Giles Richards’ race report
The Austrian GP race report from Giles Richards will be coming up soon. That’s all from me. Thanks for reading today, and emailing, and well done to Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Ciao for now.
Updated
“A race-winning move” from Verstappen. I guess it was, yes.
The race-winning moment for @Max33Verstappen with this slick move past Charles Leclerc! 👌😮💨#AustrianGP #F1 @redbullracing pic.twitter.com/Agk56wjB84
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
Aston Martin got 18 points. Solid.
Taking 18 well-earned points away from #F1Sprint weekend in Austria. 🙌
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) July 2, 2023
Another strong effort from the whole team!#AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/e7uQ1e5Loj
“One of our toughest races of the year,” says Mercedes on Twitter:
We leave Austria with a handful of points after one of our toughest races of the year.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 2, 2023
We’ll get stuck into understanding why as we prep for Silverstone. pic.twitter.com/mXX8ZdJf1Z
Red Bull’s social team are loving it:
TWO BULLS ON THE PODIUM in Red Bull Ring today (but for the second time this weekend). P1 for Max what 👏 a 👏 drive and P3 for Checo, an incredible charge from P15 to the podium. #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/eH5fhGBkvf
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 2, 2023
And James Wallace has the cricket:
Which has just finished. Australia have won.
John Ashdown has Tour de France fun here:
Lando Norris of McLaren wins ‘Driver of the Day’ after Verstappen’s fifth straight grand prix victory.
Updated
The race report is coming up, but in the meantime, here’s our coverage from across this race meeting, in case you missed any of it:
Confirmation there, as some commentators are so fond of saying.
RACE CLASSIFICATION 🇦🇹
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
Verstappen reigns supreme in Austria 💪
Leclerc returns to the podium! 🙌#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hfZAACAs2n
Updated
Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez. No real surprises, were there?
Your Grand Prix podium stars in Austria! 🇦🇹✨
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
🥇 Max Verstappen
🥈 Charles Leclerc
🥉 Sergio Perez #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/uNOQRHiCqK
Jubilant Dutch fans are gathered around the podium and making a lot of noise. Meanwhile, Christian Horner speaks down on the track:
“Strategically we got all the calls right,” Horner says. “We had great pace … there was a bit of risk in going for the fastest lap [at the end] … but we felt it was worth the risk.
“I think he’s [Max] in incredible form. The team is operating at a high level. The win yesterday, the win today. Incredible performance. We just want to keep it going.”
Seventh and eighth for Mercedes, for Hamilton and Russell respectively. Not too shabby, but not where they want to be, either.
Ferrari are happy with their day’s work. As well they might be.
A brilliant drive from both @Charles_Leclerc & @Carlossainz55 brings home some valuable points 👏
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 2, 2023
#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/bI7UToT0Ef
Verstappen holds the trophy aloft. The crowd cheers. It’s all textbook stuff.
Here’s the Dutch national anthem. And there is no shortage of Dutch fans, who have travelled from the Netherlands to lap this moment up.
Updated
Verstappen and Leclerc are pictured having a rehydrating drink and a chat about the race. The podium presentation is coming up very shortly. Perez is there too. It all feels a bit low key and unremarkable. But a very solid performance from Red Bull and from Verstappen in particular.
Perez, who finished third: “I’m very happy. A great weekend. We had great pace.
“It was hard but fair [racing against Sainz] …
“It’s been a bit of a rough patch for me. Now hopefully we are back.”
Ferraris’ Leclerc speaks: “We knew it would be difficult with the race pace that Max had. But I tried. It’s good to be back on the podium … at Silverstone we always had great results. Hopefully we can take advantage.”
Verstappen speaks: “We opted not to box [pit] during the safety car … that worked out well. Great day. I enjoyed it a lot.
“Following our own plan was the best way forward.
“I don’t like to think about that [winning a third consecutive title]. I just want to enjoy the moment … a lot of things went right for us. I just want to focus on Silverstone.
“It’s incredible support when we come here … thanks [to the fans] for coming.”
The scores on the doors:
Verstappen
Leclerc
Perez
Sainz
Norris
Alonso
Hamilton
Russell
Gasly
Stroll
Albon
Ocon
Sargeant
Zhou
De Vries
Bottas
Piastri
Tsunoda
Magnussen
Hulkenberg
“Classy Max, very very classy, well done mate.”
The Red Bull team are happy on the radio.
Updated
Max Verstappen wins the Austrian Grand Prix!
That is the Red Bull driver’s fifth victory here. And he gets the fastest lap too, on the final lap, having pitted for soft tyres at the very last! It was never in doubt. Leclerc comes in second.
Updated
Lap 71/71: Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, Norris is the top five.
Lap 70/71: Verstappen comes in for soft tyres. He’s going for the fastest lap. Why not? There was a debate with the team on radio about whether to go for it. Verstappen won it.
Lap 70/71: Jacques is in touch on email again, with an email entitled ‘intimidating me’.
“What exactly does that mean? Seems like whining to me! Isn’t the rule that if the car behind you is faster, you let him past?”
Lap 69/71: Verstappen’s progress to a regulation win continues. The gap is 23sec.
“Another hugely dominating performance,” says one of the Sky commentators, which is absolutely right, although I might have gone for ‘dominant’.
Updated
Lap 66/71: Current top 10 –
Verstappen
Leclerc
Perez
Sainz
Norris
Alonso
Hamilton
Russell
Gasly
Stroll
Lap 65/71: The lead for the dominant Verstappen and Red Bull is 22sec. This will be his fifth win at the Red Bull Ring. More than at any other track.
Lap 64/71: Sainz complained on the radio about Perez ‘intimidating’ him. Interesting perspective.
LAP 61/71
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
📻: "HE'S INTIMIDATING ME"
Sainz gets onto the radio about Perez's tactics#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/xCpMiBC5iZ
Lap 62/71: After three attempts, Perez finally gets past Sainz and up into the podium positions. That was exciting, shoulder-to-shoulder racing. But there is zero jeopardy in the race for the overall win.
Updated
Lap 60/71: Sainz and Perez have a thrilling battle for third place. They are neck-and-neck but Perez eventually has to yield. Verstappen is 20sec ahead at the front. Leclerc in second.
Lap 56/71: Verstappen has 17.3sec up top. Perez forces his way past Norris and up to fourth.
A pair of 2.4sec pit stops for the Red Bull lads. Tasty.
Matching back-to-back 2.4 second quick pits for Max and Checo 📦 on lap 50 of 71. Let’s go! #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/TQfVVmsH6b
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 2, 2023
Lap 52/71: Verstappen leads the race by 14sec or so from Leclerc. Sainz third, 8sec further back. Norris is right on Sainz’s tail.
Updated
Lap 51/71: Perez pits. He comes back out in fifth place, behind Norris.
Updated
Lap 49/71: Aaaaand it’s a Red Bull one-two. Perez is up to second. But he’s 26sec down on his Dutch teammate. Ferrari third and fourth, Leclerc, then Sainz. Norris fifth, Alonso sixth, Hamilton seventh.
Updated
Perez keeps coming and is indeed up to third now.
Current top 10:
Verstappen (26sec lead)
Leclerc
Perez
Sainz
Norris
Alonso
Hamilton
Russell
Stroll
Gasly
Updated
Perez has moved up to fifth from 15th. Which is impressive indeed.
I made an error earlier and erroneously had him in third place. Apologies.
LAP 41/71
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
Perez swoops past Alonso and takes P5
From P15 to P5, Perez has put in a mega stint so far! 💪#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/N3UJR1WUf8
Sky Sports Main Event channel indicates what they feel is the most important and exciting sporting event occurring at the time (that they have the rights to). It will not surprise you to learn that Sky Sports Main Event is showing the Ashes.
Lap 42/71: Our race leader Verstappen is now 9.4sec ahead of Leclerc. Sainz, in third, is another five seconds or so back. Gasly gets a five-second penalty. Hamilton pits. It’s all happening, and yet nothing is happening.
Updated
Albon of Williams gets a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits:
Nooo! Alex is handed a five second time penalty for track limits 😑
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) July 2, 2023
It's not over yet, though. We'll keep pushing 🙌#WeAreWilliams #AustrianGP
Lap 39/71: Five seconds for Verstappen up top, now. Order is restored, from a Red Bull perspective.
Lap 37/71: Verstappen back into the lead! And he streaks away from Leclerc immediately. He’s nearly three seconds clear already.
Always hard to see the name Leclerc without thinking of Allo’ Allo’”
Updated
Lap 35/71: De Vries and Magnussen have a coming together. Magnussen is forced off track after trying to overtake down the outside. There are some choice words over race radio.
Lap 33/71: Verstappen continues to breath down Leclerc’s neck. He’s right on his tail now, all over him like a rash, or a cheap suit, or something like that. Albon and Gasly are among the drivers further back to receive penalties.
Updated
Lap 32/71: Verstappen is now a mere 2.3sec behind Leclerc.
Sainz, Norris, Hamilton, Alonso are third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Lap 30/71: But Verstappen is eating into that lead sharpish, it’s down to 3.6sec.
“To everyone who is against the Max show, let me remind you that Hamilton, Schumacher and even Vettel dominated the F1 scene for years,” emails Edwin Innih Imoesi. “Schumacher won five in a row. I have always loved Lewis, but the truth is, he was not given the right package. This is Max’s time now. Let’s enjoy it and hope the other team can fix their cars.”
Lap 28/71: Leclerc leads Verstappen by 4.4sec.
Updated
Lap 26/71: Verstappen sets the fastest lap and is up to second. Leclerc leads. The F1 website shows that all the top five have made two pitstops, but Verstappen is on hard compound tyres, Leclerc is on mediums.
At Lord’s, England need 79 to win, and Stokes is smashing it.
Updated
Lap 25/71: Verstappen pits! Leclerc and Sainz are now one-two on track! I think Ted Kravitz just said Verstappen had led for 249 consecutive laps.
The running order, via F1 Twitter:
LAP 22/71
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
Here's the current order on track thus far! 👀#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZTL7j8h9f5
Lap 23/71: Top five: Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Perez, Hamilton.
Lap 22/71: Lots of stuff occurring further down the field which is somewhat difficult to keep up with. The headline is that Red Bull’s Verstappen, who was on pole, leads by 14sec. Leclerc of Ferrari is second.
Lap 21/71: Hamilton soaks up the five-second penalty for exceeding track limits and drops to fifth place.
Lap 19/71: The current top 10 after the pitstop shake-up:
Verstappen
Leclerc
Perez
Hamilton
Sainz
Norris
Alonso
Gasly
Tsunoda
Russell
Verstappen has 17sec.
Updated
Lap 16/71: Leclerc and Hamilton (second and fourth) pit during the safety car … Verstappen stays out, and as a result his lead stretches to over 20 seconds for a while, at least.
Lewis Hamilton gets a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. “It had been coming,” they say on commentary.
Lap 16/71: Virtual safety car now. They need to get rid of Hulkenberg’s stricken car.
Lap 15/71: Verstappen’s lead up to 8.2 seconds. A Red Bull race win looks as nailed on as Ben Stokes leading England to glory at Lord’s …
Lap 14/71: Yellow flag due to Hulkenberg’s car being off the track.
Lap 13/71: Verstappen has built a five-second lead now.
Meanwhile Hulkenberg (Haas) just went into the pits, reappeared, and now appears to have retired from the race with a smoking engine.
Lap 11/71: Verstappen streaks out to a 3.5sec lead.
A couple of minutes ago, Perez got past Russell, clipping him on the way, it seems. Norris, meanwhile, has been on the radio to complain about Hamilton’s driving, saying he is exceeding track limits with regularity.
@LukeMcLaughlin Verstappen is either the best driver in the world, or one of the three best drivers in the world. Red Bull is the best car.
— Mark Woldin (@WoldinMark) July 2, 2023
F1 needs a mano a mano rivalry. They don't have that. So I don't watch. I read you.
Lap 9/71: “A bit early, but already starting to look like a boring race,” emails Jacques Roberge.
It certainly isn’t looking thrilling right now, with Verstappen on the form of his life and in a lightning-fast car. He’s three seconds ahead.
Updated
Lap 8/71: Sainz is putting Leclerc, his Ferrari teammate, under pressure from third position. He’s about half a second behind.
Hamilton, Norris, Alonso, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Gasly and Albon round out the top 10.
LAP 7/71
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
Carlos Sainz is catching his team mate Charles Leclerc 👀#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/QZRw8F6StI
Updated
Lap 6/71: Verstappen’s lead stretches to two seconds out front. Are we going to see drama in the battle for the win? It doesn’t look like it. But perhaps there will be intrigue further back …
Lap 4/71: Verstappen, the world champion and runaway drivers’ championship leader, has over a second on Leclerc now. Sainz in third is another half a second back, Hamilton a further second or so back. Positive start from the British driver and his Mercedes car.
Updated
Lap 3/71: The safety car is safely in after that little shunt at the start. Verstappen flies out ahead and looks to stretch his advantage immediately.
Lap 2/71: Hamilton of Mercedes is up to fourth thanks to an excellent start. So Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Norris is the current top five. There is a safety car, due to some debris on the track at turn one.
Updated
Lights out!
A very solid start by Verstappen, who leads into turn one. Leclerc of Ferrari is right on his tail, though! They nearly touch at the following right-hander as the Frenchman looks to force his way down the outside. But the Dutchman stays in control. Hamilton gets a great start and moves up a place or two, will check …
Updated
The cars are out there for the formation lap, warming up the tyres and checking all is in place. As the camera sweeps across the circuit from on high, there is plenty of white cloud in the sky, but patches of blue too.
Lewis Hamilton has warned there is no room for complacency in dealing with the harassment of fans after plans were put in place to avoid a repeat of the abuse that marred last year’s Austrian Grand Prix. The British driver demanded the sport take a strong stance to ensure F1 is an inclusive, welcoming environment.
Last year’s race was tarnished by accusations of sexist catcalling, inappropriate touching of female fans and homophobic and racist abuse. There were 60,000 Dutch fans in attendance to support Max Verstappen and many of the reports referenced the stands where they were gathered. Verstappen condemned their actions, citing excessive alcohol consumption as a factor, while Hamilton demanded F1 do more to deal with the problem.
Updated
Here we go. Final preparations are being made. The cars are in place on the grid for the warm-up lap. It’s nearly show time!
If you missed it. Friday’s qualifying report by Giles Richards:
“Max Verstappen opened his Red Bull team’s home race account with clinical execution to take pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix. At Formula One’s second sprint race meeting of the year the serious business remains ahead but on this form, on a track that plays to the strengths of his car and in front of swathes of Dutch fans, every expectation is that Verstappen has far more to come at the Red Bull Ring, even as Charles Leclerc finally brought a fight to the home team.”
News!
Formula One stewards have rejected McLaren’s request for a review of the Canadian Grand Prix penalty that cost Lando Norris points in Montreal. The stewards said at the Austrian Grand Prix that they turned down the petition because there was no significant, new and relevant element that was unavailable to McLaren at the time of the decision.
Norris was given a five-second penalty for ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’ when the safety car was deployed by slowing more than usual to avoid a ‘double stack’ delay when he pitted behind Australian team mate Oscar Piastri. The Briton, who dropped from ninth to 13th, said at the time that the punishment made no sense to him. McLaren presented four issues that they felt met the criteria for a review but the stewards ruled that while all were significant they were either not new or not relevant. (Reuters)
“Alonso behind Lewis,” emails Anne Williams. “That will be interesting!”
George Russell of Mercedes, who qualifed 11th for Mercedes, speaks to Sky before the action commences: “Looking forward to it … when the clouds disappear it gets really hot quickly so you have to watch it. I need to get past those slower cars and make some hay …
“I’m going to have to go, sorry.”
It’s 1.50pm (UK) and he’s got a race to take care of.
Updated
Now for the Styrian anthem – one of my personal favourites – and the Austrian anthem for good measure.
A minute’s silence is impeccably observed for the young driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff, who was killed in a crash at Spa.
Updated
As for those conditions this afternoon. The temperature is around 23C, with thundery showers forecast in Spielberg, Styria, Austria – call it what you like.
Updated
Red Bull’s Christian Horner has a quick chat: “It’s going to be an interesting race with the conditions … let’s see.”
Riveting!
Mercedes’s Toto Wolff has a word with Sky Sports too: “Fifth [for Hamilton] is an encouraging position … it’s a progession slope we’re on. We are taking one step at a time.
“I think we are pretty equal to Ferrari … We don’t really know.”
Updated
The grid looks like this!
Verstappen
Leclerc
Sainz
Norris
Hamilton
Stroll
Alonso
Hulkenberg
Gasly
Albon
Russell
Ocon
Piastri
Bottas
Perez
Tsunoda
Guanyu
Sargeant
Magnussen
De Vries
Note - Magnussen and De Vries start from pit lane after cars were modified whilst under Parc Ferme conditions.
What is going to stop Max Verstappen, Sky Sports ask Max Verstappen? “I don’t know,” says the Dutchman. “I need to have a good start. It’s unsure for everyone how the tyres are going to hold up … there’s quite a few things we don’t really know, with the tyre compounds and stuff … but of course we should have a quick car.”
Verstappen is then asked about the first-corner tussle yesterday with his teammate, Sergio Peréz, in the sprint race. “That was not in my control. We’ll see.”
Updated
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is there on the grid. Which is nice.
“Red Bull are dominating right now … I think Red Bull, fingers crossed, it’s theirs today to lose.”
Hard to argue.
What are you thoughts on the Bairstow run-out/stumping at Lord’s today’s grand prix?
You can email me or tweet @LukeMcLaughlin.
Updated
Here are the results from the sprint race:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
4 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
5 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
6 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas F1 Team)
7 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
8 George Russell (Mercedes GP)
9 Lando Norris (McLaren)
10 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes GP)
11 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
12 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
13 Alexander Albon (Williams)
14 Kevin Magnussen (Haas F1 Team)
15 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
16 Yuki Tsunoda (Scuderia AlphaTauri)
17 Nyck de Vries (Scuderia AlphaTauri)
18 Logan Sargeant (Williams)
19 Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo Racing)
20 Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo Racing)
Updated
Formula One will stage a minute’s silence before today’s Austrian Grand Prix in memory of teenager Dilano van ‘t Hoff. The 18-year-old Dutchman died following a crash in a Formula Regional European Championship at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday.
Van ‘t Hoff died following a multiple car pile-up on the exit of the notorious Eau Rouge corner in wet conditions. The Frenchman, Anthoine Hubert, was killed four years ago following a similar incident at a circuit which has now claimed 49 lives. The Belgian track will host Formula One’s final round before the summer break later this month. (PA Media)
Truly remarkable things are occurring at Lord’s. James Wallace has the details:
Elsewhere, John Ashdown brings you the latest from the second stage of the Tour de France:
You are, of course, more interested in the F1.
Updated
Here’s Giles Richards on the reaction to the tragic death of the 18-year-old Dilano van ‘t Hoff:
Preamble
Will anyone catch Max Verstappen? Almost certainly not, either today at the Austrian grand prix, or in the drivers’ championship that he currently leads by a mammoth 69 points from his Red Bull teammate Sergio Peréz.
Despite their champion team’s continuing dominance a certain amount of intrigue materialised this weekend from a falling-out between the two drivers. Verstappen said Peréz’s on-track aggression at the start of Saturday’s sprint race, eventually won comfortably the by the Dutchman, was ‘not OK’ and risked a big accident.
The double world champion added that they cleared the matter up afterwards with what must have been a frank exchange of views, but it will be interesting to see if any ill-feeling lingers between the pair. A domestic dispute appears to be the only thing that might deny Verstappen another victory on a weekend darkened by the death of Dilano van ‘t Hoff in a Formula Regional European Championship race at Spa. Let’s hope for excitement, perhaps a dash of controversy, but above all a safe race for all concerned.
Lights out: 2pm UK time
