Red Bull head home for 2023 F1 Austrian Grand Prix
29th June 2023After another gruelling flight across the Atlantic Ocean, F1 returns this weekend for the 10th round of the 2023 campaign, at the Austrian Red Bull Ring to reignite the European leg of the season.
The defending world champion, and Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen stands on top of the current championship standings with 195 points as teammate, Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso round out the top three respectively.
In turn, the constructor’s championship has Red Bull on top with an impressive 321 points, after 10 rounds, while Mercedes and Aston Martin occupy second and third respectively.
The trip to Austria will also be a sad one for the defending world champions. Their visit to the venue will be the first since Red Bull’s co-founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, died in October last year.
F1 Sprint Returns
In F1’s return to the European continent, the sport will embark on yet another sprint race weekend.
The sport has already had one sprint race of the season, in Baku, Azerbaijan, which saw F1 experiment with the Sprint weekend using Saturday as a sole day that revolved around the sprint concept.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc hindered Red Bull’s successive run of poles with the sprint and grand prix pole positions. However, the usual main programme resumed for the Grand Prix as Verstappen finished first ahead of Perez.
In Austria, Friday will consist of the sole practice session of the weekend before the teams and drivers dive into Parc Ferme conditions, and qualifying, later on, to set the grid for Sunday. Saturday will once again be mainly focused around the sprint format with the second qualifying session of the weekend which will set the grid for the Sprint, later on in the day.
Sunday will be reserved, as usual, for the main event: the Grand Prix.
Will rain hamper Red Bull’s momentum?
Red Bull may be dominating both championship tables and there’s no doubt they’d want to honour their late co-founder with a win, but will bad weather ruin the weekend for the Milton Keynes-based team?
Let’s be honest… probably not.
The great equaliser of rain and heavy showers is forecast in the region of Spielberg, Austria. According to the BBC weather report, the region is expected to be battered with thunderstorms on both Friday and Sunday, with heavy showers on Saturday.
While mixed conditions may have evened out the playing field – slightly – in Montreal, Canada, last time out: Verstappen remained ever-dominant. However, the trailing pack were still close to the RB19’s pace as Aston Martin and Mercedes bagged podium finishes, at the hands of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton respectively, while Perez finished in sixth.
On one side of the coin, a bit of rain – and the hand of misfortune – could jeopardise Red Bull’s targets of winning yet another race at the likely hands of Verstappen. On the other side, it could provide an opportunity for the trailing teams to benefit from a – potentially – mixed grid.
The prospect of any team being able to hamper Red Bull’s momentum by putting up a worthy fight is surely a mouth-watering thought
Last time out
In a similar manner to this weekend, the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix held a sprint format within its race weekend.
Sprint:
Trouble started on the formation lap as Alonso was seen on the grid with his tyre blankets wrapped around his Alpine car which he drove for at the time. At the end of the same formation lap, Alfa Romeo’s rookie, Guanyu Zhou suffered problems which forced the Chinese driver into a pit-lane start.
In the early stages of the 23-lap race, Verstappen found himself out in front but he was hounded by the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz who were in second and third respectively.
But this challenge on Verstappen from the Prancing Horse drivers was loosened off as the two Ferrari drivers began to battle each other for track position.
In the end, Verstappen secured victory ahead of Leclerc and Sainz respectively, with Mercedes’ George Russell in fourth place.
Grand Prix:
In the main event, trouble stayed at bay from the grand prix until turn four where Russel made contact with the rear-right tyre of Perez’s RB18 which sent the Mexican off into the gravel. The Mercedes driver was soon slapped with a five-second time penalty for the incident.
On lap 12, the race lead changed hands as Leclerc made a lunge down into turn four to snatch away first place away from Verstappen. The lead changed hands again on lap 27, as Leclerc pitted, leaving Sainz out in front. By the end of the tyre change, Leclerc returned to the circuit behind Verstappen who soon returned to P1 when Sainz pitted.
Just as a 1-2 finish looked to be a real possibility for Ferrari, Sainz retired from the race on lap 57 of 71 as his engine gave way into a blaze of glory. Fortunately, the Spaniard was able to get out of his car okay and unharmed, more than what can be said for his car.
With Sainz out of the picture, Leclerc stormed his way to victory ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton rounded out the podium in third.
That’s all for the article: Red Bull head home for 2023 F1 Austrian Grand Prix!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Verstappen victorious in Canada GP to give Red Bull 100th win
- Tsunoda and Stroll given three-place grid drop for Impeding in Canada GP Qualifying
- Hulkenberg loses Canada front row start with three-place grid penalty
- Sainz slapped with three-place grid drop for Canada GP
- Hulkenberg summoned to stewards for Canada GP red flag infringement
- Hulkenberg joins Verstappen on the front row after wet Canada GP qualifying
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
