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Formula 1
Austrian GP
F1 Austrian GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen starts on pole position, fresh from victory in the Austrian sprint race on Saturday. The Dutch driver dominated the sprint after seeing off Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in a heated opening-lap battle.
Verstappen leads the F1 drivers’ standings by 70 points from Perez going into the Austrian GP, with the Mexican facing a tough task starting the grand prix down in 15th place.
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Sainz gets by Hamilton to move up to fourth, diving up the inside at Turn 3 which triggers a drag race to Turn 4, and the Spaniard goes around the outside.
Magnussen is currently leading a great battle pack with Albon, Ocon and Stroll all swarming around behind him.
Much like the sprint yesterday, Verstappen must be wondering what all the fuss is about. He's 16.2s clear of Leclerc in second.
Ocon has reported that Bottas, the driver behind him, has a front wing that could fall off at any moment. Bottas simply can't catch a break this year.
Penalty
The penalties are coming this and fast now, as Tsunoda gets a penalty for track limits. Five seconds, the same as Hamilton.
Sainz has gained a place back on Norris to move up to fifth but is still behind Hamilton on track.
The VSC has been a nightmare for Aston Martin with Stroll in the pitlane as the period ended. He is down to P15 while Alonso dropped to P7.
Penalty
Hamilton has been given a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits too many times.
Neither of the Red Bulls have pitted, so Verstappen still leads and Perez is up to third, but the big loser in that was Sainz who is down to sixth.
Green flag
With minimal warning, we are back and racing!
Pit stop
Next lap around Ferrari double stack Leclerc and Sainz, both slow but steady pitstops, which sees Sainz drop behind Hamilton and Norris!
Safety car
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR: The VSC is required to allow for the recovery of Hulkenberg's Haas.
Pit stop
Hamilton and Norris pit together under the virtual safety car, that'll gain them some useful seconds as Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz were unable to pit.
Tsunoda is now the latest driver to receive a black-and-white warning flag for track limits. The topic is going to be a key one in deciding the result today, it would appear.
Sainz is asking Ferrari to be waved by Leclerc to go after Verstappen but still gets nothing back.
Yellow flag
Yellow flags as Hulkenberg pulls off the track from P19. "I lost power," he reports, as smoke billows from his Haas.
Perez moves up to Albon for P9 and that was a far cleaner move.
"This car's slow man," Hamilton reports over team radio, as Norris is closing in on him.
Showing Perez how the Turn 3 move should have been done, Ocon puts a clean overtake on Hulkenberg.
The Haas driver then pits and drops to P19.
The Haas driver then pits and drops to P19.
Hamilton is now being pinged for track limits and has been shown the black and white flag. Once more and he is in trouble.
Verstappen is doing Verstappen things, opening up his lead to 3.7s at the end of lap 11.
Perez lunges on Russell at Turn 3 for P11 and makes the move stick. It looks like the pair touched. Last year, Russell got a penalty for something incredibly similar. What will race control make of this one?
At the rear of the order, Zhou has pitted for hard tyres. On lap 10 of 71, getting to the end of the race on this set will be extremely difficult.
Sainz is signalling his intention to the Ferrari pitwall to be unleashed into second place to go after Verstappen. Nothing doing just yet.
Perez has stepped up his assault on Russell's Mercedes and is weaving all over the gearbox of his rival.
As often happens at the Red Bull Ring where 35% of the lap is covered by DRS, a train has formed with Hulkenberg the current cork in the bottle.
Do we have an all-Ferrari fight on our hands? Sainz is sticking to the rear wing of Leclerc as they look to push clear of Hamilton who has dropped to 2.1s off the second Ferrari.
Quote
"Track limits again, Hamilton! That's his third time," Norris states over team radio. Nothing has been flagged by race control, yet.
Perez progresses one position past Ocon and into P12. Next up for the Red Bull driver is Russell in the Mercedes. The pair are already 10 seconds off race leader Verstappen.
DRS is now enabled for the first time in the race. Not that Leclerc can do much with it as he's 1.9s off Verstappen.
The FIA stewards has decided that no investigation is needed into the Turn 1 melee. That is likely because Tsunoda, who instigated things, came off worst.
Verstappen is already out of DRS range from Leclerc at the end of the first proper racing lap.
Green flag
Off we go again, Verstappen nails the restart before the final two corners and he's away. No other early movers from the frontrunners.
Verstappen will look to defend from the two Ferraris once again, but this time he can control the restart once the safety car peels away. Mercedes will be delighted Hamilton has cleared Norris early in its bid to pressure the Ferraris.
Crash
The debris appears to have come from Tsunoda's AlphaTauri, with replays showing he bounced across the Turn 1 kerb and into the side of Ocon's Alpine.
The safety car has been instructed to lead the field through the pitlane as debris is being cleared from the chaos of Turn 1.
Tsunoda has a new front wing fitted and rejoins the track as Magnussen pits with an ERS problem. New tyres are fitted and he goes again.
Safety car
At Turn 4, Tsunoda takes a trip across the gravel. He reports having damage and pits.
The safety car has been deployed.
The safety car has been deployed.
Green flag
Verstappen makes the perfect getaway to retain the lead ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, while Hamilton is up to fourth ahead of Norris.
Stroll makes a bold move up the inside of the front runners into the first corner but fails and loses ground, dropping to P8.
By: Autosport Staff
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