With it being a sprint race weekend we have a lot to go through and what exactly does this weekends performance mean for the rest of the season. Lets take a look!

Sprint Race

VER on pole and NOR joining him on the front row. Every driver started on the Medium compound. we had 2 formation laps happened due to an aborted start for safety concerns.

VER got away swiftly however the immediate battle was between NOR and PIA. SAI had a great start being ahead of both Mercs.

NOR and VER got into their first battle on lap 3 with PIA right behind. NOR stuck to VER rear wing until lap 5 lunging into corner 3 and taking the lead. This was short lived as at corner 4 VER took the position back and NOR also lost 2nd to his teammate.

Behind the top 3 the Mercedes duo were right behind SAI in 4th. Very close between the top 6. RUS managed to take SAI. After this the order didn’t really change.

The McLarens battling against each other ruined their chance to take the Redbull in this sprint giving VER full point for the sprint.

Qualfying

Race

Race start was good the VER in the Redbull. RUS put some great pressure on NOR on the the first lap. At corner 1 LEC lost part of his front wing colliding with PIA it was clearly a racing incident though. Other than LEC and PIA coming together the rest of the start was pretty clean. That is not a sign of things to come.

HAM had to give SAI a place back on Lap 5 as he was under investigation from the start of the race going off the track and gaining an advantage. This put him from briefly 3rd into 5th. This would be where HAM stays for pretty much the whole race. It also didn’t help HAM that he went over the white line entering into the pit landing himself a 5 second time penalty.

In the first Pit stop for NOR and VER things were starting to brew. They were very close between NOR entry and VER release. Redbull launched VER into NOR’s line. To be honest there has been closer calls in the pit lane however just a taste of things to come.

Up front there was a clear gap beginning to form. There was some close racing near the back and midfield with the Alpines racing each other for several laps GAS taking the lead from the battling. ALO however got a 10 second penalty for making contact with ZHO in corner 3. This was where the action was until the 3rd stint.

The third stint for the front runners started with VER pitting ahead of Norris for a new set of mediums. There was an issue however with the Red Bull pitstop. The rear left tire got locked. This gave VER a six second pitstop. When they were leaving the pitlane NOR went from over six seconds to only 1.8 seconds behind.

As soon as they left pit lane NOR was putting the pressure onto VER. He quickly got into DRS range within a couple of laps and that was it game on

Things between NOR and VER started to get a bit scrappy as VER under pressure started moving the car more than you would like especially within breaking zones (This is against the rules). NOR pushing the McLaren to get past however twice under breaking the Redbull just wouldn’t adhere to standard racing regulations

In the pursuit of taking over VER, NOR ended up getting a warning for track limits. NOR just put the pressure on even more to take VER over into corner three. The issue is NOR went up the inside of the VER locked up and went off track. This is almost certainly going to give him a penalty. He allowed VER back through into corner four.

On the next lap he made another move against VER, and VER went off track and regain first position however he did not concede that position which he should’ve as he carried way more speed going off track than he did staying on. Leading to the theory that VER wasn’t willing to let NOR through any cost fairly or unfairly due to it being in Austria.

On the next lap, things come together, literally. NOR decides to go around the outside instead of the inside. VER bites on NOR’s dummy to the inside however then squeeze NOR on the outside. Which is double movement, movement under breaking, not leaving a cars width, and finally contact. VER closes the gap and makes contact with NOR’s car causing damage instantly this also caused VER to get a rear puncture.

Even after the puncture, NOR tried to take him over and he pushed Norris off the track on the straight. By the time the McLaren got to the sixth corner they also had a puncture and also a lot of damage. At this point they were also given a 5 second penalty for track limits violations. This caused NOR to retire the car, and VER to pit at the end of the lap.

This left the door wide open for RUS to take first position followed by PIA and SAI. All he had to do was bring the car home. RUS and Mercedes were actually having a great weekend and have deployed their upgrades very well over the last 5 races.

RUS managed to bring the car back in one piece secure Mercedes first win in over two years. This is mega for the team and all the work they’ve put in.

VER was given a 10 second time penalty which to be honest is an insult to NOR as VER was 30 seconds ahead still when leaving the pits. VER Ended up finishing 5th and his team mate PER 7th as PER couldn’t take the Haas of HUL. There’s something going on at Red Bull. I’ve always had my theories about the second driver at Red Bull. I don’t think PER is that bad and performing so poorly he can’t overtake a Haas.

This was mostly a race that you skip until the last 20 laps. This is where to racing element of racing got turned to 11. It would’ve been nice to get a clean result to that incident however it opened the door for Mercedes to get their first win in years. It will be interesting to see how Austria 2024 impact VER and NOR’s friendship but also how the FIA penalise reckless driving. Max won the 2021 season by driving recklessly without being penalise. He clearly doesn’t like a taste of his own medicine. Will NOR bounce back at Silverstone? Meanwhile it is very entertaining for us.

Only one person can stop it.

Tyre Analysis

Pirelli best suggestions were all 2 stopper for the Austrian GP. Each of the best 3 strategies opt for starting on the medium. This is a clear sign of the weight and down force these cars now create as the soft tyre is almost obsolete. The middle stint in each will make up the majority of the race meaning hards will be the optimal tyre choice. Lets take a look compared to the actual race. final stint can by one of the 3 compounds.

As you can all cars apart from ZHO opted for the Medium start. LEC quickly came in for Hards due to incident. The cars lower down the grid seem to have significantly higher degradation given that a lot pitted under the stated tyre window by Pirelli. Like this is due to closer racing. the top 6 created gaps between each other relatively quickly meaning they could manage the tyre far better.

The middle stint was quite a mix of Hard and Soft tyre. The front runners at the time where going with a Medium-Hard-Medium strategy however RUS who won the race went for Medium-Medium-Hard.

It does seem Medium-Hard-Medium was the better strategy however even though RUS won on an alternative strategy. I think Pirelli estimates are close however there probably over estimated the useful life of the medium tyre while racing.

Watch Highlights Here

Standings

The standings this week are quite disappointing to look at what only a few weeks ago was a close fight now is history repeating itself. Even with the incident VER still managed to take 10 points where as NOR got 0 from the race. VER obviously got 8 for Sprint as well.

News Podium

1 - Hulkenberg and Magnussen hail ‘amazing team performance’ as Haas score double points finish in Austria READ MORE

2 - ‘The entire world knows who is responsible’ – Stella weighs in on Verstappen/Norris Austria clash as he makes 2021 comparison READ MORE

3 - Horner labels Verstappen’s penalty ‘harsh’ as he gives his take on 'frustrating' collision with Norris READ MORE

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