2023 Austrian Grand Prix

## Lap Leaders

The **2023 Austrian Grand Prix** (officially known as the **Formula 1 Rolex Großer Preis von Österreich 2023**) was the ninth race of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, held at Red Bull Ring on the weekend of June 30 to July 2, 2023.

## Background

The event was held across the weekend of 30 June – 2 July. It was the ninth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, and the 36th running of the Austrian Grand Prix in a World Championship season. The weekend was the second of six in the season to follow the sprint format.

### Regulation change about tyre usage for sprint shootouts

The tyre rules for sprint shootout were modified, enabling drivers and teams who made it through to SQ3 (the third segment of sprint shooutout) to use any set of soft tyre, whereas they were previously required to use new soft tyres. The change was made after Lando Norris could not run in SQ3 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, due to exhausting his allocation of soft tyres.

### Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen leads the World Drivers' Championship with 195 points, 69 points from his teammate Sergio Pérez, second, and 78 from Fernando Alonso in third. Red Bull Racing, with 321 points, lead the Constructors' Championship from Mercedes by 153 points and Aston Martin by 167 points.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

## Qualifying

### Qualifying Report

Qualifying was held on 30 June 2023 at 17:00 local time (UTC+2).

Throughout the session, multiple drivers, including polesitter Max Verstappen, exceeded track limits; this resulted in Sergio Pérez being unable to make Q3 for the fourth time in a row this season since Monaco.

The first session was red-flagged as Valtteri Bottas spun out at turn one; by this point, Max Verstappen topped the session, with Kevin Magnussen second before the red flag; the former had his best lap time deleted due to a track limits violation; in addition, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu and Lewis Hamilton all commited track limits violations as well. Verstappen set the fastest time once again as Yuki Tsunoda, teammate Nyck de Vries, Zhou, Logan Sargeant, and Magnussen were all eliminated following Q1.

As Verstappen started his Q2 lap, he fell exceeded track limits once again on turn ten and had his lap time deleted. This allowed Lando Norris to momentarily top the session ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Hamilton. Sergio Pérez commit more track limits violations, denying him a spot in Q3. He joined George Russell, Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri and Bottas eliminated after Q2.
Due to this, Alexander Albon appeared once again in Q3 for the Williams team, going on to qualify tenth. Verstappen took pole once again, with Charles Leclerc and Sainz making a Ferrari front-row start behind Verstappen. Lance Stroll in sixth outqualified teammate Alonso in seventh once again.

## Sprint Shootout

### Sprint Shootout Report

The sprint shootout was held on 1 July 2023 at 12:00 local time (UTC+2).

Much like the qualification the previous day, drivers exceeded track limits again, including Lewis Hamilton, whose session-topping time was deleted, preventing him from progressing the first part of the shoutout. This is the first time Hamilton got knocked following the first segment of a qualification session since the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and the first time he was knocked out following the first segment of the sprint shootout.

The first session began after a patch of rain around the Red Bull Ring earlier in the morning; as such, the track was cloudy, with no rain forecast over the next 20 minutes. The track, however, remained wet, so drivers were able to run any compound; Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen put on the mediums. The Williams cars of Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant put on the intermediate tyres, compared to all other cars on softs. The Williams cars would swap for softs. Zhou Guanyu spun and caused a brief yellow flag.

Carlos Sainz Jr. suffered a failure of his brake-by-wire system, going into the pit lane with smoke from the back of his Ferrari SF-23. Due to this, he was unable to set a lap time for the majority of the first part. His only lap of the session ended up topping the timing sheets.

Verstappen, Zhou, Sergio Pérez, Lewis Hamilton (who initially topped the session), and Sargeant's first times were deleted for track limits violations. Oscar Piastri was blocked by Charles Leclerc, as the latter went back to the pits. The stewards investigated the incident as Leclerc made it through the next session by 0.1 millisecond. Zhou, Piastri, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Sargeant were all knocked out and the end of the first part. Meanwhile, Hamilton's teammate George Russell, having set a time for seventh, reported a hydraulics failure. Nico Hülkenberg was the third-fastest behind the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

The second session started with Russell remaining in the pits due to the hydraulics failure; he did not run the session as his steering rack had to be changed. Meanwhile, de Vries and Verstappen had their lap times deleted due to track limits violations. A replay showed Hülkenberg's car running over a tyre; stewards investigated the unsafe release. Albon, Pierre Gasly, and the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda and De Vries joined Russell all out of the session.

Verstappen took the pole position for the sprint, with Pérez allowing the Red Bulls to start 1–2 with the Ferraris fifth (Sainz) and sixth (Leclerc was penalised and dropped to ninth after he impeded Piastri earlier). Alonso and Stroll were seventh and eighth respectively; Norris was in third, and Hülkenberg fourth.

## Sprint

### Sprint Report

The sprint was held on 1 July 2023 at 16:30 local time (UTC+2).

Sergio Pérez had two near-miss moments between him and teammate Max Verstappen, leading to Pérez running wide at turn 3 on lap 1, losing positions to Hülkenberg and Sainz, and asking about Verstappen’s actions over team radio. Verstappen would remain the leading car for the rest of the sprint.
Nico Hülkenberg ran as high as second place before Pérez passed him without much effort, with Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lance Stroll passing him soon after. Hülkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen, Logan Sargeant, Nyck de Vries, and Zhou Guanyu all boxed for dry tyres. The sprint ended with Verstappen winning comfortably from Pérez as Esteban Ocon and George Russell had a battle going into the final corner, with the former edging out the latter by 0.009 seconds.

## Race

### Race Report

The race was held on 2 July 2023, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2).

Before the race began, a minute of silence was observed to pay tribute to Dutch driver Dilano van 't Hoff, who died at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps during the Formula Regional European Championship round the previous day. The race was held under cloudy conditions.

Max Verstappen had a good start ahead of the Ferraris with Lewis Hamilton battling Lando Norris for fourth. The safety car was called out after Yuki Tsunoda went into the gravel, damaging his front wing after a collision with Esteban Ocon. This incident required no further investigation. He went into the pit lane to replace it. Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen reported ERS problems and joined Tsunoda in the pit lane. The safety car instructed all cars to go through the pit lane as marshals cleaned up the debris on turn one.

On the restart, Verstappen had another good start and built a gap away from Charles Leclerc as teammate Sergio Pérez fought his way through the midfield, passing Ocon and closing up to George Russell, who he eventually passed. Norris, who was behind Hamilton, reported numerous breaches of track limits to his McLaren pitwall. Hamilton, and later Tsunoda, would receive a black and white flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg's car started to smoke, retiring with a power unit issue, bringing out a virtual safety car. Carlos Sainz Jr. made it clear to Ferrari pitwall his intentions to fight Verstappen, though this went unanswered as the team decided to double-stack with Sainz getting a slower stop, dropping him behind Hamilton and Norris, who had exited the pits.

Verstappen would continue to build a large gap until he went into the pit lane for his stop. Leclerc jumped him in the pit lane, allowing him to lead a race for Ferrari for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This time, he kept the lead for nine laps, culminating in a battle between him and Verstappen that he had no answer to as the Red Bull passed him with DRS. Pérez would get up to third as drivers made their stops, and Verstappen, having built up a large gap over the race, won comfortably behind Leclerc, giving Ferrari the 800th podium, and Pérez. He also took the fastest lap from Pérez.

A large amount of penalties would be given out during the race; the first two to get them were Hamilton and Tsunoda, both getting five-second penalties for track limits; Tsunoda got a ten-second penalty for further track limit violations, with an investigation for not serving his penalty correctly. Sainz followed, then Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, and Magnussen. Nyck de Vries also got a penalty, not for track limits, but for pushing Magnussen off-track.

### Post-Race

Aston Martin, who took concern to the numerous penalties being given throughout the weekend, successfully protested the race results. The stewards were unable to review all 1,200 reports to race control during the race, but handed a further twelve penalties for track limits violations following completion of the review process after the case. Esteban Ocon had a record five penalties been given to him in one race.

## Notes

1. ↑ Kevin Magnussen qualified 19th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.
2. ↑ Nyck de Vries qualified 20th, but he was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. He was then required to start the race from the pit lane due to changes to the setup of the suspension and to the rear and beam wings while the car was under parc fermé.
3. ↑ Charles Leclerc received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri in SQ1.
4. ↑ As the sprint shootout was held on a wet track, the 107% rule was not in force.
5. ↑ Valtteri Bottas qualified 19th, but he started the race from the pit lane as he made a pit stop during the formation lap. His place on the grid was left vacant.
6. ↑ Includes one point for fastest lap.
7. ↑ Carlos Sainz finished fourth, but he received a ten-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
8. ↑ Lewis Hamilton finished seventh, but he received a ten-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
9. ↑ Pierre Gasly finished ninth, but he received a ten-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
10. ↑ Alexander Albon received a ten-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
11. ↑ Logan Sargeant received a total of 15-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
12. ↑ Esteban Ocon finished 12th, but he received a total of 30-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
13. ↑ Nyck de Vries finished 15th, but he received a five-second time penalty for forcing Kevin Magnussen off the track. He also received a total of 15-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
14. ↑ Kevin Magnussen finished 19th, but he received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. He gained a position following Yuki Tsunoda's penalty.
15. ↑ Yuki Tsunoda finished 17th, but he received a total of 15-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.