Controversy in the Austrian Grand Prix! What happened and how did the race turn out?

The ninth race on the Formula One calendar brought more controversy. Penalties were handed out, we witnessed many fights and also a crash on the last lap! Above all, the sports commissioners spoke nonsensically in the race. So what happened in the Austrian Grand Prix?

It was clear after the opening lap that the Austrian Grand Prix would be more attractive than the Styrian Grand Prix a week ago. As early as the third corner, Esteban Ocon, in 15th position in the Alpine monoposto, found himself in a pinch, so to speak, and broke his right front wheel.

The safety car came out on track immediately after the start. Antonio Giovinazzi was also involved in the collision with Ocon and was forced to pit with his Alfa Romeo for a front wing replacement.

Sebastian Vettel had a great start to the race in his Aston Martin, as did Daniel Ricciardo, who went from thirteenth to number nine after all five lights went out. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and George Russell in the Williams dropped down the order.

The safety car pulled back into pit lane on the run-up to lap four, the restart of the race being greedily looked after by race leader Max Verstappen. He caused a few problems for Lando Norris, who faced an attack from three drivers at turns 1, 2 and 3!

Then, at Turn 4, we witnessed a big duel between Norris and Sergio Pérez, which caused a big controversy 15 laps later.

In fact, Pérez cheekily took to the outside track, presumably expecting Norris to just let him go. The McLaren driver, however, looked after his racing line, whereupon Pérez found himself off the track due to this manoeuvre and dropped to the back of the top ten in points.

And on lap 20, that very controversial decision was made by race directors. Norris received a five-second penalty for the fight, which the driver must serve in the pits!

A similar duel took place again, on lap forty-one, and once again the Red Bull driver, Mexican Pérez, was involved. However, his actions were much sharper than the duel we witnessed on lap four. There was even contact between Pérez and Leclerc, after which the Ferrari driver went off the track.

The consequence? A five-second penalty for Pérez. A similar incident occurred a few moments later, at Turn 6, when Leclerc was forced off the track in a duel with the Red Bull driver. In total, Pérez collected 10 seconds in penalties.

However, the commissioners also penalized other offences. For example, Yuki Cunoda in the Alpha Tauri monoposto twice committed a rookie driving error when he crossed the white line marking the entrance to the pit lane – again totaling 10 seconds.

Lance Stroll, currently with Aston Martin, also received a five-second penalty. He did, however, commit a pit-lane speeding offence.

However, do you think penalising racing duels is the right step for the sports commissioners to take in this race? Aren’t the drivers supposed to get it on with each other on the track, so to speak?

Norris summed up this theme in a post-race interview and during the Grand Prix via radio communication Should I have just let him go?”

Despite all this, we saw a very interesting Austrian Grand Prix and watched many beautiful battles for position. A prime example of this was the multi-lap battle for the final points position between Fernando Alonso and Russell on Williams.

We even witnessed a major accident on the very last lap of the race! Kimi Räikkönen crashed into Sebastian Vettel at Turn 5, sending both drivers off the track with their damaged monoblocs.

Max Verstappen won the race at the Red Bull Ring by a landslide. Valtteri Bottas finished second, overtaking his teammate Lewis Hamilton with around fifteen laps to go.

The seven-time world champion was losing rear tyre performance towards the end of the race and with it grip. At the end of the fifty-fourth circuit he went to his mechanics for a fresh set of tyres. He finished his Austrian Grand Prix in fourth place.

The talented Norris can rejoice in another podium finish, crossing the line third in the standings and being voted the best driver of the day. “I’m happy but also frustrated. If it wasn’t for the penalty, it could have been better.”

Pérez finished in fifth position, but the penalties dropped him to sixth. The fifth place on the results list therefore belongs to Sainz. Seventh went to Ricciardo, who gained a total of six positions in the race compared to the start!

Position number eight belongs to Leclerc, ninth went to Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri and the last point-earning position was finally captured by Alonso.

Together with Verstappen, Red Bull confirmed their complete domination of the Red Bull Ring and extended their lead at the top of the drivers’ championship and also in the team standings.

Source