Creating a thread for this weekend's Austrian GP discussions. Redbull certainly are the favorites to win their home GP. I am interested to see if the other teams have been able to close the gap...
Creating a thread for this weekend's Austrian GP discussions.
Redbull certainly are the favorites to win their home GP. I am interested to see if the other teams have been able to close the gap (AM, Merc, and Ferrari) and by how much. Ferrari's pace in Canada was impressive, but this is a different style of circuit, and it will be interesting to see if they build on their improvement from Canada.
As much as I dislike the Sprint format, Red Bull have shown in the past that only having the 1 FP opens up the door slightly for them to not get the setup right thus introducing the slimmest of...
As much as I dislike the Sprint format, Red Bull have shown in the past that only having the 1 FP opens up the door slightly for them to not get the setup right thus introducing the slimmest of possibilities for a potential fight. Fingers crossed this lets the other 3 teams look a bit more competitive this weekend (provided they don't end up in the same boat with messing up the setup). If Ferrari are bringing their upgrades that they just ran at Fiorano that will also make things interesting.
Of course I won't be surprised in the slightest if Max still flies away after lap 1 lol.
I feel bad for Max. As somebody who loves to race, it must be quite boring for him after a few laps when he has nobody in front of him and can't see anybody in his rear mirrors after a few laps.
I feel bad for Max. As somebody who loves to race, it must be quite boring for him after a few laps when he has nobody in front of him and can't see anybody in his rear mirrors after a few laps.
Of course I understand that the reason he's at the front race after race is the combination of a good car, with his ability to be constantly on the margin of what that car is capable of without...
Of course I understand that the reason he's at the front race after race is the combination of a good car, with his ability to be constantly on the margin of what that car is capable of without overstepping it – something all of the F1 drivers are unthinkably good at when compared to racing capacity of the rest of the world... But nowadays it feels almost like his level of enthusiasm after another "easy" win is about the same as mine when leaving the office at the end of the day. "Ok, another productive day at the office where we met the expectations. Well done colleagues – see you tomorrow to do it all again". It's lonely at the top, and the only direction you can move is downwards.
In later years, the legendary 2021 season and the constant battle with Lewis/Merc was where it's at. And I say that even as primarily a Lewis fan – the man who lost in the end.
The leaving office comment is to the point. Lol! You can tell Max is trying hard to be excited about the win on his radio comm, but it comes out at a company CEO just making an announcement about...
The leaving office comment is to the point. Lol!
You can tell Max is trying hard to be excited about the win on his radio comm, but it comes out at a company CEO just making an announcement about the team spirit, blah blah..
The 2021 season was the most entertaining in last few years, and I would love any team to step up and build an equally competitive car as the RB. I hope we don't end up waiting until the 2026 season though.
Qualifying Results Pleasantly surprised with Ferrari's result. Another disappointing qualifying from Checo. An interesting stat I came across earlier is that Hulk had out-qualified Checo 5-4 this...
Pleasantly surprised with Ferrari's result. Another disappointing qualifying from Checo. An interesting stat I came across earlier is that Hulk had out-qualified Checo 5-4 this season. Lol!
The track limits got almost every driver except Charles and maybe one other driver.
If you look closely, Carlos and Charles had a different racing line into the last corner than most other drivers. That's where most of them were going off the track.
Still got a long weekend ahead, but I hope Ferrari can score some solid constructor's points this weekend.
I certainly feel for Checo when it comes to qualifying this year. So many other drivers in much slower cars have out qualified him when he's in a car that has been winning all season. Would be...
I certainly feel for Checo when it comes to qualifying this year. So many other drivers in much slower cars have out qualified him when he's in a car that has been winning all season. Would be interesting to see if Red Bull retain Checo for next year.
Checo had enough pace to ensure he was in track limits. If you know track limits are tight at least set a bit of a banker lap. IMO this qualy performance is worse than any he has lost out on due...
Checo had enough pace to ensure he was in track limits. If you know track limits are tight at least set a bit of a banker lap.
IMO this qualy performance is worse than any he has lost out on due to pace.
Verstappen finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of his teammate is just nuts. I don't mind a dominating driver but it would really benefit the sport if someone could challenge him like Rosberg did...
Verstappen finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of his teammate is just nuts. I don't mind a dominating driver but it would really benefit the sport if someone could challenge him like Rosberg did with Hamilton.
Sprint takeaways: Mercedes is very good at maximizing their weekends regardless of their car. Their strategies play too conservative at time, but pitting Russell when they did was a great gamble...
Sprint takeaways:
Mercedes is very good at maximizing their weekends regardless of their car. Their strategies play too conservative at time, but pitting Russell when they did was a great gamble (props to Russell as well for prompting the gamble)
Heartbreaking for Albon. Drove a great race, did what he could, too bad the rain didn't last long enough to keep his P7.
Haas' tyre deg is out of control. Hulk fought like...well, The Hulk for the first third but even in the rain, when the problem is almost always tyres getting too cold, it looked like his inter tyres in the wet were dead within 10 laps.
LET’S GO FERRARI!!! Seen some calls about how Sainz should’ve gotten team priority at the start, but I think those are unfair. He was only lapping much faster than Leclerc at the start when he had...
LET’S GO FERRARI!!!
Seen some calls about how Sainz should’ve gotten team priority at the start, but I think those are unfair. He was only lapping much faster than Leclerc at the start when he had DRS, had no hope of catching Verstappen, and dropped himself out of contention for team priority with his penalty. He ended up where he would've anyway and put up a valiant defense to likely secure Leclerc a better position that he would've otherwise gotten.
Aston Martin disasterclass, what the hell was happening with their pit strategy?
Mercedes a bit of a disasterclass themselves. If it’s not Aston beating them as a customer team, it’s McLaren. Glad the McLaren upgrades seem to be working, really looking forward to seeing what Piastri can do in a more competitive car.
I agree with the Ferrari assessment. Also Leclerc was on used medium tires at the start of the race. Sainz does look a lot closer to Leclerc than usual. Austria seems a better fit for Ferrari than...
I agree with the Ferrari assessment. Also Leclerc was on used medium tires at the start of the race. Sainz does look a lot closer to Leclerc than usual.
Austria seems a better fit for Ferrari than it is for Mercedes and Aston, and some drivers like Lando and Carlos also seem to like it. I think Silverstone will be much closer between Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston and maybe Alpine and McLaren.
Solid results for Ferrari! Hope Sainz didn’t collect those penalty points, but good to see both Ferraris finishing in points and LEC securing 2nd. That should be a huge confidence boost for him.
Solid results for Ferrari! Hope Sainz didn’t collect those penalty points, but good to see both Ferraris finishing in points and LEC securing 2nd. That should be a huge confidence boost for him.
Austrian GP Final Results (after penalties) https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Austrian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Final%20Race%20Classification.pdf
This new sprint format is confusing, but does seem to make for a more interesting weekend. So Friday we get quali, saturday another tiny quali and the sprint, and then sunday the race? As a...
This new sprint format is confusing, but does seem to make for a more interesting weekend. So Friday we get quali, saturday another tiny quali and the sprint, and then sunday the race? As a non-longtime fan (this is only the second live season I've watched, being brought on by DTS and the 2019 season), I think this is a pretty fun way to do it. I usually don't pay much attention on Fridays, just watching the highlights from FP1/2. I do like to watch the full quali, but I wait until it's finished and then watch it so I can fast forward to the actual Q1/2/3. And then obviously race day.
I wish they'd just flip the grid based on driver's standings and run sprints in that order no quali. Let's see what the slower cars can do given an advantage.
I wish they'd just flip the grid based on driver's standings and run sprints in that order no quali. Let's see what the slower cars can do given an advantage.
That's a fun idea, it is always entertaining to see someone like Leclerc or Sainz have to fight back up to top 5 from like 17th or something. Or to watch Kmag try desperately to hold on to a top 5...
That's a fun idea, it is always entertaining to see someone like Leclerc or Sainz have to fight back up to top 5 from like 17th or something. Or to watch Kmag try desperately to hold on to a top 5 with good defense. The sprint in its current format does end up netting out pretty similarly to the actual race which is less exciting.
It does make for a more interesting weekend, as the drivers and teams have only one FP to work on their setup. I am an old-timer, so I am still not totally sold on this new format. As a spectator...
It does make for a more interesting weekend, as the drivers and teams have only one FP to work on their setup. I am an old-timer, so I am still not totally sold on this new format.
As a spectator on the track, I do agree it adds more entertainment value, but the flip side is that the sport is slowly becoming more of an entertainment and losing its value as a sport.
It appears that there will be more penalties applied post-race. They really need to figure out a better system for penalty application. I almost feel like it would be more efficient just to have...
It appears that there will be more penalties applied post-race. They really need to figure out a better system for penalty application. I almost feel like it would be more efficient just to have 20 dedicated stewards, one each following the onboard of one driver for track limit/penalty time served/safety car deployments/etc.
The document with all the penalties: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Austrian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringements%20-%20Leaving%20the%20track%20multiple%20times.pdf
I'm hoping Williams can capitalise on their previous victory and get some points purely on pace. If Sargeant is able to stick close to Albon, the first few turns will be good for Williams in terms...
I'm hoping Williams can capitalise on their previous victory and get some points purely on pace. If Sargeant is able to stick close to Albon, the first few turns will be good for Williams in terms of defence. It's going to be rough around the second sector and the very last corner before the main straight, but I can see something working out.
This is one of the only tracks of the year that makes me feel better as an amateur sim racer. The track’s so short and has so few corners that the tough bits are easy to keep track of. I go off...
This is one of the only tracks of the year that makes me feel better as an amateur sim racer. The track’s so short and has so few corners that the tough bits are easy to keep track of. I go off and spin out just like they do on TV.
Creating a thread for this weekend's Austrian GP discussions.
Redbull certainly are the favorites to win their home GP. I am interested to see if the other teams have been able to close the gap (AM, Merc, and Ferrari) and by how much. Ferrari's pace in Canada was impressive, but this is a different style of circuit, and it will be interesting to see if they build on their improvement from Canada.
As much as I dislike the Sprint format, Red Bull have shown in the past that only having the 1 FP opens up the door slightly for them to not get the setup right thus introducing the slimmest of possibilities for a potential fight. Fingers crossed this lets the other 3 teams look a bit more competitive this weekend (provided they don't end up in the same boat with messing up the setup). If Ferrari are bringing their upgrades that they just ran at Fiorano that will also make things interesting.
Of course I won't be surprised in the slightest if Max still flies away after lap 1 lol.
I feel bad for Max. As somebody who loves to race, it must be quite boring for him after a few laps when he has nobody in front of him and can't see anybody in his rear mirrors after a few laps.
Of course I understand that the reason he's at the front race after race is the combination of a good car, with his ability to be constantly on the margin of what that car is capable of without overstepping it – something all of the F1 drivers are unthinkably good at when compared to racing capacity of the rest of the world... But nowadays it feels almost like his level of enthusiasm after another "easy" win is about the same as mine when leaving the office at the end of the day. "Ok, another productive day at the office where we met the expectations. Well done colleagues – see you tomorrow to do it all again". It's lonely at the top, and the only direction you can move is downwards.
In later years, the legendary 2021 season and the constant battle with Lewis/Merc was where it's at. And I say that even as primarily a Lewis fan – the man who lost in the end.
The leaving office comment is to the point. Lol!
You can tell Max is trying hard to be excited about the win on his radio comm, but it comes out at a company CEO just making an announcement about the team spirit, blah blah..
The 2021 season was the most entertaining in last few years, and I would love any team to step up and build an equally competitive car as the RB. I hope we don't end up waiting until the 2026 season though.
Maybe the Spanish gp without chicanes is a good indication of pace at the red bull ring? AM might get a tough weekend.
I'm hoping that the rainy forecast stays the same for the weekend. So far, it's been the best chance we have for a mixed up grid.
Qualifying Results
Pleasantly surprised with Ferrari's result. Another disappointing qualifying from Checo. An interesting stat I came across earlier is that Hulk had out-qualified Checo 5-4 this season. Lol!
The track limits got almost every driver except Charles and maybe one other driver.
If you look closely, Carlos and Charles had a different racing line into the last corner than most other drivers. That's where most of them were going off the track.
Still got a long weekend ahead, but I hope Ferrari can score some solid constructor's points this weekend.
I don’t see Norris holding up Hamilton or Alonso. But here’s hoping he can keep it clean this race. Norris is due a good result.
I certainly feel for Checo when it comes to qualifying this year. So many other drivers in much slower cars have out qualified him when he's in a car that has been winning all season. Would be interesting to see if Red Bull retain Checo for next year.
Checo had enough pace to ensure he was in track limits. If you know track limits are tight at least set a bit of a banker lap.
IMO this qualy performance is worse than any he has lost out on due to pace.
Verstappen finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of his teammate is just nuts. I don't mind a dominating driver but it would really benefit the sport if someone could challenge him like Rosberg did with Hamilton.
More than 20 seconds ahead on a short track. He could've been in the zone of lapping him on the right track.
His teammate did start in 15th place, which makes the 20 second difference a bit more understandable. Verstappen is still insanely fast!
My comment was from the sprint race where they did start 1-2. Though Perez did redeem himself by gong from 15th to 3rd in Sundays race.
Sprint takeaways:
LET’S GO FERRARI!!!
Seen some calls about how Sainz should’ve gotten team priority at the start, but I think those are unfair. He was only lapping much faster than Leclerc at the start when he had DRS, had no hope of catching Verstappen, and dropped himself out of contention for team priority with his penalty. He ended up where he would've anyway and put up a valiant defense to likely secure Leclerc a better position that he would've otherwise gotten.
Aston Martin disasterclass, what the hell was happening with their pit strategy?
Mercedes a bit of a disasterclass themselves. If it’s not Aston beating them as a customer team, it’s McLaren. Glad the McLaren upgrades seem to be working, really looking forward to seeing what Piastri can do in a more competitive car.
I agree with the Ferrari assessment. Also Leclerc was on used medium tires at the start of the race. Sainz does look a lot closer to Leclerc than usual.
Austria seems a better fit for Ferrari than it is for Mercedes and Aston, and some drivers like Lando and Carlos also seem to like it. I think Silverstone will be much closer between Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston and maybe Alpine and McLaren.
Solid results for Ferrari! Hope Sainz didn’t collect those penalty points, but good to see both Ferraris finishing in points and LEC securing 2nd. That should be a huge confidence boost for him.
Austrian GP Final Results (after penalties)
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Austrian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Final%20Race%20Classification.pdf
This new sprint format is confusing, but does seem to make for a more interesting weekend. So Friday we get quali, saturday another tiny quali and the sprint, and then sunday the race? As a non-longtime fan (this is only the second live season I've watched, being brought on by DTS and the 2019 season), I think this is a pretty fun way to do it. I usually don't pay much attention on Fridays, just watching the highlights from FP1/2. I do like to watch the full quali, but I wait until it's finished and then watch it so I can fast forward to the actual Q1/2/3. And then obviously race day.
I wish they'd just flip the grid based on driver's standings and run sprints in that order no quali. Let's see what the slower cars can do given an advantage.
That's a fun idea, it is always entertaining to see someone like Leclerc or Sainz have to fight back up to top 5 from like 17th or something. Or to watch Kmag try desperately to hold on to a top 5 with good defense. The sprint in its current format does end up netting out pretty similarly to the actual race which is less exciting.
It does make for a more interesting weekend, as the drivers and teams have only one FP to work on their setup. I am an old-timer, so I am still not totally sold on this new format.
As a spectator on the track, I do agree it adds more entertainment value, but the flip side is that the sport is slowly becoming more of an entertainment and losing its value as a sport.
It appears that there will be more penalties applied post-race. They really need to figure out a better system for penalty application. I almost feel like it would be more efficient just to have 20 dedicated stewards, one each following the onboard of one driver for track limit/penalty time served/safety car deployments/etc.
The document with all the penalties: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Austrian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringements%20-%20Leaving%20the%20track%20multiple%20times.pdf
Ocon 🤣
I'm hoping Williams can capitalise on their previous victory and get some points purely on pace. If Sargeant is able to stick close to Albon, the first few turns will be good for Williams in terms of defence. It's going to be rough around the second sector and the very last corner before the main straight, but I can see something working out.
This is one of the only tracks of the year that makes me feel better as an amateur sim racer. The track’s so short and has so few corners that the tough bits are easy to keep track of. I go off and spin out just like they do on TV.
Max keeps on being on fire, extremely impressive.
Good action in the rest of the field as well. Lets hope for similar shenanigans for the race.