AUSTRIA: NORRIS LEADS MCLAREN ONE-TWO, LECLERC ON THE PODIUM

Norris triumphs in Austria, finishing ahead of his teammate. Leclerc secures a podium, despite a twenty-second gap from the two papaya cars. Verstappen is out on the first lap due to an error by Antonelli, who crashes into him at Turn 2. With this double retirement, along with a double DNF for Williams due to technical issues, several teams capitalized on the opportunity to score points. Bortoleto, thanks to an excellent qualifying session the day before, Lawson, and Alonso all benefitted. Red Bull’s weekend ends in disaster, with Tsunoda again out of the points and also penalized.

GIOVANNI’S COMMENTARY
Another Grand Prix that didn’t offer much excitement, apart from the early duel between the two papaya cars and the Verstappen–Antonelli crash. Over seventy laps, the spectacle and entertainment weren’t particularly high.

McLaren were flawless. Norris didn’t put a foot wrong. His teammate was just as solid, if not for a missed second place in qualifying due to a yellow flag during his flying lap. The Papaya team remains a step ahead of everyone and has once again proven to be the team to beat. Ferrari showed signs of improvement with a third and fourth place finish. The Maranello squad proved to be the second force in Austria after several difficult races.

Mercedes were missing in action. The Silver Arrows failed to deliver both in qualifying and the race. Russell finished behind the Ferraris, and Antonelli was out at the start due to an error that will cost him three grid positions at Silverstone. Despite being on home turf, Red Bull had their worst weekend of the season. Max was out at the start, and he likely would have struggled just as much as in qualifying. Tsunoda was, once again, nowhere to be found.

Racing Bulls finally saw a great performance from Lawson. Hadjar, slightly off in qualifying, recovered well during the race. Aston Martin scored more points thanks to the lion of Oviedo, Fernando Alonso. Stroll was nowhere to be seen. Double points for Sauber, continuing their impressive growth. Bortoleto scored his first points in F1, finally showing his worth both in qualifying and the race.

Alpine started strong on Saturday but faded during the race. Colapinto was once again underwhelming, stuck in the midfield. Gasly couldn’t make a difference, heavily limited by the car. Haas took home a point with Ocon. His teammate, Bearman, came close to the points but fell just short.

Finally, a disastrous race for Williams with a double retirement. Sainz didn’t start due to a brake issue. Albon was also forced to retire because of a technical problem that ended his race early.

Author: Gabriele Bovio