2023 Austrian Grand Prix

The **2023 Austrian Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race, which was held on 2 July 2023 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. It was the second Grand Prix weekend of the 2023 season to utilise the sprint format. Both races, which had numerous penalties be given to drivers for track limits.

## Background

The event was held across the weekend of 30 June – 2 July. It was the ninth round of the 2023 Formula 1.5 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.

McLaren worked to bring improvements to the MCL60, which had shown underwhelming performance in earlier races. McLaren was able to prepare half an upgrade package which would be fitted into Norris' car, specifically the sidepods, bodywork, and floor. Teammate Oscar Piastri would receive it at the next race at the British Grand Prix.

### 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 him exhausting his allocation of soft tyres.

### Championship standings before the race

Coming into the weekend, Pierre Gasly led the Drivers' Championship by 3 points from teammate Esteban Ocon with Yuki Tsunoda third, a further 38 points behind. Alpine led the Constructors' Championship, leading McLaren by 92 points and Alfa Romeo by 119 points.

### Entrants

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

### Tyres

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

## Sprint Shootout

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

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 first 20 minutes of sprint shootout. The track, however, remained wet, so drivers were able to run any compound.

## Sprint

The sprint was held on 1 July 2023 at 16:30 local time (UTC+2). The sprint started in damp conditions, with all cars starting on the intermediate-wet tyres.

## Race

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

The race was held under cloudy conditions. 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 did not result in a penalty for either driver and Tsunoda went into the pit lane to replace his wing. Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen reported ERS problems and joined Tsunoda in the pit lane.

Nico Hülkenberg's car started to smoke, retiring with a power unit issue and bringing out a virtual safety car.

A large amount of penalties would be given out during the race, with a majority being due to track limits violations around the final two corners. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. sunoda would later receive a ten-second penalty for further track-limit violations in addition to an investigation for not serving his first penalty correctly (which was resolved in his favour). Alongside Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, and Magnussen all received penalties for track limits. The only two drivers to have been penalised for something other than track limits were Esteban Ocon for unsafe release during his pit-stop, and Nyck de Vries for pushing Magnussen off-track. Further penalties for exceeding track limits would be given after Aston Martin protested the race results, with Ocon receiving a thirty-second penalty overall for this kind of violation (in addition to a 5-second penalty for a different violation which he received during the race).

### 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 during the race, but handed a further twelve penalties for track limits violations following completion of the review process after the case.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Constructors' Championship standings

## External Links

1. ↑  Kevin Magnussen qualified 11th, 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 12th, 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. ↑  Valtteri Bottas qualified 11th, 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.
4. ↑  Includes one point for fastest lap.
5. ↑  Pierre Gasly received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
6. ↑  Alexander Albon received a ten-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
7. ↑  Logan Sargeant received a total of 15-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
8. ↑  Esteban Ocon finished 4th, but he received a total of 30-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
9. ↑  Nyck de Vries finished 7th, 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.
10. ↑  Kevin Magnussen finished 11th, but he received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. He gained a position following Yuki Tsunoda's penalty.
11. ↑  Yuki Tsunoda finished 9th, but he received a total of 15-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.