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.
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
Newest first
Checkered flag
That was Austria, we hope you enjoyed it. The F1 action continues next weekend with the British GP. Thanks for joining us and have a wonderful rest of your Sunday. Go well!
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, the rest of the field at the start
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The podium trio get busy with the fizzy to toast another dominant display by Verstappen and Red Bull.
The Dutch and Austrian national anthems ring out for the podium presentation, followed by a "Do, do, do, do, Max Verstappen!" from the fans.
Verstappen's lead in the F1 world championship is up to 81 points over Perez, while Red Bull's lead in the constructors' standings is up to 199 over Mercedes.
Breaking news
Here's the report on the Austrian GP: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-austrian-gp-verstappen-overcomes-ferrari-for-dominant-win/10490579/
Quote
Perez on his weekend: "It has been a bit of a rough patch for me so hopefully we are back and we can keep that consistency now."
Quote
Leclerc on second place: "We have maximised what we have, it was just yesterday I was off it a bit. The upgrades have worked as expected but there is still a lot of work to do [to catch Red Bull]."
Quote
Verstappen on his dominant Austrian GP and a possible third F1 title: "I don't like to think about that yet, I am just enjoying driving this car and racing for this team. The sprint weekend can be very stressful so I'm just glad it all went to plan."
Twitter
Sainz has to settle for fourth ahead of Norris - who picks up the driver of the day award - with Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Gasly and Stroll rounding out the points.
Gasly and Stroll pick up points in P9/10 with Albon narrowly missing out.
Leclerc takes second, giving Ferrari its 800th F1 podium, and Perez completes the podium on his charge from 15th place.
It's difficult to know what Mercedes will make of this one - P7 and P8 for Hamilton isn't exactly the kind of result it would have dreamt of.
Checkered flag
Verstappen wins the Austrian GP! It is a perfect weekend as he gets the fastest lap bonus point on the last lap!
Meanwhile Perez is shown the black and white flag for track limits. One more and he'll get a penalty.
Pit stop
Red Bull just showing off now, as Verstappen pits from the lead for a set of softs to go after that fastest lap bonus point. It is a 2.3s stop and he comes out with a 4s lead over Leclerc.
On lap 68, the action at the rear of the field is just as chaotic as ever, with Zhou, de Vries, Bottas, Tsunoda and Piastri all going at it hammer and tong. They are battling for P14.
Verstappen's lead is up to 24s - having won the sprint by 21s yesterday. Three laps to go for the near-perfect weekend for the Dutch driver. He is just missing the fastest lap bonus point which Perez currently holds.
Penalty
It has been a while, Sargeant gets a five-second penalty for track limits. But like buses, Magnussen gets a penalty too, for the same reason.
After registering complaint after complaint and being told to 'just drive', Hamilton is now falling back from Alonso.
With six laps remaining, his 9.9s advantage over Russell means he is safe in P7, however.
With six laps remaining, his 9.9s advantage over Russell means he is safe in P7, however.
Verstappen? Oh yeah. He leads by 22.6s from Leclerc and is probably checking in for his plane home already.
A late move at Turn 4 and Stroll dives past Albon. That proved us wrong there! Into the points with P10 for the Aston Martin driver.
Quote
"The stewards should have a look at that. He was intimidating me a lot," Sainz says over team radio about that battle with Perez. It was fierce but largely fair in our eyes.
On his alternate three-stop strategy, Stroll is now just one second behind Albon. This won't be a simple pass for a point, given the extreme straight-line pace of the Williams.
That battle has given Leclerc a 12.6s gap over Perez to defend to keep hold of second place for the final eight laps of the race.
On lap 62, Perez gets the move done on Sainz. He learns to stay behind at the DRS line into Turn 3 and that gives him DRS on the straight to Turn 4 and he blasts by into third place.
Next time around Perez looks to get the move done into Turn 3, but as he was ahead of Sainz before the DRS line, it gave Sainz DRS towards Turn 4 and he is able to fight back to keep third place. Stunning action.
Perez tries to perform the switchback on Sainz out of Turn 3, but the Ferrari driver was lucky to gain DRS off the lapped Magnussen to keep Perez at bay.
On lap 56 Norris locks up at Turn 3 and that gives Perez the invite to attack into Turn 4. The Mexican duly takes it and moves up to fourth.
Pit stop
Stroll stops for the third time for fresh medium tyres. He returns to the track in P12 but will have huge pace to close down a point or two!
Stopwatch
Perez, who puts in a new fastest lap of 1m08.111s, is gaining on Norris who is benefitting from DRS off Sainz ahead of him.
Quote
Hamilton is venting his frustration again and Wolff comes over the radio to act as peacemaker: "Lewis, the car is bad. We know it. Please drive it."
Penalty
A 10-second penalty for Tsunoda for track limits. He already has an investigation hanging over him for failing to correctly serve his first penalty.
Stopwatch
Verstappen puts the hammer down to notch up a new fastest lap of the race of 1m08.150s - and his lead is up to 14.7s.
Pit stop
Perez pits from second, it is a mega quick 2.4s stop, and he comes out in fifth place to chase after McLaren's Norris and the two Ferraris until the end of the race.
Stroll has recovered from his poorly timed stop during an early VSC and is now P9.
Russell is dropping back from Hamilton and falls over 10 seconds behind his Mercedes team-mate. The pair are currently P7 and P8.
Pit stop
We've not spoken about the leader in a while, but that's because it is all going serenely for Verstappen. He pits for the second time in the race, taking on fresh mediums, and retains his lead.
Pit stop
Leclerc pits from second, for the second time in this race. He takes on fresh hards and comes back out in third behind Perez by 8.4s.
Pit stop
Sainz pits, serves his penalty, and comes out just behind Norris and into fifth. But not for long, as Sainz powers around the outside of his former team-mate at Turn 4 on his out-lap. Sainz back up to fourth.
By: Autosport Staff
Published:
Page:
