As far as racing in Austria goes, this last race was not very exciting. I love Austria because it usually does produce some great racing, but I was a little disappointed.
Since the track is so short, the gaps are usually quite close, and there were a lot of DRS trains. Unfortunately that also meant that everyone from P5 downward was lapped by the time the race was over.
It was a great weekend for Red Bull with Verstappen winning the race and Checo finishing P4. They are still holding the lead in the Constructors Championship, and Max is also still leading the Drivers Championship. They seem to be dominating this year, having won the last four races in a row. If Sergio had pitted one lap early, he also would have been on the podium, but he just lost out P3 to Bottas.
Mercedes are struggling a bit. Toto Wolff said that this is really the first time in eight years that they are struggling to get the pace. They still finished second and third, but they couldn’t reach the Red Bull of Verstappen.
It was an eventful first lap with Pierre Gasly, Nicholas Latifi, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Charles Leclerc. Charles clipped the left rear tyre of Gasly which cause Leclerc to lose half his front wing, and Gasly to get a puncture in his tyre. That puncture cause Gasly to slow, and then run wide on track at turn three and hit Giovinazzi and then Latifi. Gasly was forced to retire, but everyone else carried on racing.
It was a heart breaking race for George Russell, who didn’t finish the race after already coming into the pits twice to try and fix an issue. He started the race in p10, and was up and racing in the top 10 until he was forced to retire. That William’s car actually had the pace this weekend, but then technical issues got in the way. I hope that they fix the issue so that George can really show his skills next week.
It was also a tough race for Daniel Ricciardo, who was up into P8 before he lost power and dropped back down to p13 where he started the race. Unfortunately by the time they resolved the problem, the damage was done and he wasn’t able to make up the places again. It is really hard to be a Ricciardo fan this season because he seems to be struggling with the car. His season has been all over the place, and I honestly don’t know if he is getting a handle on the car or not.
On the other side of that Lando Norris is having a great season. He had another top five finish this week and he is currently sitting fourth in the Drivers Championship. I would like to see Ricciardo getting to this level, because its basically the same car, and Daniel has much more experience.
Ferrari seem to have made up from their French Failure as they finished sixth and seventh. Charles Leclerc had a good recovery drive after dropping to the back of the grid after his shunt with Gasly on lap one. He also received Driver of the Day.
As mentioned, Max Verstappen won the race, followed by Hamilton in second, who also got fastest lap, and Bottas in third. Sergio Perez finished just five tenths behind Bottas in fourth, Lando Norris in fifth, Carlos Sainz in sixth, Charles Leclerc in seventh, Lance Stroll in eighth, Fernando Alonso in ninth, and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top ten.
We are now down to our last race in the triple header, and it will again be in Austria. I hope that this Austrian Race will be a little bit more exciting, and a little bit more like the Austria I love. It will be interesting to see how the fight between Mercedes and Red Bull continues to unfold in the second home race for Red Bull. Will it still be Red Bull’s Ring?
Leave a Reply