It seems that cooler heads have prevailed in the wake of the collision between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The collision ended any chance at either driver capturing the victory at Red Bull Ring, and with emotions running high in the media pen after the race, there were concerns that the incident could drive a wedge between the friendly rivals. But now both drivers have had their say at the British Grand Prix, and it truly appears that Norris and Verstappen have turned the page.
Norris gave his views during the FIA Press Conference on Thursday, and speaking with Sky Sports F1 Verstappen shared his thoughts, leading with how quickly he reached out to Norris and how “upset” he was by the entire incident.
“That’s why I already said after the race, there’s no point to discuss it now. Emotions are running high and stuff like that,” began the Red Bull driver.
“I woke up already quite early because I wanted to talk to Lando but he already texted me, in the morning on Monday. I think the day after your emotions are a bit lower. I respected that a lot. And we are great friends. He’s a very nice guy, honestly. And of course I was also really upset and disappointed that we got together because naturally, of course on the track you race each other hard, but as a friend as well, you’re very disappointed that happened.
“But I think also quite quickly, when we were talking, we had the same opinion of we have to race each other hard because that’s what we like to do and that’s what we’ve always done. Not only in F1, even when we used to race together online and stuff like that, that’s what we really enjoyed about each other – battling hard, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
As Norris noted during the FIA Press Conference, Verstappen enjoyed the battle, despite the climactic conclusion that knocked both drivers out of contention at Red Bull Ring. Verstappen even noted how the two have battled both on-track, and in the virtual racing world.
“For me the only thing I cared about is maintaining my relationship with Lando because we are great friends. After the race I said we have to just things cool down because emotions run high. We immediately spoke on Monday and I think we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed our battle,” said Verstappen.
“We both looked at the incident and it was such a silly little touch that had great consequences for both of us, and naturally a little bit more for Lando with how the puncture then evolved,” continued the Red Bull driver. ”We like to race hard. We have done this for many years, not only in Formula 1 even online racing where we had a lot of fun together. These things have to carry on because that’s what we like to do and that’s what we like to do as well.”
Verstappen indicated that he told Norris that the McLaren driver can “trust” Verstappen not to aim to “crash him out” the next time they tangle on the track.
“We agreed with 99 per cent of everything, which I think is quite a lot already. Naturally, I always said to Lando ‘when you go for moves on the outside or inside, you can trust me that I’m not there to crash you out of the way’. Same the other way around, because we spoke about that as well,” said Verstappen.
“Naturally, there’s always a human reaction when someone dives on the inside or outside that you have a reaction to it. But I felt everything I did was nothing massively over the top. Like how you design a car, you try to go to the edge of the rules, maybe find some grey areas here and there. That’s the same with how you race, otherwise you will never be a top driver or succeed in life.”
When Verstappen was asked about the reaction he might receive at Silverstone — a home race for the McLaren driver that is likely to have a very pro-Norris crowd — Verstappen conceded that one thing matters above all, and it is not the reception he will receive this week.
“The only thing that I care about in my life is that I’m getting on well with Lando,” said Verstappen.
While the speculation coming into the week centered on the incident, and how the two parties would move forward, it seems Norris and Verstappen have put this issue to bed.
Now we all wait to see their next battle on the track.
One of the burning questions following the Austrian Grand Prix was whether Max Verstappen and/or Lando Norris would change their racing style following a dramatic late-race collision that ended both drivers’ chances of securing a victory.
According to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, Verstappen will not be changing a thing.
Speaking with Sky Sportsahead of the British Grand Prix the Red Bull boss backed his driver’s approach while noting that future incidents between Norris and Verstappen should be expected given how both drivers are performing at the moment.
“Certainly, from Max’s side, he’s not going to change,” said Horner.
“There’s an element, I think, of Lando learning how to race Max and they’re discovering that. Inevitably, there is going to be more close racing between the two of them as the cars look so close over the forthcoming races.
“Max is a hard racer – he’s probably one of the hardest racers on the circuit and everybody knows that if you’re going to race against Max, he’s going to give as good as he gets.”
Horner also addressed comments made by McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella immediately after the race. Speaking with Sky Sports F1 analyst Ted Kravitz, Stella outlined how the reluctance of race stewards to intervene in the past — such as during the 2021 season when Verstappen was battling with Lewis Hamilton — led to moments like the incident in Austria.
As you might expect, Horner had a different view.
“He raced incredibly hard in 2021, he’s a tough racer, and he hasn’t really been racing anyone for two years because he’s been out front so much,” Horner said.
“The conflict between the two of them has been building over two, three, four races where they’ve been racing each other closely and hard, and at some point that was always going to spill over – and it did at Turn 3,” began Horner. “He was punished in 2021 if he did something wrong just as Lewis, who he was racing so hard that year, was for things he did wrong.
“I think it’s wrong and unfair to label a driver like that and I’m sure in the heat of the moment it was frustrating for Andrea, but that’s just tough racing. He worked with Michael Schumacher [at Ferrari] for so many years – he of all people should know that.”
During his discussion with Sky Sports, Horner also addressed another burning question following the Austrian Grand Prix: Have Norris and Verstappen discussed the incident?
According to the Red Bull boss, that chat has already happened.
“I understand they’ve spoken already, I don’t think there is any issue,” added Horner.
How the two drivers handle similar battles going forward will be a major storyline throughout the rest of the 2024 campaign. But one thing is clear:
The FIA Press Conference schedules for this weekend’s British Grand Prix — which have yet to be announced — could be fascinating.
As the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix drew to a close, the fight was on.
A slow pit stop from Red Bull and Max Verstappen opened the door, and Lando Norris barged through the crack. When the two drivers came down pit lane for their final pit stops Verstappen enjoyed a lead of around seven seconds over his friend and rival, but problems on the left rear tire of Verstappen’s RB20 saw the stop last 6.5 seconds, an eternity in F1 terms.
McLaren answered with a stop of just 2.9 seconds, and as the two race leaders lumbered off of pit lane and back onto the track, Norris was within striking distance of Verstappen.
For over ten laps the two pushed themselves, and each other, to the limits. Norris briefly seized the lead for a moment, but with his overtake coming off the track he quickly surrendered the position back to Verstappen. As the two drivers were fighting on the track, they were taking their battle to the stewards via their teams, with both drivers griping about the conduct from their rival over the radio.
Finally, that simmering pot boiled over.
Norris got a run on Verstappen at the start of Lap 64 and seemed to have the edge heading into Turn 3, but as both drivers made the turn Verstappen looked to fend him off, and the two cars came together:
The result? A puncture for both drivers, and an opportunity for George Russell. The Mercedes driver seized the moment, taking the checkered flag for the second victory of his career, and was celebrating on the podium as both Norris and Verstappen licked their wounds.
Verstappen tumbled down to a fifth-place finish — a result that he maintained despite race stewards handing down a ten-second penalty for ruling that he caused the contact between the two — but Norris saw his race end, a bitter result given what seemed possible just moments prior.
Speaking after the race both drivers addressed the incident.
“I’m disappointed, nothing more than that, honestly,” Norris told Sky Sports F1. “It was a good race. I looked forward to probably I’d say just a fair battle, a strong fair battle. But I wouldn’t say that’s what it was in the end.
“Tough one to take. It was a mistake-free race from my side, and I feel like I did a good job but I got taken out of the race, so nothing more than that,” added Norris. “But it’s still a tough one to take when we’re fighting for the win and I’m trying to be fair from my side and he just wasn’t. That’s not what I’m thinking about. I don’t care about that now. I’m just gutted for the team.”
The McLaren driver also indicated that he expected stewards to intervene in the moments before the climactic collision.
“Yeah. I mean there’s a rule. You’re not allowed to react to the other driver and that’s what he did three times out of three. Two times I managed to avoid it and not lock up and run into him, and the third time he just ran into me,” continued Norris. “I was just trying to drive my race. He was clearly a lot slower at the end. He ruined his own race just as much as he ruined mine. There’s nothing more I can do. I did my best and it was good enough. Got ruined through not my own fault.”
On the other side of the clash the Red Bull driver offered his view of the incident.
“Of course from the outside it’s hard to see when I brake. I know in the past it was a bit of a complaint,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
“Now I always move my wheel before I brake then you brake in a straight line trajectory. It’s always easy to say on the outside that I’m moving under the braking, but I think the guy in the car knows best what he’s doing,” continued Verstappen. “Everyone can have their own opinion but I’m the one driving. I’m in control. Of course, from the outside it’s easy to judge and comment but whatever, it’s what happens.”
Pressed on the incident, Verstappen indicated that he would speak with Norris to discuss the matter. “I need to look back at how or why we touched,” he said. “Of course, we will talk about it. It’s just unfortunate it happened.
“I felt like sometimes he dive-bombed so late on the brakes. One time he went straight. One time I had to go around otherwise we would have touched,” continued Verstappen. “I think it’s also the shape of the corner provides these kind of issues sometimes. I’ve had it also the other way around. It is what it is. It’s never nice to come together.”
The convergence at the front of the F1 grid these past few weeks has foreshadowed a moment like this between the two friends, who have now become rivals at the sharp end of the F1 Drivers’ Championship standings. And in many ways the struggle from Red Bull in the pits that opened the door to this climactic ending in Austria was foreshadowed in Miami by none other than Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur.
Speaking to the media, including SB Nation, in the Ferrari hospitality space in the hours after Lando Norris’ maiden F1 victory Vasseur noted how the increased pressure teams like Ferrari and McLaren were putting on Red Bull could lead to mistakes from the usually mistake-free operation.
“What is true is that compared to one year ago when we are able to do a good job and to put everything together, we are there, it means that we are putting [Red Bull] a little bit under pressure. They have to take to be a bit more aggressive with the strategy,” started Vasseur that Sunday night.
“They are not anymore in the comfort zone of last year when last year that doesn’t matter what’s happened after lap two, they were in front and it’s, I think it’s a game changer in the management of the race,” added Vasseur. “And this, it’s an opportunity for us because that if we are doing another small step, I think that we will be really in a position to fight with them every single weekend.”
Sunday’s slow pit stop from Red Bull, and the ensuing fight between Verstappen and Norris, is exactly what Vasseur was envisioning.
The incident between Norris and Verstappen will certainly be debated in the hours and days to come, but there is no rest for the weary as the grid heads to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix next weekend, the final race of a tripleheader. But what will be critical to watch over those coming hours and days will be how these two drivers respond going forward.
Will Sunday’s incident be just a flashpoint, or yet more foreshadowing of how the rest of the 2024 F1 season will unfold?
Those were the words of Mercedes driver George Russell, as he spoke with his team just moments after taking the checkered flag at the Austrian Grand Prix in stunning fashion. One might be excused for believing there was some bewilderment behind Russell’s comment, given how the race stood just minutes prior. Russell was running in third, behind the climactic fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, but he kept himself in striking distance, giving himself a chance to capitalize if something happened at the front.
Something did happen, a collision between Norris and Verstappen that ended the McLaren driver’s day and saw Verstappen limp back to the pits with a puncture of his own. The door was open for Russell, and the British driver barged through, capturing the second Grand Prix win of his Formula 1 career, and the first for Mercedes this season.
“It was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race,” said Russell to David Coulthard trackside immediately following his stunning victory. “The team has worked so hard, we’ve made so many strides since the start of the season. The last three races have been incredible, and there’s more to come … what an exciting time for us.”
Indeed it is an exciting time for the Silver Arrows. Mercedes struggled out of the gate this season, and arrived in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix just a few short weeks ago languishing in fourth place in the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings.
They were a staggering 180 points behind first-place Red Bull, and 156 points behind Ferrari.
But then came signs of life. The first signs came at the Canadian Grand Prix when Russell captured pole position, and while he could not hold off at the front of the race he secured the team’s first Grand Prix podium of the year with a third-place finish, to go with a second place from Lewis Hamilton in the F1 Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton matched Russell’s P3 with one of his own in Barcelona.
Then came Sunday.
With Russell’s win and a fourth-place finish from Lewis Hamilton — along with their results from Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race — Mercedes banked another 45 points in the standings. Making them the hottest team on the grid over those three race weekends.
Here is what the teams at the top of the grid have done over this period:
Red Bull: 79 McLaren: 84 Ferrari: 39 Mercedes: 100
That has seen Mercedes cut not only into Red Bull’s lead over them, but pull to within 95 points of Ferrari up in second place.
A stunning turnaround for the Silver Arrows.
“Incredible! That’s the only way I can describe it. We had a tough fight in the early stages to make sure we held on to P3. That would prove crucial at the end,” said Norris in the team’s post-race report. “I could see that Max [Verstappen] and Lando [Norris] were having a big battle. We were only just over ten seconds behind the pair of them, which is really encouraging pace-wise.
“I knew there was a possibility that they could come together, even if it was only a slim chance. You have to be there at the end to pick up the pieces and that’s exactly where we were. I am so proud to be back on the top step of the podium.”
“It is a great feeling to get back on to the top step of the podium. It is a fantastic reward for the hard work and efforts of everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. We have taken good steps forward in recent races, and we are excited about what is still to come,” described Team Principal Toto Wolff. “We knew our outright pace today wouldn’t quite be enough to challenge for victory. We therefore made sure we [maximized] our race and were able to pick up the pieces, should anything happen. We enjoyed some good fortune but that is motor racing.”
On the other side of the garage Hamilton — whose fourth-place finish added another 12 points to that tally for the team — hailed the effort these past few weeks from the entire organization.
“Congratulations to George and the team. Everyone at Brackley and Brixworth really deserves this result,” offered Hamilton. “They have worked so hard to bring performance to the car and we are starting to get us closer and closer to the very front. We put in so much effort so to get a result like this is a well-deserved reward for everyone’s efforts.”
The grid now shifts home for Mercedes, for next weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. While the fight at the front — and the collision between Norris and Verstappen that opened the door for Russell in the first place — will likely dominate the headlines the surge from Mercedes is absolutely worthy of note.
A year ago it was McLaren who pulled off a surge of their own, rocketing up the Constructors’ Championship to ultimately finish fourth. Their turnaround showed its first signs of life in Austria, where Russell just captured Mercedes’ first win of the season.
The Silver Arrows showed their own signs of a turnaround a few weeks earlier than that. So it might be fair to ask: Just how high can Mercedes climb this year?
Daniel Ricciardo’s millions of fans might want him to keep making predictions.
A year ago at the Mexico City Grand Prix the Formula 1 driver declared that his car had top ten potential after the first two practice sessions. Ricciardo proved that over the next two days, qualifying fourth for the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix and then finishing seventh in the main event. It was Ricciardo’s best result after his shocking mid-season return to the grid, and went a long way towards him keeping that seat for the 2024 campaign.
On Saturday at Red Bull Ring Ricciardo just missed out on Q3, finishing 0.015 seconds behind tenth-place finisher Esteban Ocon. That saw Ricciardo’s qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix end in Q2, but the Australian driver remained as optimistic as ever, offering another slight prediction following qualifying.
“Of course, it’s frustrating to miss out on Q3 by just a few milliseconds this afternoon, but at the same time, it’s a more positive one as I think we made some progress since yesterday and it’s something we have to be proud of,” said Ricciardo in Visa Cash App RB F1 Team’s post-qualifying report Saturday. “I think we still need to find something a little bit extra for tomorrow but today’s qualifying put us in a much better position for the race. It’s going to be a longer one with pit stops and [tire] differences, so there’s no reason to believe we can’t be a top ten car tomorrow.”
On Sunday, Ricciardo proved himself right.
Ricciardo started his 250th-career F1 race in P11, but moved up into the top ten, running a clean race to secure P9 and add two massive points to his account on the year. The team used an early pit stop, allowing Ricciardo to undercut some of his competitors on the track, particularly the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
Following the race, the driver talked about the “step forward” on his side of the garage.
“It was a tough race and I think we were a bit more on the [defense], so it took a lot of concentration and effort,” said Ricciardo in the team’s post-race report. “I had a good start on the outside and was looking good, but then I lost a couple of positions as there was no more room and I had to go wide.
“Once we settled after the start of the race, I think we did well; the team did a good job with the strategy to secure the position over the Alpines, and then I feel like I drove a good defence against Fernando [Alonso] and then Pierre [Gasly] in the last stint. We made a nice step from Barcelona, and it’s been a better weekend, so I’m happy to bring home some points. Now we’ll try to make another good step forward for Silverstone and then maybe that puts us in another fight for points.”
The finish comes at a time the Australian driver badly needed a result like this finish. The week of the Australian Grand Prix began with renewed questions about Ricciardo’s future in the sport. Between Dr. Helmut Marko outlining how Red Bull shareholders might want to see a younger driver in the seat — cue the camera pan to Liam Lawson — and noted F1 journalist Joe Saward speculating that Lawson might be in the seat before summer gives way to autumn, to say Ricciardo was under pressure would be an understatement.
The VCARB driver noted that pressure on Thursday, outlining how his “performance” and not his trademark smile would be the reason he kept his seat on the grid.
Sunday, following yet another prediction from him, Ricciardo delivered the kind of performance he needed.
At the start of the Spanish Grand Prix last week a fight at the front of the field between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris off the start opened the door for George Russell to sweep into the lead. However, as you know by now Verstappen eventually wound his way by Russell, holding off Norris down the stretch to capture the Spanish Grand Prix.
Something similar played out at Red Bull Ring on Sunday, but with a much different result.
For around 50 laps of the Austrian Grand Prix it seemed as if Max Verstappen was going to run away from the field, as the Red Bull driver had built a commanding lead over Lando Norris and the rest of the field. The feeling that the other ten teams, the other 19 drivers, and perhaps the overwhelming majority of fans watching around the world was one of dread, at the sight – and potential – that Verstappen was going to run away not just on this day, but over the rest of the days this season.
However, moments later the door opened, just a crack, and the fight was on.
A slow pit stop from Verstappen and Red Bull on Lap 51 – coupled with a much quicker stop from Norris and McLaren – opened that door. Red Bull struggled with the left rear tire on Verstappen’s RB20, leading to a pit stop of 6.5 seconds for Red Bull. McLaren bested that with a 2.9-second stop for Norris, and the two lumbered off pit lane with Norris nipping at Verstappen’s heels.
For over ten laps the two friends-turned-rivals battled it out pushing their machines, each other, and themselves to the absolute limits. At one point Norris got by Verstappen, but the overtake came off the track and the McLaren driver immediately gave the position back. Both drivers were all over the track – and their radio – griping to their teams and airing their frustrations as they pushed their machines to the limit.
Then, on 63, the simmering pot that was this fight between friends boiled over.
On Lap 63 the fight was renewed, and it ended poorly for both drivers. The two drivers came alongside each other and contact was made, with a disastrous result for both. Norris and Verstappen both limped back to the pits with punctures, bringing out the safety car and seeing another driver sweep into the lead.
George Russell.
As the laps ticked down Wolff looked on with a shy smile, seeing the silver and black W15 of Russell’s wind around the track. Oscar Piastri was more than two second behind, and Russell just needed to bring his W15 home to deliver his second-career victory.
He did just that.
“It’s not over, until it’s over,” declared Russell on the radio to his team after taking the checkered flag. “We wouldn’t have thought this in Bahrain. Well done.”
Starting at the Miami Grand Prix, Mercedes began a series of upgrades to the W15, their challenger for the 2024 season. Those upgrades have seen the team improve their performance in recent weeks, marked by their first grand prix podiums of the year. The first came from Russell in Montreal, and the second from Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona. But those were P3 finishes.
This is a win, the first for the team since Russell won in Brazil back in 2022.
“It was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race,” said Russell to David Coulthard trackside. “The team has worked so hard, we’ve made so many strides since the start of the season. The last three races have been incredible, and there’s more to come … what an exciting time for us.”
Much will be said and written in the coming days about the fight between Norris and Verstappen, and whether these friends will see their relationship start to change given the fight at the sharp end of the grid. But on this day a winner emerged, and it was Russell, who fought to the very end and delivered a victory that Mercedes badly needed. A win that not only helps their standing in the Constructors’ Championship but also rewards the hours upon hours of work that the team has put in to solve the issues with the W15. At the Miami Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton described the car at that point in the season to the media, including SB Nation, as being on a “knife’s edge.”
That edge is something very different right now.
And it might be enough to get Mercedes to the sharp end of the grid too.
At the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix last Formula 1 season, track limits were a massive part of the story. Lap times being deleted for the violation dominated the entire race weekend and even led to an official protest from Aston Martin, who argued that race officials failed to catch every instance of the violation.
Race promoters at the Red Bull Ring took steps to mitigate the issue ahead of this year’s Austrian Grand Prix, installing gravel traps around Turns 9 and 10 to try and dissuade drivers from running wide at those sections of the track, and even adding another feature: An artificial intelligence system to monitor cars as they rocket around the track. Fans watching this weekend might have seen a new pale blue line around the circuit, installed to help the AI system catch violations.
Despite the best efforts of the race officials in Austria, we still have a track limits issue to discuss, and potentially a protest from a team regarding them for the second-straight season.
In the closing stages of Q3, it appeared Oscar Piastri was set for a third-place start in Saturday’s Austrian Grand Prix, as a strong lap had him up in P3 as the seconds ticked down. But within moments, Piastri was dropped down to seventh, as his impressive lap was deleted for you guessed it, exceeding track limits.
You can see the moment in question here:
Speaking with Sky Sports F1following the session, Piastri vented his frustration.
“For me it’s embarrassing,” began the Australian driver. “We did all of this work for track limits, put gravel in places, and I didn’t even go off the track. I stayed on the track. It was probably my best Turn Six and it gets deleted. I don’t know why they’ve spent hundreds of thousands trying to change the last two corners when you still have corners you can go off.
“That was probably the best Turn Six I took. I was right to the limit of the track, I think that’s what everyone wants to see,” continued Piastri. “Again, we have spent so much effort trying to get rid of these problems. There is no reason this corner should be an issue for track limits, especially when you stay on the track, like I did, or not on the gravel.
“So, yeah, for me being the only one that has had that happen to me I’m probably more vocal about it right now but I think it’s embarrassing that you see us pushing right to the limit of what we can do and one [centimeter] more I’m in the gravel and completing ruin my lap anyway – and it gets deleted.”
Piastri, however, seemed resigned to his fate. “But, anyway, everyone else kept it in the track, I didn’t,” concluded the McLaren driver. “That’s how it goes.”
Yet, his team may not concur with that bit of resignation. Following the session McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella was spotted headed to speak with FIA officials regarding the decision:
Andrea Stella has gone to the FIA to understand more about Oscar Piastri’s track limits time deletion – doesn’t appear to be convinced #F1#AustrianGP
A “horrified” Yuki Tsunoda has issued an apology after race officials fined the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team driver €40,000 for using ableist language during Saturday’s qualifying session at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Tsunoda was summoned to meet with race officials following the qualifying session, after an exchange with race engineer Mattia Spini during the first segment of qualifying. As Tsunoda was waiting in his RB01 as cars queued up during Q1 Tsunoda exclaimed over his team radio “[t]he guys are f——— r———-,” to which Spini replied simply “Yuki no worries, don’t worry, plenty of time.”
When Tsunoda met with race officials, he apologized for the comment and explained that because English is not his first language, he was not fully aware of the meaning of his comments. According to the decision from race officials the statement violated Article 12.2.1 k) of the International Sporting Code in the following manner:
“[d]uring the hearing the driver was very apologetic and explained that because English is not his first language he was unaware until after the session what the meaning of the words used is in the English language. He said that he was horrified when he learned this. He contended that his understanding of the words was different, but acknowledged that this should not be considered as an excuse for what he did.”
In their decision race officials noted that while they appreciate Tsunoda’s “honesty,” a penalty is appropriate to “reinforce the fact that the words used are offensive and wholly inappropriate.”
“The Stewards appreciate the honesty of the driver, but reinforce the fact the words used are offensive and wholly inappropriate. To have used such words over a platform that is available to the public amounted to misconduct as defined in Article 20 of the International Sporting Code,” read the decision.
However, officials took Tsunoda’s “genuine remorse” into consideration and suspended part of the fine. “Considering the circumstances, the Stewards determine that a severe fine is required, but also take into account the genuine remorse of the driver and his offer to issue a public apology and for these reasons decided to suspend part of the fine imposed,” continued the stewards.
Under this part of the decision half of the fine — €20,000 —- will be suspended until the end of the season providing Tsunoda does not repeat such conduct.
As indicated by the officials, the driver issued a public apology on all his social media channels:
Hello, I wanted to say big apologies what I said in the radio today. Obviously I didn’t use it intentionally and was completely misunderstanding from myself that exact meaning of it. I now have better understanding for what the word means and am very apologetic for what I said.…
A year ago at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo made a prediction that might have seen Joe Namath smile.
Is the Australian driver about to deliver a repeat performance at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix?
Following the Friday practice sessions at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix Ricciardo emphatically declared that he had a “top ten” car heading into qualifying. Ricciardo finished sixth on the timing sheets in practice in Mexico City, ahead of Lewis Hamilton for example, and believed he was primed for a strong performance.
He delivered that performance on Saturday in Mexico City, putting his AlphaTauri on the second row alongside former Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. Ricciardo finished the job the next day with a seventh-place finish, which was his best result following his shocking mid-season return to the grid.
Speaking Saturday at Red Bull Ring in the aftermath of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, Ricciardo made a similar statement.
“We knew that it would have been hard to get into the points in the Sprint, but it was important to race and learn for tomorrow,” said Ricciardo in Visa Cash App RB F1 Team’s post-qualifying report. “There are some positives from the battles we had this morning and the way the car responded was not too bad.
“Of course, it’s frustrating to miss out on Q3 by just a few milliseconds this afternoon, but at the same time, it’s a more positive one as I think we made some progress since yesterday and it’s something we have to be proud of. I think we still need to find something a little bit extra for tomorrow but today’s qualifying put us in a much better position for the race. It’s going to be a longer one with pit stops and [tire] differences, so there’s no reason to believe we can’t be a top ten car tomorrow.”
As noted by the driver while he did not advance into Q3, he missed out on the final spot in the third segment of qualifying by just 0.015 seconds, as Esteban Ocon snatched P10 from Ricciardo’s grasp.
Still, the Australian driver remains confident.
That confidence and optimism comes as Ricciardo faces renewed speculation about his future at the team. The driver acknowledged those questions earlier in the week, noting that his “performance” — not his trademark “smile” — will determine his fate.
Backing up his confidence tomorrow will bolster his case.
Early in the second segment of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, the field was condensed at the front, with not much separating the drivers atop the timing sheets. To that point, the first segment of qualifying was the closest-ever Q1 since the sport implemented the three-segment qualifying format, a testament to just how compact the grid is this season.
Then Red Bull bolted on a fresh set of soft tires onto Max Verstappen’s RB20, and the three-time Drivers’ Champion posted a blistering lap that was almost five-tenths clear of the rest of the field, which remained condensed behind him.
While Lando Norris and company closed that gap in Q3 Verstappen delivered again in the final segment of qualifying, holding Norris off by over four-tenths of a second. Verstappen’s final run of the day was a stunning 1:04.314, another thunderous effort from the champion.
Formula 1 in 2024 has certainly seen the field more compact than ever, but one driver remains at the tip of the spear, and that is Verstappen. The Red Bull driver, hours after securing victory in the F1 Sprint Race despite challenges from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, captured yet another pole position, setting himself up for another massive day on Sunday.
“No one is near Max Verstappen,” declared Alex Jacques on F1TV. “That was a masterclass.”
“The car felt a lot better for me today,” said Verstappen to Jolyon Palmer trackside after the session. “It’s a great feeling, I think this is a great statement.”
Here are the full results from qualifying, along with some more winners and losers.
Winner: Lando Norris
Lando Norris has answered a bell of his own so far this weekend. The McLaren driver arrived in Austria under the weather and has been battling himself in the cockpit all week long.
Still, he put himself on the front row for the F1 Sprint Race on Friday, and will again start alongside Verstappen in Sunday’s main event.
However, starting alongside Verstappen, while notable, does not finish the job. The real challenge that Norris faces is translating one of these starts next to Verstappen into something bigger.
His second F1 Grand Prix victory.
“Max was a league of his own,” said Norris to Palmer trackside. But can he catch Verstappen tomorrow?
“It’s tough, when you look at the pace it’s clear that we’re gonna have to give it a lot,” added Norris. “I’ll do a better job than this morning, that’s for sure.”
Norris has been brutally honest regarding his performances in recent weeks. He blamed himself for failing to pull out a win at the Spanish Grand Prix despite wrestling pole position away from Verstappen at the death. After Saturday’s F1 Sprint race, he referred to himself as an “amateur” when discussing an early-lap fight with Verstappen that opened the door for teammate Oscar Piastri to snatch P2 away from him. The young driver is his own biggest critic, an admirable quality in this sport.
Having answered one bell already this week, fending off his illness to put in some solid performances, Norris can massively answer another bell tomorrow if he can find a way to keep Verstappen in sight and deliver his second Grand Prix victory.
Losers: Aston Martin
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
At this point, it might be fair to ask what is wrong at Aston Martin.
To that point, that is exactly what Jolyon Palmer queried from the F1TV commentary box: “What on earth is going on with that team?” asked Palmer at the end of Q1.
While they were the darlings of the early 2023 F1 season, their fortunes have changed since then. While they arrived sitting sixth in the Constructors’ Championship and were just a few weeks removed from their best result of the season, which saw them bank 14 points at the Canadian Grand Prix thanks to double points from Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, they finished with anything to show for their efforts in Barcelona, and look on track for something similar this weekend.
Both Alonso and Stroll were eliminated in SQ2 on Friday, and they finished outside the points in the F1 Sprint Race earlier in the day.
Qualifying for the Grand Prix was not much better.
Stroll was eliminated in Q1, placing 17th. Alonso squeaked into Q2, placing the 15th-fastest time in Q1, but his day ended there, as he will start the Austrian Grand Prix in 15th.
In the studio on F1TV Alex Brundle outlined how both Stroll and Alonso were dealing with balance issues on the AMR24. “You can see it really plowing through the middle of the corner,” described Brundle as he talked over replays from Q1 and Q2. “Nasty balance.”
It is fair to point out that during Friday’s FIA Press Conference team boss Mike Krack outlined how tracks such as Barcelona and Red Bull Ring might not suit the AMR24 given its current performance.
“We knew that Barcelona, Spielberg, Silverstone will be hard for us because we struggle in tracks where you have a large spread of corners and also where you have a lot of high-speed corners,” said Krack on Friday. “So it was not a surprise. We raced the same car two weeks before in Montréal, where we came away with the highest points score that we had this year. So it shows you how the situations can change quickly. And also, I think in Montréal, you then run in free air, which helps everything. And in Barcelona, you’re not. We had a lot of degradation in Barcelona and then things get just worse and worse and worse over the course and there’s not much you can do other than bring it home. and that is what we did.”
However, track layout is one thing, and many teams face the occasional track or two that do not suit their challenger. But the bigger question for Aston Martin at the moment is the lack of development. That was an issue for the team last year, as they followed their tremendous start with some mid-season development struggles.
Heading into 2024 the word from the team was that they needed to do a better job of upgrading their challenger throughout the campaign. “We’ve seen, particularly last season, but also the season before, the in-season development races is absolutely fierce, and we want to be as competitive in that as we have been going into the new season,” said Technical Director Dan Fallows at the launch of the AMR24. “So that’s what we’ve been really focussed on is to make sure that we’ve got a good, stable basis for us to go and develop the car and keep those updates coming and keep the performance coming.”
But the upgrades to date have not delivered in this department, as Krack admitted on Friday.
“I think you’re right,” said Krack when asked if the in-season development has stalled as it did a year ago. “I would not say stalled, but I think clearly others do a better job than we do, and that is something that we have to seriously put under scrutiny. There is never one thing in Formula 1, obviously.
“You always have several factors contributing, but I think we have to have a close look at aerodynamics because this is performance differentiator number one in F1 and also how we do how we do these things. So that’s something that is clearly being analysed thoroughly not only now over the last month and I think we have understood some of our issues and trying to solve them as quick as possible. But we still have a long way ahead.”
That long way ahead seems even longer today.
Winner: George Russell
The summer of progress continues at Mercedes.
For the third race weekend in a row, the Brackley-based team put a car into the top three of a Saturday qualifying session. George Russell started that streak with his stunning pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix, which Lewis Hamilton extended with his P3 in qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Russell continued that on Saturday, capturing P3 after Oscar Piastri’s best lap was deleted for exceeding track limits by the slightest of margins.
In this sport, every margin matters.
Now Mercedes has a chance to extend another streak, as the Silver Arrows have secured 27 points or more in each of the past two race weekends. Mercedes banked 28 points at the Canadian Grand Prix and added 27 more in Barcelona. They enter Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix having already added eight points to their account, thanks to Russell’s P4 and Hamilton’s P6 in the F1 Sprint Race.
That puts them on a path to keep that streak alive tomorrow in the main event.
“The car’s feeling really great at the moment,” said Russell trackside. “It’s definitely going in the right direction for us.
“Three races in a row for us that we’re in the top three,” added the Mercedes driver.
While Russell conceded that Mercedes’ race is likely with the cars behind him, such as the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc, as well as a lurking Piastri, the team has certainly made progress over these past few weeks.
That progress has translated into podiums, and with a little luck, it could start translating into something more for Mercedes.
Perhaps even a win.
Losers: Williams
“We know our limitations and these conditions isn’t it. Such a shame, man.”
That was the report from Logan Sargeant following the end of Q1, which saw both Sargeant and teammate Alexander Albon eliminated at the back of the field.
Williams arrived at Red Bull Ring hopeful that the layout would provide fertile ground for improved performance. But that hope has yet to materialize, as their struggles on Friday continued into Saturday. Both Albon and Sargeant — who out-qualified Albon for the first time in his F1 career when he advanced into SQ2 on Friday — were eliminated in Q1, and that left both drivers seeking answers.
However, those answers might not arrive in time for Williams to salvage anything this weekend.
Winner: Nico Hülkenberg
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
The last points result for Haas came in the F1 Sprint Race at the Miami Grand Prix. On that hot and humid Saturday afternoon Nico Hülkenberg came across the line seventh, adding a pair of points to the team’s account.
Since then Haas has been kept out of the points, and in that time they have seen Alpine leapfrog them in the Constructors’ Championship standings, thanks to a pair of double-points finishes from Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly over the last two race weekends.
This is a team that badly needed a positive result to answer that challenge, and they took a big step towards that result on Saturday. Both Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen advanced to Q2 in Saturday’s session, and while the Danish driver saw his session end there Hülkenberg advanced into Q3, and qualified ninth, matching his previous best this season.
While there is still work to be done, this is a result that the driver, and the team, truly needed.
Incomplete: Sergio Pérez
Sergio Pérez advanced into Q3 and qualified eighth for the Austrian Grand Prix, setting himself up for a solid day of points in Sunday’s main event.
But the Red Bull driver might face more questions than answers right now.
Pérez entered the 2024 F1 season facing questions about his future at Red Bull. With his contract due to expire at the end of the current campaign, Pérez came out firing on all cylinders to start the year, scoring podium finishes in four of the first five race weekends. At the Miami Grand Prix Pérez added another 18 points to his account over the F1 Sprint Race and the Miami Grand Prix itself.
It has been a much different story since then.
The Mexican driver has added just nine points to his account since Miami, and that includes the point he added earlier this morning with an eighth-place finish in the F1 Sprint Race at Red Bull Ring. His eighth-place result in qualifying today matches his best qualifying performance over this difficult stretch, which has also seen Pérez in Q1 twice (Monaco and Canada) and Q2 once, at Imola.
A year ago Pérez endured a similar mid-season swoon, one that effectively ended any thought of him challenging Verstappen atop the Drivers’ Championship standings. However, this mid-season swoon comes in a year where, as noted above, the field has caught the rear wing of Red Bull. Last year the Bulls were able to easily overcome the rest of the field and cruise to a second-straight Constructors’ Championship, even with Pérez’s mid-year struggles.
Could 2024 be a different story?
Improved form from Pérez might end that story, and see Red Bull again pull away from the field in the Constructors’ Championship. But the longer he continues this inconsistent form, the more that door remains open for a team like Ferrari or McLaren to barge through.
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