Austrian Grand Prix - Red Bull Ring

[René]

The annual rollercoaster is back at it with a Grand Prix practically every weekend. This time the fast and short track in Austria that used to be part of the impressive Zeltweg circuit. 



Nowadays no longer the challenges of the past, but due to the ultra short lap time it is a circuit with small time differences and often exciting races.



The balance between the teams could be different this time. Both Norris and Leclerc actually need a win to stay close to Verstappen in the championship. And preferably not too many points for Max, which won't be easy of course.



In any case, the positive is that four teams are close together and track characteristics can make the difference in who wins or loses. That was different last year. Hopefully it will be exciting.

[mikael]

An interesting comparison between the A1/Red Bull Ring and the original Österreichring (borrowed from Wikipedia). It remain to be a very nice circuit; but the original one was impressive indeed!

A most beautiful setting for a racing circuit (again from Wikipedia).

[René]

Jun 29, 2024 8:46:54 GMT mikael said:

An interesting comparison between the A1/Red Bull Ring and the original Österreichring (borrowed from Wikipedia). It remain to be a very nice circuit; but the original one was impressive indeed!

It was a very impressive circuit which also inspired awe among the drivers. Super fast and flowing, a real driver’s circuit and no room for error!

[René]

It looks like we are back to the old Verstappen/Red Bull dominance. Winner of the Sprint race and fastest in all sessions and not by a small margin.



Sprint result

1 Max VERSTAPPEN 26:41.389 23 laps
2 Oscar PIASTRI +4.616
3 Lando NORRIS +5.348
4 George RUSSELL +8.354
5 Carlos SAINZ +9.989
6 Lewis HAMILTON +11.207
7 Charles LECLERC +13.424
8 Sergio PEREZ +17.409
9 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +24.067
10 Lance STROLL +30.175
11 Esteban OCON +30.839
12 Pierre GASLY +31.308
13 Yuki TSUNODA +35.452
14 Daniel RICCIARDO +39.397
15 Fernando ALONSO +43.155
16 Logan SARGEANT +44.076
17 Alexander ALBON +44.673
18 Valtteri BOTTAS +46.511
19 Nico HULKENBERG +48.423*
20 Guanyu ZHOU +53.143

What strikes me most is the enormous margin with Perez. That wasn't that extreme at the beginning, but now for a year or a year and a half it has actually been like that all the time. As if it is a one car team, like in the old days with Nelson Piquet and Hector Rebaque at Brabham... did Max get advice from Nelson?



The grid for tomorrow

1 Max VERSTAPPEN 1:04.314
2 Lando NORRIS +0.404

3 George RUSSELL +0.526
4 Carlos SAINZ +0.537

5 Lewis HAMILTON +0.589
6 Charles LECLERC +0.730

7 Oscar PIASTRI +0.734
8 Sergio PEREZ +0.888

9 Nico HULKENBERG +1.071
10 Esteban OCON +1.569

11 Daniel RICCIARDO 1:05.274
12 Pierre GASLY 1:05.335

13 Kevin MAGNUSSEN 1:05.347
14 Yuki TSUNODA 1:05.412

15 Fernando ALONSO1:05.639
16 Alexander ALBON 1:05.736

17 Lance STROLL 1:05.819
18 Valtteri BOTTAS 1:05.847

19 Logan SARGEANT 1:05.856
20 Guanyu ZHOU 1:06.061

[René]

After a tumultuous Grand Prix, the dust has settled and George Russell has the last laugh.



The hate messages from Verstappen and Norris fans fly back and forth on social media and racing websites and the friendship between Lando and Max also turned out to be wafer-thin. It is a shame that now that Max is finally being challenged on the track again, this immediately results in a collision. Driving away from the field in the fastest car is one thing, fighting a clean fight is apparently another.




1 George RUSSELL Mercedes 1:24:22.798 71 laps
2 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +1.906
3 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +4.533

4 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +23.142
5 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +37.253
6 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +54.088
7 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +54.672
8 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +60.355
9 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +61.169
10 Pierre GASLY Alpine +61.766
11 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +67.056
12 Esteban OCON Alpine +68.325
13 Lance STROLL Aston Martin Lapped
14 Yuki TSUNODA RB Lapped
15 Alexander ALBON Williams Lapped
16 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber Lapped
17 ZHOU Guanyu Kick Sauber Lapped
18 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin Lapped
19 Logan SARGEANT Williams Lapped
20 Lando NORRIS McLaren DNF

[robmarsh]

Yep, such a pity.  I just hope the rest of the season has good, hard and clean racing and it doesn't turn into the toxic state of affairs that forever marred the 2021 season and why I turn off the TV straight after the anthems.

Marko, Jos Verstappen and Horner should be banned from F1 broadcasts.

I think Sky should limit the F1 broadcast race team to Brundle, Chandook and Davidson with cameo appearances from Hill and Button and anybody else who raced F1 at a decent level. Croft and Kravitz should be sent to Formula E or some other series I don't watch.

[René]

Jul 1, 2024 11:51:24 GMT robmarsh said:

Yep, such a pity.  I just hope the rest of the season has good, hard and clean racing and it doesn't turn into the toxic state of affairs that forever marred the 2021 season and why I turn off the TV straight after the anthems.

Marko, Jos Verstappen and Horner should be banned from F1 broadcasts.

I think Sky should limit the F1 broadcast race team to Brundle, Chandook and Davidson with cameo appearances from Hill and Button and anybody else who raced F1 at a decent level. Croft and Kravitz should be sent to Formula E or some other series I don't watch.

Totally agree, Rob.