2023 Austrian Grand Prix - Post-Race Discussion

Result:

63 comments

Another VER win but he had to work for it a little. PER managing a very good damage limitation drive in ending up on the podium
Ferrari pulling off a double podium could have been a dream come true given where the team was a few weeks back. Alas, it was not to be. 2-4 is not a bad weekend though is it? If they can get strategy sorted out, the car seems to be getting there but tyre deg is still a touch too high.
NOR killing it today and putting that McLaren on the map yet again. PIA needs to step up or we will be talking about him getting replaced soon. I know he doesn’t have the upgrades this race but ending up rock bottom when your teammate rakes in points is not a good look.
ALO having a very lonely race but scoring some much needed points. STR just squeaking in a point was nice but he can and should be doing better.
HAM struggling quite a bit today while RUS seemed more comfortable with the car. But the car seemed to be genuinely struggling at this track. Let’s see what the British isles look like for this team next week.
GAS doing quite well to clock 2 points for the team. Too bad OCO could not be bullheaded enough to get some points today.
ALB and SAR having very good runs, a nice change for SAR huh? The Williams is easily the best if the rest at this point.
ZHO and BOT doing their usual thing. BOT getting squeezed at the start again and ZHO ending up ahead of him but not too far ahead.
DEV outperformed TSU today, a much needed performance but I am afraid it had more to do with TSU losing it rather than DEV rising to the occasion. Doubt it will cut much ice with Helmut.
MAG the lone Haas in the fight today and there’s not much good to tell. The car is a shitbox and there don’t seem to be signs of improvement.
Very thrilling race. 8.5/10.
- Didn't piastri got his front wing yeeted by some1 else?
  
  He ran into the back of a Haas I think at turn 3, but only because someone in front of him braked suddenly.
- It's great seeing Albon able to race other cars now
  Stroll got boned first by picking the wrong checkout line (inside) on the 1st lap, and then AMR pitting him just as the race went green again
  Oh, and 5 sec penalty to OP, for exceeding track limits..
  
  Yeah I’m ready to see Williams fighting for points on the regular
- but tyre deg is still a touch too high.
  I didn't think tyre deg of the ferrari's was high. They had similar deg to everybody else. It is just that the red bull is too fast
  
  Yeah think this is it more than deg. Would have liked to see what Sainz could’ve done of done if they switched at lap 5-7 or whatever it was
  
  You are right. Post race Charles confirmd that tyre deg was within limits. I was mislead by strategists asking for 3 stop and thought there was a tyre deg issue. Fuck, Ferrari strategists are abysmally bad.
- I don't see Piastri getting replaced this quickly. Especially not after all the effort they put in to sign him away from Alpine.
  
  Remember what they say about F1. It’s a piranha club!
- Easily the best race of the season in my opinion. Battles up and down the grid. Not too many dull moments.
  
  Was a very lively race no? Think what it could have been if it rained.
- Did Max have to work though? The specifically didn't pit under vsc, because they wanted to run their race. They KNEW Max would overtake the Ferrari's no problem because of their pace and tire advantage. Max just needed to keep up his normal race pace, didn't really have to push.
  He even had time to pit for softs to get fastest lap just for lulz.
  
  Well at least he did not get to hog the race lead for the entire race. I will take whatever silver lining I can get. 😝😝😝
- PIA needs to step up or we will be talking about him getting replaced soon. I know he doesn’t have the upgrades this race but ending up rock bottom when your teammate rakes in points is not a good look.
  Not sure this is really fair on Piastri, he's a rookie don't forget, and I think this has always been a strong track for Norris. We know he's not short of talent. Hopefully it's indicative of the upgrades Norris had that he was so much further up the field!
  ZHO and BOT doing their usual thing. BOT getting squeezed at the start again and ZHO ending up ahead of him but not too far ahead.
  I feel like the Alfa duo are really anonymous in the races, especially Bottas. I don't think he's got long left in F1, honestly.
  
  Well we are close to the summer break so tough questions have to be asked. If Alpine are willing to give him a longer runway, then more power to him and them.
  You are right, Alfa are nearly non-existent no? Not the case with Alpha though. At least not with TSU.

Update: The stewards have said they had 1,200 reports of track limit infringements to review. They sound as frustrated about them as we do. At the end of their statement they said something like, "As we have in the past, we recommend this track add gravel or grass on turns 9 and 10."

Man, that fastest lap was a slap in Perez’s face.
- Not as bad as a few races ago when Perez was given new tyres and Max slapped him down on old tyres.
- I mean, Max has always been adamant he is there to race. He will not give anyone anything for free during the race.

This race was decently entertaining, which is nice after some of the previous ones.
EDIT: LOL, Sargeant passing De Vries in the season standings.
- Penalties for everyone 🤣
  
  Indeed, I'd like to see Oprah Winfrey return as steward!

I’m glad Perez didn’t get driver of the day. Guy seems to bin it in quali then comes through the pack in the fastest car and every praises him for his comeback drive. Dude should be challenging his team mate like Rosberg and Hamilton when the Mercedes was dominating like this Red Bull is.
Instead Max is just on a different level. Pulling a massive gap in such a short track. Lapping 1 sec faster the Charles is just insane pace.
Looking past Max the race was pretty decent. Battles down the pack which is always good. Looking forward to the fight between Ferrari, Merc, Aston and now McLaren in the upcoming races.
- Yeah I'm really hoping that McLaren can keep the pace going and hope that Austria will be a big turning point in their performance.
- If you're watching Max at this point it's just to see how much he can squeeze out of the Red Bull. He's in form and the car is amazing.

I really enjoyed that race. There was some great racing and manouvers throughout the pack.
Max didn't have the lead for a few laps which felt different, and his strategy around the DRS detection point was cool to see. Reminded me of the games that Lewis and Alonso were playing in Canada way back.
It was also great to see Carlos be quite strong, and push Charles for a bit and defend from Perez for a few laps. And also great to see Lando do so well with the updated McLaren. Hopefully they can continue that form going forward.

What a cool race. Good to see Lando up in the numbers. Perez with a comeback, leclerc giving his best without strat errors and max putting on a show. Overall, an awesome race in my opinion

Provisional Weekend Warm-up Pundit Prediction Performance
Subject to outcome of Aston Martin's protest of results.
undefined

Pundit__|1st_____|2nd_____|3rd_____|Points ========================================== Jolyon__|Max_____|Charles_|Lewis___|_____4 Lawrence|Fernando|Carlos__|Max_____|_____1 Rosanna_|Max_____|Fernando|Sergio__|_____4
Lawrence off the pace this weekend, with Jolyon and Rosanna picking up useful points to move them up the table:
undefined

Pundit (appearances)|Points|Average =================================== Laura (7)___________|____18|___2.57 Lawrence (7)________|____17|___2.43 Jolyon (2)__________|____10|___5.00 Will (6)____________|_____9|___1.50 Rosanna (2)_________|_____8|___4.00 Alex (1)____________|_____4|___4.00 Sam (1)_____________|_____2|___2.00
Lawrence not fully taking advantage of Laura's absence to retake the lead, but closes the gap slightly anyway.
- Lawrence is high on that 33 hopium.

The orange mist returns
- To Lando, it’s papaya.

I am unable to edit the poster comment here and make it a spoiler. Please see the rules, we are enforcing a no spoiler on race day rule. The way Lemmy works with posters initial comment is still new to some people. At this time this won't be removed but please keep in mind that the Result section is visible on some platforms. In the future this will get removed.
- Spoilered it. Will keep that in mind for next time.
  
  Thank you!

They should optimise this track to reduce penalties
- Someone suggested grass on the edge of that corner so drivers would be forced to avoid it. Anything other than that and we shouldn't be surprised that the drivers use as much of the available tarmac as they can

Maybe the best race so far this season!

fingers crossed Norris can get some good points again in Silverstone

Pretty ok race imo. A wild VSC/SC meant that for once RB engineers had to cancel their coffee break and actually do some work. Good scraps between the midfield. They need to start using narrow strips of grass to enforce track limits imo.

Like the race, something happening almost all the time. It became a bit silly with all the track limits, and them being handed out ~10 laps after the fact did not help anyone. Seems that there are more to come to mess up the final results.

Thank you for posting the finishing order. Love it!

Lots of track limit violations, haven't seen those so often.
- I suspect drivers are doing it every race, we just saw it get penalised here to a huge extent.
  
  My big issue with them today wasn't the handing them out it was the delay between the offence and the penalty - I think tsunoda had his black and white flag before he'd been told he'd gone over the line the first time.
  Surely track limits should be an automated system that can inform drivers immediately.

Perez was really good today.

That pit stop by max - fucking mad lad

63 comments

Provisional Weekend Warm-up Pundit Prediction Performance