Austria Grand Prix

Two weeks on from the Canada GP, F1 is in Austria – at the Red Bull Ring.

Free Practice

1. FP1: RUS (1:05.542), VER, PIA, Dunne, GAS
   A couple of F2 drivers (Alex Dunne and Dino Beganovic) got to experience F1 cars by replacing NOR and LEC for this session
   TSU locked up and ran wide at Turn 3
   ALO spun through the final turn but kept it out of the barriers
   Haas teammates
   BEA and OCO ran wide in Turn 1
   Dunne finishing P4 could be a sign of how strong the McLaren is at this circuit
2. FP2: NOR (1:04.580), PIA, VER, STR, LEC
   LEC ran wide in Turn 3, and later across the gravel at Turn 6
   ANT had to avoid HAM; could be a penalty for Ferrari for not informing their driver
   LAW had a problem with the RB’s brakes pulling to the right
   GAS ran wide in Turn 1, reporting something had broken
3. FP3: NOR (1:04.324), PIA, VER, LEC, HAM
   VER spun in the final turn; TSU also spun
   ALO and LEC ran wide at Turn 3
   HAM and PIA ran wide at Turn 1
   PIA dipped a couple of wheels in the gravel; HAD did the same but then he spun before resuming on the main straight

Post-Practice Penalties
Mercedes were fined €100 for ANT speeding in the pit lane in FP2
HAM received a warning for impeding ANT in FP2

Qualifying

Air temperature 28°C; track 48°C; humidity 35%
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
Start of Q1 delayed as the track is cleared following a red flag at the end of the F2 support race
ALB 1:06.015
OCO 1:05.745
HUL 1:05.681
VER fighting the Red Bull through Turn 4 but posts 1:05.106
PIA touched the edge of the Turn 4 gravel trap, aborts his quick lap
NOR 1:04.672
5mins left; bottom 5 are STR, ALB, BEA, ALO, SAI
SAI P14 – he had a slide in Turn 9
ALB P5; HUL demoted to P16
OCO P13, SAI P16
BEA P8, COL P16
STR P12, OCO P16
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are OCO, TSU, COL, SAI, HUL
COL P13, RUS P16
RUS P11, STR P16
SAI P19
Back of the grid: STR, OCO, TSU, SAI, HUL

Interesting to look at teammates: TSU is 12 places behind VER (which isn’t unusual), and SAI is 10 behind ALB
Replays show SAI struggling with a Williams that seems to lack grip

Qualifying session 2
LEC 1:05.446
Just 3 cars on track for the first few mins but as they return to the pits there’s a stream of cars heading out of their garages
Everyone bar those early runners (LEC, HAM and ALB) are now on track
LAW 1:05.248
VER 1:05.103
PIA 1:04.556
NOR 1:04.410
HAM kicks up some dust out of the final turn, goes P4
Radio from VER basically telling his team the car is undrivable, that there’s no grip
Red flag – there’s a grass fire in the final turn
There’s 5:42 left on the clock
Green light; Q2 resumes
5mins left; bottom 5 are ALB, BEA, ALO, BOR, COL
BEA P9, GAS P11
BOR P3, ANT P11
ALO P8, RUS P11
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are RUS, ANT, GAS, ALB, COL
ANT P8, BEA P11
RUS P5, HAD P11
GAS P6, ALO P11
COL P13
ALB P12
Middle of the grid: ALO, ALB, HAD, COL, BEA

Top 10 shootout is between NOR, PIA, LEC, VER, BOR, GAS, RUS, HAM, LAW, ANT
That’s BOR first time in Q3
Replay of VER complaining about a Ferrari moving out of the way in Turn 3

Qualifying session 3
The session started but no-one’s keen to get on track
That looks like an unsafe release of RUS into the path of VER, and then edges forward as both Ferraris pass him; RUS asks his team to let him know because he can’t see
GAS 1:05.649
ANT 1:05.554
PIA 1:04.554
NOR 1:04.268
VER P3
LEC P2
BOR P6
HAM P4
RUS P5
LAW aborts his lap
Order after the first run: NOR, LEC, PIA, HAM, RUS, VER, ANT, BOR, GAS, LAW
Queue forms at pit out for the final run
LAW P6
Yellow flag – GAS spun (a full 720°) in the final turn – that’s briefly disabled DRS
Chequered flag; order is NOR, LEC, PIA, HAM, RUS, LAW, VER, ANT, BOR, GAS
RUS P5
ANT P8
LEC P2
NOR 1:03.971
HAM P4
BOR P8
Front of the grid: NOR, LEC, PIA, HAM, RUS, LAW, VER, BOR, ANT, GAS
No doubt VER/Red Bull will complain about the yellow flag and try to get others penalised

Provisional grid: NOR, LEC, PIA, HAM, RUS, LAW, VER, BOR, ANT, GAS, ALO, ALB, HAD, COL, BEA, STR, OCO, TSU, SAI, HUL
Post-Quali Penalties
RUS was given a warning and Mercedes received a reprimand for the unsafe release in Q3

Race

Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
Grid: NOR, LEC, PIA, HAM, RUS, LAW, VER, BOR, ANT, GAS, ALO, ALB, HAD, COL, BEA, STR, OCO, TSU, SAI, HUL
Air temperature 30°C; track 50°C; humidity 33% – it’s a lot warmer than yesterday

NOR leads everyone away on the formation lap
Most are starting on the medium compound tyres; GAS, HAD, COL, BEA and HUL on softs
SAI is still on the grid; he reports the Williams is stuck in first gear
NOR comes around the final turn but the marshals have only just started pushing him
Race control: start aborted
SAI is now running around the circuit as everyone else stops on the grid
SAI comes into the pit lane; he’s gone straight to the pit exit but as he stops it looks like both rear brakes are on fire
Race control have announced the race will start at 15mins past the hour; it’ll be one lap shorter
SAI has been pushed back to the Williams garage and told to jump out of the car
Radio from ALO reporting that his seat is very hot, meanwhile RUS checks his mechanics have got water

NOR leads the 19 cars away on the second formation lap
HUL is slow to get going but eventually they all clear the grid

01/70: NOR leads into Turn 1
PIA squeezes past LEC to steal P2
ANT locks up into Turn 3; hits VER – they’re both out
Safety Car deployed
Replay shows ANT dive right to avoid a car (LAW?) locked up and hit VER

03[SC]: SC in at the end of this lap

04: COL forces BEA wide
RUS looks inside HAM but the Ferrari keeps P4

05/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, GAS, ALB, BOR, LAW, ALO, BEA, COL, STR, OCO, TSU, HUL, HAD; out: VER, ANT, SAI

06: PIA has a look inside NOR into Turn 4

07: Incident involving COL and BEA (on lap 4) has been noted

08: NOR and PIA are over 3sec clear of LEC

09: ALB takes P6 from GAS – are the soft tyres already going off?

10/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, ALB, GAS, BOR, LAW, ALO, BEA, COL, STR, OCO, TSU, HUL, HAD
PIA continues to harry NOR

11: NOR a little wide in Turn 1
PIA takes P1
NOR fights back; he’s got the inside line and reclaims P1
PIA has another look but NOR stays ahead

12: BEA pits; hards go on; rejoins P17
GAS and BOR wheel to wheel; BOR takes P7

13: GAS pits; hards; P15

14: ALB pits, as does COL
BEA takes P14 from GAS

15/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, BOR, LAW, ALO, OCO, STR
PIA filling NOR’s mirrors
TSU past STR for P10

16: GAS reclaims P14 from BEA
ALB in the pits again; he’s pushed into the garage – that’s both Williams out
NOR runs a bit wide out of the final turn

17: TSU hits STR in Turn 3

19: RUS pits from P5; mediums; P11
TSU pits too; hards; P16
Radio for NOR discussing when to pit

20/70: OCO pits from P8; hards; P15
PIA locks up and barely misses NOR

21: NOR pits from P1; bit of a slow stop; hards; P4

22: BOR pits from P5; mediums; P13
HUL dives inside BEA to take P11

23: Radio for PIA asking whether he wants to pit; sounds like he’ll stay out

24: BOR takes P12 from BEA

25/70: PIA, LEC, HAM, NOR, LAW, ALO, STR, HAD, RUS, GAS, HUL, BOR, BEA, COL, OCO, TSU; out: ALB, VER, ANT, SAI
PIA pits; slow stop; hards; P4, over 5secs behind NOR
It was the front-left that was slow for both McLaren stops

26: LEC pits; hards; P6

27: BOR easily past STR for P11
HAM pits; hards; P6
LEC inside ALO to take P4

28: HUL and BOR pass GAS
Radio for PIA telling him the manoeuvre when he locked up and nearly hit NOR was too close
HUL lets teammate BOR take P8

29: NOR is 6.5sec ahead of PIA
HAM fighting his way past LAW for P4

30/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, LAW, ALO, RUS, BOR, HUL, GAS
Radio from GAS complaining he has no grip
TSU and COL squabbling; contact; COL spins but recovers

31: TSU pits; new front wing; mediums; P16

32: OCO has caught GAS

33: LAW pits; hards; P12
OCO inside GAS into T3; takes P9

34: 10sec penalty for TSU for causing a collision
ALO pits; hards; P12

35/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, BOR, HUL, OCO, GAS, BEA, LAW, ALO, COL, HAD, STR, TSU* (*10sec to be applied)

36: BEA takes P9 from GAS
Radio from GAS asking the team to check if something’s broken

37: HAD dives inside COL to steal P13

39: GAS pits from P10; mediums; P15

40/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, BOR, HUL, OCO, BEA, LAW
BEA pits; mediums; P13
COL pits; hards; P16

41: PIA has been quietly closing on NOR – the gap is down to 3.5sec but NOR has been dealing with traffic

43: HUL pits from P7; mediums; P11, between NOR and PIA so that additional traffic might help NOR

45/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, BOR, OCO, LAW, ALO, HAD
Radio for NOR, “Our goal here is obvious – keep Oscar out of DRS”

47: RUS pits from P5; hards; P10
RUS inside HAD for P9

48: PIA runs wide in Turn 1
HAM runs wide in Turn 3
BEA inside STR to take P12

50/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, BOR, OCO, LAW, ALO, RUS, HAD, HUL, BEA, STR, GAS, TSU*, COL; out: ALB, VER, ANT, SAI
LEC pits; mediums; P4
BOR pits; hards; P10, just ahead of PIA
Radio for HAM telling him to pit; HAM wants to extend but he’s told to pit

51: HAM pits from P3; mediums; P4
OCO pits from P6; hards; P12

52: OCO takes P11 from teammate BEA

53: NOR pits from P1; mediums; P2, just ahead of TSU (P15, lapped)

54: PIA pits from P1; mediums; P2 behind TSU and COL
COL locks up as he tries to dive inside TSU
TSU passes COL
PIA tries to follow TSU but COL drifts right and forces PIA onto the grass

55/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, LAW, RUS, ALO, HAD, BOR, HUL
Incident involving COL and PIA is under investigation
COL past TSU for P14
RUS has taken P5 from LAW

57: BOR easily past HAD for P8
STR has pitted and is now on soft tyres – do Aston Martin know there’s no point for fastest lap this season?
5sec penalty for COL

58: HUL takes P9 from HAD

59: OCO takes P10 from HAD – why didn’t RB pit HAD a few laps ago?

60/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, LAW, ALO, BOR, HUL, OCO
PIA puts in another fastest lap; he’s 2.5sec behind NOR

61: PIA continues to close on his teammate; gap is just under 2sec
Radio from NOR asking for help; his engineer says it’s down to passing traffic

62: TSU pits; serves his 10sec penalty
NOR laps OCO (P10)

63: NOR’s lead is down to 1.6sec
ALO has DRS behind LAW

65/70: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, LAW, ALO, BOR, HUL, OCO, HAD, BEA, GAS, COL*, STR, TSU (*COL has 5sec penalty to be applied)

66: NOR’s lead still about 1.8sec but he’s now closing up to lap TSU for a second time

67: Radio for NOR telling him he needs “corner discipline” in turns 1 and 3
BOR has caught up to ALO (who is BOR’s manager)

69: NOR has passed TSU
BOR inside ALO but ALO takes the inside line for the next turn and reclaims P7
NOR laps BOR

70/70: NOR’s lead is down to 1.2sec
NOR laps ALO but ALO almost hits NOR as the Spaniard defends P7 from BOR

NOR takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: NOR, PIA, LEC, HAM, RUS, LAW, ALO, BOR, HUL, OCO; BEA, HAD, GAS, STR, COL, TSU
DNF: ALB, VER, ANT, SAI

Post-race Penalties
ANT will have a 3 grid place penalty for his next race for causing the lap 1 collision

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