World champion Max Verstappen dominated the Austrian Grand Prix even with the virtual safety car giving a Ferrari the opportunity to shake up the race order. And yet, the Red Bull driver had enough performance to beat Charles Leclerc to take his seventh victory this season.
Verstappen made a great start to head off Leclerc’s run to the inside for the first corner and then dropped him again following an early safety car needed to clear debris from contact between cars back in the pack at Turn 1.
The early phase was Verstappen simply driving clear of Leclerc and Sainz, who was initially told he had to sit behind his teammate and not attack, a radio call he got frustrated with after a few laps.
The race picture was changed when Nico Hulkenberg retired in the Turn 1 run-off after losing power immediately after his lap 13 stop to change the mediums all the top ten runners, bar Fernando Alonso for hards, had started on.
This caused the virtual safety car to be activated, which initially appeared to come just too late for the Ferraris to take advantage of as they were just passing the pit exit, but as it was still in place a lap later they came in when Verstappen did not.
That created an off-set between the two leaders, with Leclerc able to start to close in on Verstappen and then lead the phase approaching half-distance once the Red Bull was brought in to take hards on lap 24.
He immediately used that new rubber to erase Leclerc’s 6.4 seconds lead in just ten laps, with Verstappen getting by at Turn 3 on lap 35 with a move to the inside that appeared to catch the Dutchman out a touch as Leclerc stayed so wide.
From there, Verstappen pulled easily clear once again, opening up a ten seconds lead in the same number of laps as Ferrari considered switching its driver to a three-stopper only to be rebuffed by Leclerc.
He came in again on lap 47 having been 13.3 seconds adrift, taking the hards for the first time.
Red Bull then closed any hope of a strategic battle late on, as Verstappen was brought in to go back to the mediums only two laps later and he subsequently ran smoothly clear.
He had built a 24 seconds lead by the time he demanded a late stop for softs to take the fastest lap away from Perez on the final tour, which he did by over a second on one minute, 07.012 seconds – and this all made his winning margin 5.1 seconds.
Leclerc took second 12 seconds clear of Perez, who put in a battling drive from his P15 starting position, which was aided by several drivers ahead getting five-second time addition penalties for exceeding track limits – the topic becoming a major theme just as it had in both qualifying sessions here.
This included Sainz, who had also returned from his VSC stop behind Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, who had switched places from their fourth and fifth starting spots when the Mercedes shot ahead on the outside line at the first corner.
Sainz battled by but had to get Norris twice once he had fallen behind while serving his penalty at his second stop – like Leclerc for hards but two laps before the leading Ferrari.
Norris had repassed Hamilton by this stage, the seven-time world champion another to get a track limits abuse penalty while he was vocally unhappy with the race pace of his W14.
Sainz and Norris were soon joined by Perez and after he cleared the McLaren he engaged in a lengthy fight with Sainz, who kept picking up DRS by being ahead of the Turn 3 detection point and then fighting back against the Red Bull to Turn 4.
While Sainz felt Perez was “intimidating” him, there was nothing he could do once Perez finally got DRS out of Turn 4 and shot ahead on the run to the downhill right-hander.
The scrap cost Perez three seconds to Leclerc, who was at this stage with nine laps to go 12.4 seconds clear and the expectation of a final Perez chance never came.
Congratulations to Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring – by winning the sprint, scoring pole position, taking the fastest lap and race victory. That was a champion’s performance. Impressive stuff.
Austrian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:25:33.607
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +5.155s
3 Sergio Perez Red Bull +17.188s
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +21.377s
5 Lando Norris McLaren +26.327s
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +30.317s
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +39.196s
8 George Russell Mercedes +48.403s
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine +57.667s
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +59.043s
11 Alex Albon Williams +69.767s
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine +1 lap
13 Logan Sargeant Williams +1 lap
14 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1 lap
15 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri +1 lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1 lap
17 Oscar Piastri McLaren +1 lap
18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1 lap
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 lap
Nico Hulkenberg Haas DNF
Austrian Grand Prix race review as reported by Formula1.com.
Max Verstappen completed a clean sweep of pole positions and race wins at the Austrian Grand Prix with another dominant display in Sunday’s main event, leading home Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez.
Despite an action-packed encounter at the Red Bull Ring that saw several drivers penalised over track limits and strategies differ – Verstappen one of few drivers to stay out during an early Virtual Safety Car period – the Dutchman could not be stopped en route to his fifth win on the bounce, and seventh of the season.
Leclerc briefly led the way after taking advantage of the VSC, but he fell back behind Verstappen as the pair worked through their opposing tyre plans and the Red Bull showed its raw pace – underlined by a late and successful bid for the fastest lap bonus point.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.verstappen-beats-leclerc-for-victory-in-austria-to-make-it-five-wins-in-a.40RQJjhwhd2nethv4qEsyJ.html
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari’s “maximised” performance in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix shows the team has “still a lot of work to do” to catch Formula 1 rival Red Bull.
Leclerc scored only the second podium of the season for the Scuderia as he claimed second place at the Red Bull Ring. The Monegasque also finished third in round four in Azerbaijan.
He enjoyed a 10-lap spell in the lead by undercutting dominant race winner Max Verstappen during an early virtual safety car but was repassed and fell 24 seconds behind the lead Red Bull. That gap fell to 5s at the flag since Verstappen made a late pitstop to successfully chase the bonus point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
After running second in qualifying on Friday, the improved result and ability to put some early pressure on Verstappen left Leclerc to suppose Ferrari had “maximised” its potential on Sunday. However, he reckoned that what turned out to be a comfortable 1-3 result for Red Bull proved the team has “still a lot of work to do” to catch the pair of RB19s.
Leclerc said: “I think Friday and today we have maximised what we had, really. It’s more yesterday that I was off the pace [Leclerc finished 12th in the sprint race]. But it’s good to be back on the podium.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/leclerc-ferrari-work-catch-red-bull/10490628/
Red Bull Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez has revealed the full impact of the illness that left him “really weak” for the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Perez missed the Thursday media day to rest after falling sick on Wednesday night.
He then underperformed during the Friday qualifying session for the full grand prix by exceeding track limits through the final two corners to have three lap times deleted for a Q2 exit.
But after finishing second in the sprint race, Perez then climbed from 15th to complete the Red Bull Ring podium on Sunday behind team-mate Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
The Mexican was aided by drivers ahead being hit with five-second track limits penalties that were served during their pitstops, but he notably battled past McLaren driver Lando Norris and Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz during the final stint to secure third place.
Perez reckoned his comeback was particularly satisfying given his illness, the effects of which included a lack of strength, sleep and “high fevers”.
He said: “I’m really happy. It’s been a very difficult weekend for me personally, physically.
“I have been really, really weak. I was sick on Thursday. So, it hasn’t been an easy weekend.
“High fevers, no sleep, during the weekend. So, a great recovery from the team, fantastic strategy and we had great pace.”
Perez said of the result that ends a run of three GPs without a podium: “It’s been a bit of a rough patch for me. So, now, hopefully we are back and we can keep those positions here now.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/perez-very-weak-austrian-gp-weekend/10490614/
Max Verstappen has heaped praise on Red Bull for their “perfect” strategy during the Austrian Grand Prix, which saw the team hold their nerve during an early Virtual Safety Car while rivals Ferrari pitted.
Verstappen led away from pole position at the start but a VSC – triggered by Nico Hulkenberg’s smoking Haas – tempted Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz into the pits, while Red Bull stayed out on track.
However, Verstappen soon reeled in both of them when the green flag racing resumed and ultimately cruised to a comfortable win on his opposing strategy – pitting just before the finish to bag the fastest lap bonus point.
Fresh from leading home Leclerc and team mate Sergio Perez, who overhauled Sainz late on, Verstappen said: “I think the most important [thing] for me was Lap 1, to stay in front. After that we could do our own race.
“Of course we opted not to box during the Virtual Safety Car, and just follow our normal strategy, and I think that worked out really well. The tyre [degradation] was not that high around here and our stints were perfect, so a great day – I enjoyed it a lot!”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.i-knew-i-would-get-them-back-verstappen-hails-red-bull-strategy-after.mCHZpMQJEOlfAk9ATcRBl.html