Formula 1 Rolex Großer Preis von Österreich 2023Formula 1

[Jimlaad43]

The main bulk of the European season begins at the Red Bull Ring. The short track with 10 official corners (realistically it's 8 at most) produces great racing with triple DRS zones and big braking points which have given us some iconic passes and incidents over the years. This is the second Sprint Weekend of the year with the new sprint format that seemed like an improvement at Baku, until the Baku sprint Saturday happened and it ended up being a waste of time. Will this track give us a better attempt? Can anyone beat Red Bull this season, this time in their back yard? We will only find out at the AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX!

First Grand Prix
1970

Number of Laps
71

Circuit Length
4.318km

Race Distance
306.452 km

Lap Record
1:05.619
Carlos Sainz (2020)​

 

[AshenGraey]

I imagine red bull will be absolutely invincible there with all those long DRS straights.

 

[Veinz]

They will have the softest tires again, not that it will make a difference. Marko is talking up Ferrari like they are a big threat, I have my doubts.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Interested to see how the new McLaren package performs on Landos car. Otherwise I expect a Red Bull white wash, follow by Alonso then the Mercs.

Also, I don't mind the sprint weekends, at a track like this as well which is almost sprint like in nature, it is enjoyable.

We also get 2 doses of qualifying which, can often be, the best part of the F1 weekend. They've also got rid of the stupid soft tyre rule as well so we avoid what happened at Baku.

 

[Veinz]

I kind of like this idea, but it seems pretty hard to regulate.

Hamilton suggests ban on early F1 car development work

www.motorsport.com

 

[MagpieRacer]

I kind of like this idea, but it seems pretty hard to regulate.

Hamilton suggests ban on early F1 car development work

www.motorsport.com

Would be impossible to regulate. Would be impossible to separate developing parts for the current car Vs next season and the team's would lie anyway.

Maybe they should do a draft format, all technical directors/engineers/aerodynamicists get drafted in December in a NFL picks format so they can't start developing until January because they don't know what team they'll be developing for until then 😂.*

*Yes I know it's a stupid idea that would never really work.

 

[-Fred-]

It doesn't mean as much because it's a sprint weekend, but it's the 5th time this season Perez fails to go through Q3...

 

[Liquid]

Perez is definitely on the hook but really, with Max Verstappen in car one it doesn't matter who is in car two. Red Bull fielding a second car is nothing more than a legal obligation.

 

[McLaren]

Well, I guess there’s some pressure on RB this season. In addition to Perez, there’s a report that says Helmut is giving Nyck around 4 races to improve or he may lose his seat; man went P20.

 

[space_wadet]

Hulkenberg made more Q3 appearances than Perez this season

Tsunoda out in Q1, Russell out in Q2, Alonso outqualified by Stroll. A lot of underperforming drivers this quali. That's even before you mention the 47 lap times deleted for track limits.

Edit: More potential trouble for Redbull (not that I don't expect Max to win anyway).

 

[AshenGraey]

Perez showing everyone why he will never be a champion. I know I'm saying that while sitting behind my desk but it just makes no sense when you have such a dominant car and not make it to Q3 for what...4 times in a row now? Meanwhile Max is casually putting a nice bow on that Driver Championship trophy. He started out great but now he is quickly becoming the most disappointing driver for me so far this season.

 

[rsh]

Perez is definitely on the hook but really, with Max Verstappen in car one it doesn't matter who is in car two. Red Bull fielding a second car is nothing more than a legal obligation.

Same car and chassis. Therefor no excuse.

 

[MagpieRacer]

It doesn't mean as much because it's a sprint weekend, but it's the 5th time this season Perez fails to go through Q3...

Why doesn't it mean as much? Today's qualifying is the same as any other qualifying and every driver is in the same boat regarding practice. Still missed Q3 in main qualifying which isn't good enough with that car.

 

[Veinz]

Out early again and all he had to do was keep it in between the lines. No way RBR keep him for 2024 if this keeps happening.

 

[-Fred-]

Why doesn't it mean as much? Today's qualifying is the same as any other qualifying and every driver is in the same boat regarding practice. Still missed Q3 in main qualifying which isn't good enough with that car.

Isn't the actual qualifying based on the results of the sprint like last year or did that somehow change again? He'll probably rocket by most of the field tomorrow anyway.

 

[AshenGraey]

Isn't the actual qualifying based on the results of the sprint like last year or did that somehow change again? He'll probably rocket by most of the field tomorrow anyway.

The sprint no longer impacts the race. The sprint is now a standalone format only happening on Saturday with its own sprint qualifying.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Isn't the actual qualifying based on the results of the sprint like last year or did that somehow change again? He'll probably rocket by most of the field tomorrow anyway.

This year the Friday qualifying sets the grid for the Sunday race. The sprint event is almost it's own entity on a Saturday with its own qualifying.

 

[Liquid]

This year the Friday qualifying sets the grid for the Sunday race. The sprint event is almost it's own entity on a Saturday with its own qualifying.

Thusly proving what a farcical gimmick sprints are.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Thusly proving what a farcical gimmick sprints are.

The whole point of the Sprint Saturday rebrand for this season was to make qualifying better for the sprint, mostly by doing a one-lap only style qualifying, but what we got was a worse version of the Q1 Q2 Q3 that works well. By making quali the same but worse, it makes it even stupider.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Thusly proving what a farcical gimmick sprints are.

I disagree. On the right circuits the sprints are good entertainment.

SQ1 was certainly entertaining.

 

[PaMu1337]

That was an... interesting incident with Hulkenberg in the pits

Edit: ah well, still excellent performance to get P4

 

[PaMu1337]

Bottas is starting on mediums, everyone else on inters.
Edit: can't even keep up on the formation lap 😂

 

[Jimlaad43]

Bottas is starting on mediums, everyone else on inters

Bottas is pitting for Inters lol

 

[Veinz]

Max finishes 21 seconds ahead of Perez after 24 laps, oof.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Well that was an excellent race, brilliant action throughout, lots of wheel to wheel, fantastic.

I actually think it was more entertaining before the DRS as well.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Well, for a completely pointless sprint race the weather at least made that really entertaining.

Still doesn't justify its existence though, would be better for this kind of action tomorrow.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Well, for a completely pointless sprint race the weather at least made that really entertaining.

Still doesn't justify its existence though, would be better for this kind of action tomorrow.

Would the drivers go for it as much with 3x more laps though? Probably not. If it stays mixed conditions we'll find out but I don't think we would get a GP that frantic.

 

[Veinz]

Well, for a completely pointless sprint race the weather at least made that really entertaining.

Still doesn't justify its existence though, would be better for this kind of action tomorrow.

It's a gimmick for people with short attention spans.

 

[MagpieRacer]

It's a gimmick for people with short attention spans.

What a load of rubbish.

 

[Dennisch]

It's a gimmick for people with short attention spans.

Tiktok generation.