Max Verstappen produced dominant display to claim his fifth successive F1 victory; Dutchman now leads world championship by 81 points; Charles Leclerc takes second for Ferrari, with Sergio Perez third for Red Bull; Host of post-race penalties handed out for track limit infringements
Monday 3 July 2023 07:05, UK
Max Verstappen eased to victory at the Austrian Grand Prix to claim a fifth successive Formula 1 win and tighten his grip on the 2023 world championship.
Having won Saturday's Sprint contest, pole-sitter Verstappen maintained his and Red Bull's dominant form to finish five seconds clear of Charles Leclerc, despite losing time to the Ferrari when opting not to pit under an early Virtual Safety Car and opting to take an extra stop in the closing stages to put on fresh tyres to seal an extra point for the fastest lap.
Sergio Perez came out on top in a thrilling late battle with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz to cap a brilliant recovery drive from 15th on the grid, ensuring both Red Bulls finished on the podium at the team's home race.
The race was heavily impacted by drivers' struggles with track limits, and after several received in-race time penalties, eight drivers would receive post-race penalties after stewards reviewed a number of infringements missed that resulted in 83 lap times being deleted.
Sainz and Lewis Hamilton were among those impacted, with both receiving 10-second penalties post-race which demoted the Ferrari driver from fourth to sixth and the Mercedes from seventh to eighth in the final classification.
Lando Norris maintained his brilliant form at the Red Bull Ring and ended up fourth after Sainz's demotion to secure crucial points in his upgraded McLaren.
Fernando Alonso produced a solid display to take fifth for Aston Martin while George Russell advanced his Mercedes from 11th on the grid to eighth, and then leapfrogged Hamilton for seventh after the seven-time world champion was penalised.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Alpine's Pierre Gasly rounded out the points, the latter dropping to P10 after his own 10-second penalty.
Gasly's team-mate Esteban Ocon was the biggest culprit of the post-race investigations, racking up 30 seconds worth of penalties.
In a statement, the sport's governing body also suggested that a gravel trap is added at the exits of Turns 9 and 10 to deter drivers from exceeding track limits at next year's Austrian GP.
Verstappen, whose 42nd F1 victory moves him clear of Ayrton Senna in fifth on the sport's all-time list of winners, is now 81 points clear of second-placed Perez and very much on course for a third successive drivers' title.
Red Bull, meanwhile, have now won all nine races (and two Sprints) this season, and the prospect of the RB19 going unbeaten throughout the 2023 campaign becomes more realistic with every passing Grand Prix.
Austrian GP result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
4) Lando Norris, McLaren
5) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari*
7) George Russell, Mercedes
8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes*
9) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
10) Pierre Gasly, Alpine*
*Sainz, Hamilton and Gasly all received 10-second time penalties post-race, demoting them in final classification
Verstappen came into the race having led every lap of the previous three Grands Prix, and may well have extended that streak had it not been for the release of a Virtual Safety Car on lap 13.
The Dutchman fended off a bold attack from Leclerc on the opening lap, before an early full Safety Car was briefly sent out to clear debris from the track following a collision at the start.
Verstappen executed a perfect rolling restart, before the release of the VSC, which came after Haas' Nico Hulkenberg retired, triggered stops for much of the field, the Red Bulls the only front-runners opting to stay out.
The decision at first seemed questionable as the other cars looked set to gain time from pitting under reduced speed, but it made little difference.
Its main impact was ensuring that Verstappen's streak of laps leading races ended at 249, as Leclerc moved into first when Red Bull brought him in at the end of lap 25.
Verstappen came out in third just behind Sainz in third, but swiftly passed the Spaniard before setting about closing a seven-second gap to Leclerc.
Any hope that Leclerc might be able to put up a fight was quickly dispelled, with Verstappen easing into DRS range before passing the Ferrari on lap 35.
The 25-year-old provided a subtle example of the elite form he is in by smartly holding back before completing the move on Leclerc to ensure the Ferrari didn't gain DRS on the following straight.
From there, he began to pull away at a second per lap, and the only remaining threat was some rain clouds that were hovering to the west of the circuit.
After a second round of pit stops, Verstappen continued to extend his lead to the point that he had a clear margin to pit for a fresh set of medium tyres with two laps remaining, enabling him to set the fastest lap of the race.
"Most important for me was lap one to stay in front," Verstappen said. "After that, we could do our own race.
"We opted not to box under the VSC and do our normal strategy and that worked out well. Our stints were perfect and I enjoyed it a lot."
Red Bull and Verstappen's decision to make the late stop displayed the huge level of confidence in the team currently, and the driver's ruthlessness as he took the extra point away from team-mate - and nearest title challenger - Perez, with whom he had shared an intense first-lap battle in Saturday's Sprint.
The Mexican produced a fine recovery having been needlessly eliminated from Q2 on Friday after exceeding track limits on three successive attempts at flying laps.
He drove a patient race to progress through the field and eventually came out on top in a brilliant late battle with Sainz to secure a first podium in four races.
Having two cars on the podium capped a near-perfect weekend for Red Bull, who were racing at their 'home circuit' for the first time since team co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz's death in October last year.
After a disappointing start to the season, Ferrari delivered a race that suggested they have at least temporarily taken a step ahead of Mercedes and Aston Martin in the battle behind Red Bull.
Leclerc took second, but it was his team-mate Sainz who actually appeared to have greater pace on Sunday.
The Spaniard was on the back of Leclerc throughout the first stint and was expressing his frustration at being held up over team radio.
His mood wasn't improved when Ferrari brought both cars in under the Safety Car and the slowness of his stop saw him come out behind both Hamilton and Norris.
Sainz responded in the best possible manner as he quickly recovered to third, but by this point Leclerc had been able to open up a gap that had all but ended the contest between the Ferrari drivers.
In battling his way back to third, Sainz incurred a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits that would leave him exposed to the recovering Perez late on, while his stern defence ensured the Red Bull wouldn't have the mildest hope of chasing down Leclerc for second.
"The gap went from four tenths because I was on [Charles'] gearbox to six or seven seconds and three positions lost in that first pit stop," Sainz said.
"I feel I played the team game, staying behind and to be penalised in the way I was with the pit stop, losing a lot of time and losing the three positions and six seconds with the VSC ending when we could have done something differently frustrated me.
"I lost a lot of time, trying to recover which I did pretty quickly the gap and the time I got the track limits and from there my race was quite compromised."
While there were the strategic imperfections that left Sainz frustrated, it was ultimately a much improved weekend for the Italian team, who will hope to continue to build momentum as they approach a year from their last race victory.
While Perez had been the highest-profile violator of track limits on Friday, on Sunday it was the majority of the field struggling.
It became apparent early in the race that the boundaries - particularly in the final two corners - were going to have a major influence on the race.
After Hamilton passed Norris off the line, the Mercedes was unable to pull away from the McLaren, and came under heavy pressure.
As Hamilton struggled with his brakes, Norris came on the radio several times to report the seven-time world champion for exceeding track limits.
The stewards agreed, and Hamilton swiftly earned himself four pings and a five-second penalty that he would serve at his second pit stop.
However, by that point, he had already been passed on track by Norris, who appeared to have a genuine speed advantage in his upgraded McLaren.
Having served his penalty, an aggrieved Hamilton was regularly questioning over team radio whether other cars were being penalised for the same offence.
Those complaints, along with reminders of his dissatisfaction with the W14's performance, led to an intervention from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, in which he said: "Lewis, we know the car is slow. Please just drive it."
Mercedes are bringing further upgrades to their already highly modified car at Silverstone next weekend, with improvements undoubtedly required to appease Hamilton, who remains in negotiations over a contract extension beyond the end of the season.
