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F1 to 10: What really happened at the Austrian Grand Prix
Oracle Red Bull Racing set a team record with a 10th win in succession in Spielberg, with Max Verstappen shining at his most successful track with a fifth victory on the bounce.
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1. Austria in exactly 74 words*
Oracle Red Bull Racing won its team-record 10th Grand Prix in succession in Austria, Max Verstappen taking his fifth consecutive victory from pole position to extend his championship lead to 81 points. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc converted a front-row start to second place, while Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Pérez produced a scintillating surge from 15th on the grid to take third place, his first podium finish since Miami in round five and fifth of the season.
* 2023 is the 74th season of the F1 world championship
2. The Austrian GP in six pics
There was little doubt who the fans turned up to see ...
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen nailed the start as the chasing pack surged on Sunday
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Pérez's podium was reward for a weekend of perseverance
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen always had Leclerc under control after a feisty first lap
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
3. Max motors on, Checo battles through
It was mostly plain sailing for Max after his Friday pole position
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
The second Sprint weekend of the season, Friday qualifying, plenty of rain on Saturday, a second start to ace on Sunday – as Verstappen said himself, Austria was an event that was "hectic, and a lot of things could go wrong, so luckily a lot of things went right."
The reigning two-time world champion was being modest, as his strength at the Red Bull Ring – Sunday was his fifth Grand Prix win at 'home,' the most of any circuit on the calendar – made his fifth straight win overall seemingly an inevitability after he repelled a feisty Leclerc twice on the opening lap.
The Dutchman had time in reserve to pit for fresh soft tires on the penultimate lap in an attempt to set the fastest lap of the race on the final tour, which he did with a lap of 1min 07.012secs for an extra world championship point, a full stop on a weekend of dominance that saw him lead all but one timed session across three days.
Verstappen did have his streak of consecutive laps led snapped – after pitting on lap 24, he briefly dropped behind Ferrari duo Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to end his run of 248 laps in a row in first place. But his final winning margin after 71 laps – 5.155secs with an extra pit stop – indicated that he was in charge all weekend.
The 25-year-old won Saturday's Sprint, too; the only tense moment came when he made a sluggish start with excessive wheelspin in the wet and dropped behind Pérez at Turn 1, the two running side by side (and Verstappen's right wheels briefly touching the grass) before Verstappen retook first place at Turn 3. "He said that he couldn't see me, and I trust his word – there's no need to make a big deal about it," Verstappen said of Pérez.
If Verstappen's run to the top step of the rostrum was expected given his form and his pedigree at the circuit, Pérez joining him on the Austrian podium looked like a long shot after a difficult build-up to the weekend.
Struggling on next to no sleep and carrying a fever, the Mexican missed Thursday's track activities altogether, and then qualified a lowly 15th after having three laps in Q2 deleted for breaching track limits.
Saturday was the beginning of Pérez's turnaround, qualifying second for the Sprint and finishing in the same position, while Sunday's charge from the eighth row of the grid was highlighted by a spirited stoush with Sainz for third, Pérez finally securing the spot with 10 laps left.
4. Penalties halt progress at AlphaTauri
A clash with Kevin Magnussen dashed any top-10 hopes for Nyck de Vries
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
It was the talk of the weekend – the seemingly endless number of penalties for breaching track limits handed out through qualifying and the race – and Scuderia AlphaTauri pair Nyck De Vries and Yuki Tsunoda weren't spared from scrutiny, the team-mates finishing 17th and 19th respectively after falling foul of the stewards.
De Vries had a tricky Friday when he qualified in last place, while Saturday's Sprint saw him end up in 17th from 14th on the grid. Sunday's Grand Prix proper saw him start from pit lane after the team fitted a new battery and electronics control unit before the race, but a five-second penalty for contact with Kevin Magnussen's Haas on lap 39 halted his progress.
From 16th on the grid, Tsunoda's torrid Sunday began with a damaged front wing from Turn 3 contact with Alpine's Esteban Ocon on the opening lap. The Japanese driver then speared into the Turn 4 gravel and dropped to last after a pit stop to change his front wing. Multiple penalties for track limits infringements saw him classified last at the checkered flag, with Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) the only retirement from the race.
5. The number you need to know
248: Verstappen's streak of consecutive laps led ended at 248, the longest by any driver since Ayrton Senna won his first world title for McLaren in 1988. Senna led 264 laps in a row that season, while Alberto Ascari led for 305 straight laps in 1952-53.
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6. The word from the paddock
Most important for me was lap one, to stay in front. After that we could do our own race. The tire life was not that great around here, but our stints were perfect. A great day – I enjoyed it a lot!
7. The stats that matter
Drivers' championship top 5
Position
Driver
Team
Points
Gap
1
Max Verstappen
Oracle Red Bull Racing
229
-
2
Sergio Pérez
Oracle Red Bull Racing
148
-81
3
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
131
-98
4
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
106
-123
5
Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
82
-147
Constructors' championship top 5
Position
Team
Points
Gap
1
Oracle Red Bull Racing
377
-
2
Mercedes
178
-199
3
Aston Martin
175
-202
4
Ferrari
154
-223
5
Alpine
47
-330
8. Away from the track
The (Un)Serious Race Series between Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri hit new heights in Austria, with Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda going head to head in a pair of huge mega trucks.
Who won the showdown at the Erzberg, the legendary site of motocross hard enduro event Red Bull Erzbergrodeo? Daniel Ricciardo came out second-best to Tsunoda on water in Miami – get the details on what went down in the dirt right here, and watch the video below.
6 min
Verstappen vs Tsunoda in mega trucks
Watch F1 drivers Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda go head to head in mega trucks at an iron mine in Austria.
9. Where to next, and what do I need to know?
Round 10 (Great Britain), July 7-9
Circuit name/location: Silverstone, Northamptonshire, UK
Length/laps: 5.891km, 52 laps
Grands Prix held/debut: 56, 1950
Most successful driver: Lewis Hamilton (eight wins)
Most successful team: Ferrari (15 wins)
2022 podium: 1st: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 2nd: Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing), 3rd: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
10. Inside the wide world of Red Bull Motorsports
Kalle Rovanperä toasts the World Rally Championship in Auckland
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
How to become a rally driving pro? Kalle Rovanperä knows – the 20-year-old Finn is the defending champ in the World Rally Championship, and his title defense is going pretty well, too.
What makes a great rally driver, how do you get there, and is there such a thing as being too young to get started? Get the inside word from the youngest-ever WRC world champion.
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