Leclerc pitted. There was a slight delay in the maintenance of Verstappen’s car.
On lap 53, Leclerc visited the pits again.
On lap 54 Hamilton changed tires.
Norris came within attacking distance of Verstappen. The first attempt failed, after which Verstappen ended up in the DRS zone behind Stroll, who was a lap down. They quickly overtook Lance and Lando rushed to attack again.
On lap 59, Norris got ahead of Max but went off track and regained the position, also receiving a black and white flag warning. The fight continued.
On lap 63 Norris overtook Verstappen again, but Max retained the lead off the track.
On lap 64, Norris attacked again – the drivers collided and both pitted with damaged cars and a flat tire.
Max returned to the track, Lando retired. The stewards found Verstappen at fault for the incident and gave him a 10-second time penalty.
Russell led the race. Race direction called out a virtual safety car to clear the debris.
Top Ten in Round 68: Russell – Piastri – Sainz – Hamilton – Verstappen – Hulkenberg – Perez – Magnussen – Ricciardo – Gasly.
George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix, taking his first win of the season and the second of his career. Oscar Piastri finished second, with Carlos Sainz taking third place on the podium.
Next week the battle continues at Silverstone.
Race results
| Pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Piet |
| 1. D.Russell | Mercedes | 1:24:22,798 | 217,908 | 2 |
| 2. O. Piastri | McLaren | +1,906 | 217,826 | 2 |
| 3. K. Sainz | Ferrari | +4,533 | 217,713 | 2 |
| 4. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +23.142 | 216,917 | 2 |
| 5. M.Verstappen* | Red Bull | +37.253 | 216,316 | 3 |
| 6. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | +54.088 | 215,605 | 2 |
| 7. C.Perez | Red Bull | +54.672 | 215,580 | 2 |
| 8. K. Magnussen | Hare | +60.355 | 215,341 | 2 |
| 9. D.Ricciardo | RB | +61,169 | 215,307 | 2 |
| 10. P. Gasly | Alps | +61,766 | 215,282 | 2 |
| 11. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | +67.056 | 215,060 | 4 |
| 12. E.Okon | Alps | +68.325 | 215,006 | 2 |
| 13. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +1 round | 214,404 | 2 |
| 14. Yu.Tsunoda | RB | +1 round | 214,281 | 2 |
| 15. A.Albon** | Williams | +1 round | 214,167 | 2 |
| 16. V. Bottas | Sauber | +1 round | 214.019 | 2 |
| 17. G. Zhou | Sauber | +1 round | 212,950 | 2 |
| 18. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | +1 round | 212,834 | 3 |
| 19. L. Sargent | Williams | +2 rounds | 211,504 | 3 |
| 20. L. Norris*** | McLaren | meeting | 216,362 | 3 |
* Max Verstappen receives a 10-second time penalty for incident with Lando Norris
**Alex Albon was given a 5 second time penalty for crossing the white line at the entrance to the pit lane
*** Lando Norris was given a 5 second time penalty for the violation
Best round: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 1:07.694 (lap 70, 229.633 km/h)
Reasons for the meetings
| Pilot | Team | Kroogov | Cause |
| L. Norris | McLaren | 68 | accident |
Championship Position: Individual Competition
Championship Position: Constructors Championship
| Team | Engine | Glasses | |
| = | 1. Oracle Red Bull Racing | Honda RBPT | 355 |
| = | 2. Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 291 |
| = | 3. McLaren F1 Team | Mercedes | 268 |
| = | 4. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team | Mercedes | 196 |
| = | 5. Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | Mercedes | 58 |
| = | 6. Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | Honda RBPT | thirty |
 |
7. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 19 |
 |
8. BWT Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 9 |
| = | 9.Williams Racing | Mercedes | 2 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
