Off to Austria we go for the 11th circuit race of the season. The track itself is situated in the valley of the Styrian mountains in Spielberg, Austria. So gorgeous, very Hills are Alive Julie Andrews vibe!
Driver market signings! Lance Stroll extended his contract thru 2025 (yawn emoji here), thanks to billionaire Daddy Stroll, who has a huge financial stake in Aston-Martin. Pierre Gasly has decided to stay with Alpine thru 2025, since I had already picked sexy Frenchie Pierre as Eye Candy of the Week, this was a pleasant surprise. Your current driver/team grid:
This weekend, we have another Sprint race (a shorter version of the GP). This track is the shortest on the circuit, with only 10 turns.
P1: The only Practice (due to the Sprint Quali), Geek note: this track has expanded the width at turns 4, 9 and 10, which will help drivers avoid breaking the track limits rule (going over the white line).
Note: On this track, tyre wear is low, unlike the last few races. At about halfway through the 60 minute practice, Max Verstappen's Red Bull car just basically stalled, and a red flag is up, as they get Max and the car off the track. After a few minutes, red flag off, and Max back on track. Nothing more to report from this only practice, other than that this part of Austria is gorgeous thanks to those drone shots!
Speaking for gorgeous, Eye Candy with Pierre:
A note on how Qualifying works: There are three quick races to determine grid position for the GP on Saturday. First quali the last five drivers are cut, second quali again, last five drivers dropped, and 3rd and final quali determines the top ten on the grid and the ever important pole (1st) position.
Onto Sprint qualifying- for you passive fans of F1, this is your jam, as the Sprint race itself is only 24 laps. Top eight teams get points. and slightly shorter quali times than in the GP quali. Let's get to quali Sprinting!
SQ1: This is a 2.6 mile track. First SQ1 is 12 minutes. Bestie, just heard from what you were telling me was a 5 hour settlement after track limit infringements, there were 1,200 track limits (sliding over that white line) last year! OMG!
Bottom five in this sprint: Bottas, Zhou, Riccardo, Hulenberg, Albon.
SQ2: 10 minutes. bottom 5 on this quail: Stroll, Alonso, Sargent, Magnussen, Tsunoda.
SQ3: 8 minutes, all drivers on soft, new or used, and I'm looking at the time , and the first car comes out at. At the 3 minute mark , drivers come out, it seems like the drivers are going for one best, fastest one lap! Ferrari's LeClerc did NOT get a lap time in, so he is in 10th, with Gasly 9th, Ocon, 8th, Hamilton, 7th, Perez 6th , Sainz, 5th. Russell 4th, Piasti 3rd, Norris 2nd ,Verstappen on the Sprint pole at 1st.
Sprint Race! 24 laps total. top eight get points. The weather is hot and gorgeous. All drivers on medium tyres. Aaand nope, start aborted, due some paparazzi being out of place at turn one, so another formation lap and now only 23 laps to win this Sprint. We start this race, and while Lando was able to overtake Max for first, that didn't last very long, as Max re-took the lead and went on to win his third Sprint of this season. Piastri, Norris, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, LeClerc and Perez get the 8 to 1 points in this Sprint.
Moving on from Sprints to more Pierre eye candy:
Not only is Pierre an F1 driver, but apparently can levitate!
Quali One: Weather is clear and 87 degrees, 116 degrees on the track! 18 minutes to drop the last 5 drivers, which are: Zhou, Bottas, Stroll, Sargent and Albon. Quali Two: 14 minutes to drop the next 5 drivers. Those are: Riccardo, Gasly, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Alonso. Quali Three: For grid position and pole for the Grand Prix Sunday! Verstappen taking pole, Norris 2nd, Russell 3rd, Sainz 4th, Hamilton 5th, LeClerc 6th, Paistri 7th, Perez 8th, Hulkenberg, 9th, and Ocon 10th. Piastri was in third, but broke track limits on turn six to drop him to 7th place. Max with one of Red Bull's worst pit stops at 6.5 seconds (this would be key), Alonso pushing Zhou off track into the gravel (10 second penalty!) Drivers unhappy with the performance of their tyres.
Post Qualifying race notes: Yuki Tsunoda was fined 40 thousand Euros for offensive language over the radio, when he referred to another driver cutting in front of him in the pit lane as a "retard". The stewards took into account that English is not Yuki's first language and Yuki was horrified when told the meaning of the word and profusely apologized. Also, McLaren appealed Piastri's track limits violation, but did not win their appeal, so Piastri will remain 7th on the grid.
After that unpleasantness, how about a Pierre palatte cleanser! He all scruffy here!
This is what a Formula One race driver's body looks like to absorb those five G's of pressure!
It's race day at Speilberg, very warm weather and clear skies with a mild 10 MPH of wind for this 71 lap Grand Prix.Weekend attendance was over 302K. Soft tyres probably will not be used today due to the short track and only 10 turns, and teams will start on Mediums, with an expected two pit-stop strategy. To keep it simple, I'm going to list "lap notes"
throughout the race.
And with that, it's LIGHTS OUT. On Lap one, LeClerc had to pit, as he had his front wing damaged! Comes out at the bottom of the pack. And LaClerc boxes again in the pit stop on lap 17 for a tyre change. Lap 21, Alonso bops Zhou off the track. No damage done, but Alonso gets a 10 second PENALTY for that bop! Hamilton gets a 5 second race PENALTY for crossing the line at the pit entry. Verstappen, with a six second lead over Norris as they both pitted for the first time on lap 24.
Lap 33 finds Perez hit with a five second PENALTY for speeding in the pit lane. LeClerc pitted for the third time at just Lap 35! Lap 45, Albon gets hit with a five second PENALTY for the same no-no that Perez did. Max Verstappen still in the lead over Lando Norris by 6.6 seconds; Sainz, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Perez, Hulkenberg, Magnassun, Riccardo top 10 at this point, LeClerc has managed to weave his way up to 11th.
Lap 52, both Max and Lando pit, but Red Bull had an awful changeover, with a 6.5 second pit stop for Max, while McLaren got Lando out in 2.9. Max's lead is now only 1.6 seconds over Lando! We have a race (foreshadowing for those that watched this race like me!). Lap 59, Norris PENALTY 5 seconds , so Lando has to take the lead, AND win the race by at least 5 seconds. DRAMA!
Lap 64 and we got CHAOS, as Lando took the inside lane to overtake Max for the lead, but Max switched from veering right, and instead veered left into Lando, forcing Lando off the track. Both driver's re-entered the track, both with serious rear wheel damage, both "box" (head into the pit stop), Max gets his damaged tyre changed, but Lando himself told the team to retire the car due to the extensive wheel damage, and his race day is over with a DNF (Did Not Finish). An absolutely shocking and controversial turn of events that could have lasting implications on Max and Lando's off-track friendship, as they are best mates.
Very high drama here! The stewards have slapped Max with a 10 second PENALTY for that crash with Lando. Meanwhile, with the two leads out, Russell is now the race leader, and Piastri overtakes Sainz for 2nd with 6 laps to go. And those three drivers are your podium guys, as Russell and Mercedes get their first win of this season! Got to note that the Haas drivers both finished in the top ten, and the team now has 12 points, which was the TOTAL amount of points they had for the 2023 season. Lando got his 6th Driver of the Day fan vote, while Alonso got fastest lap to earn a point for his team. So. Many. Penalties!
Luck, and questionable maneuvers got these three guys up on the podium!
For those who want to see the incident and get a grasp on "Braking while in motion", this is a quick fun video that covers the topic, and yes, the driver/commentator DOES look like Jake Gyllenhaal!
Next up is one of the "Grand Slams" of F1: Silverstone in Great Britain next week. Will Lando and Max make up, or is this the beginning of the end of their friendship? Also, we are halfway thru race season, so I will be posting new updated points rankings next posting for the team and drivers! Cheerio!
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