Qualifying Results & Report 2023 Austrian F1 GP
Event: Austrian F1 GP
Track: Red Bull Ring
Pole Position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the 2023 F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring
Weather: dry 27°C
Tarmac: dry 41°C
Humidity: 40%
Wind: 1 km/h N
Pressure: 931 mbar
Max Verstappen scored his 26th F1 pole position today. The Red Bull driver will start from P1 at Sunday's 2023 Austrian F1 Grand Prix for the 4th time on the Red Bull Ring. It was the sixth pole of the season for the Dutch driver and the 89th pole for the Red Bull Racing team.
Q1 session
In a thrilling and somewhat chaotic Q1 session at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, drivers were seen pushing to the limits with times tumbling as the track ramped up. The cooler temperatures played a significant role in today’s qualifying session. With 15 minutes to go, we saw both Ferrari and Mercedes drivers taking the track on soft tires.
Early Session Dominance
Initially, Perez set a blistering pace, going straight to the top of the timesheets. However, it wasn’t long before championship leader Max Verstappen stormed past, snatching the lead.
Bottas’ Early Struggle and Near Mishap
Bottas appeared to be struggling early in the session. His day almost took a turn for the worse as he spun at the exit of Turn 1. Seemingly affected by the dirty air of the Red Bull ahead, he managed to control the car and steer it back to the pit lane without sustaining any damage.
Track Limits a Deciding Factor
The stewards were keeping a close eye on track limits. Both Norris and Sainz suffered lap times deletion due to exceeding track limits. Even Verstappen wasn't spared; his time was deleted for the same reason at the final corner, which turned the tables and placed Piastri ahead with the quickest time, closely followed by Perez.
McLaren's Impressive Performance
It’s worth highlighting McLaren's performance in this session. As temperatures dipped, McLaren cars came alive. Norris was particularly impressive, setting the fastest middle sector and ending up second. His teammate Piastri wasn’t far behind in seventh.
Last-Minute Showdown
With just nine minutes left in the session, Leclerc managed to put his Ferrari into third. Gasly also improved significantly, placing seventh ahead of Tsunoda. Meanwhile, Russell’s effort to move up from 13th to 9th could have been in vain if the times continued to improve.
Hamilton faced a setback with his lap time being deleted, putting more pressure on the Mercedes team.
FIA Stewards Decision
Worth mentioning, an incident involving Piastri and Alonso at turn 10 was reviewed by the FIA stewards but required no further action as it was deemed as impeding.
Q2 session
A breathtaking Q2 session at the Austrian Grand Prix witnessed the titans clash, as the drivers battled fiercely to secure a place in Q3. The spectators were on the edge of their seats as the midfield contenders rose to the occasion. In a game of tire management, perfect racing lines, and respecting track limits, the drama was relentless.
Six Minutes to Nine: The Show Begins
The green lights indicated the commencement of Q2. Max Verstappen, who seemed slightly agitated over track limits, was the first one to hit the track, closely followed by his teammate Sergio Perez and the Ferrari drivers. The air was dense with anticipation.
Not long after, Esteban Ocon in the Alpine delivered an impressive lap, positioning himself fourth. However, Pierre Gasly, not to be overshadowed, stormed ahead, relegating Ocon to a lower rank. The latter's lap seemed to be on the verge of scrutiny, as he might have crossed track limits at the last turn.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had initially clocked the fastest times, but both had their laps invalidated due to exceeding track limits, leaving Lando Norris leading the pack, closely tailed by Nico Hulkenberg.
The Clock Ticks Down: The Battle Intensifies
As the clock counted down to four minutes, George Russell, despite his earnest attempts, could only manage the 10th position. However, the Briton was swiftly ousted from the top 10 by his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who clinched fifth.
Attention then shifted to Alexander Albon, who began his lap in style by recording the fastest first sector. Though he seemed to have lost some momentum in the last sector, he crossed the line in eighth. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, evidently on a mission, recorded the quickest first sector.
Two Minutes Left: The Crescendo
With two minutes left, all eyes were on George Russell and Sergio Perez, both aiming to ascend to the top 10. Perez seemed to be making amends, while Russell appeared to be struggling.
In a stunning turn of events, Perez, who seemed to have safely made it to second, was dealt a blow as his lap time was invalidated yet again for exceeding track limits. This was a massive setback for the Red Bull driver, as this marked the fourth consecutive race where he failed to advance to Q3.
Gasly and Albon: The Silent Achievers
While the drama unfolded, Pierre Gasly's tactical brilliance shouldn't go unnoticed. His phenomenal lap catapulted him from 11th to an outstanding fifth. Alexander Albon, too, showed incredible prowess, securing the 10th spot.
Q3 session
What an electrifying display of speed and precision we witnessed during the Qualifying 3 (Q3) session for the 2023 Austrian F1 Grand Prix. The Red Bull Ring was ablaze as drivers went wheel-to-wheel, pushing their machines to the limits.
Norris Shines with McLaren’s Upgrades
The young Brit, Lando Norris, brought his A-game. His stellar performance has set the F1 community abuzz. With McLaren's newly integrated upgrades, Norris and his team demonstrated that they might just be the dark horse in the forthcoming races. A noteworthy performance that warrants attention.
The Battle at The Top: Verstappen vs. Leclerc
As Q3 began, eyes were on the battle between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Alexander Albon, in his resurgence, made it into Q3, laying down the gauntlet for the rest of the drivers. Albon’s flying lap was invalidated due to exceeding track limits, but his sheer pace was evident.
Verstappen was the first to set the timing sheets alight. Within nine minutes of the session, he laid down an impressive lap, registering the fastest times in the first and second sectors.
Meanwhile, Leclerc responded with a blistering middle sector, hinting at the titanic clash that was unfolding. Ultimately, Leclerc fell short by a mere 0.048s, securing the second position.
The Final Countdown: Two Minutes of Adrenaline
With two minutes remaining, the atmosphere was electric as the drivers embarked on their final runs. The stopwatch was a ruthless adversary as positions shuffled in these dying moments. Alonso briefly secured third, but was quickly overtaken by Lance Stroll.
Norris completed his session in fourth, just ahead of Hamilton, who, despite a swift first sector, could not sustain the momentum and concluded the session in fifth.
Max Verstappen, however, maintained his dominance and seized yet another pole position, though not as comfortably as he would have liked.
The quickest sector times during this qualifying session were:
- 16.300 sec. by Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 28.686 sec. by Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- 19.359 sec. by Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Last year Verstappen also scored pole for Red Bull for the Austrian GP, he then did it with a 1:04.984 min.
Quali Times 2023 Austrian GP
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:05,116 | 1:04,951 | 1:04,391 | 24 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:05,577 | 1:05,087 | 1:04,439 | 26 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:05,339 | 1:04,975 | 1:04,581 | 25 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:05,617 | 1:05,038 | 1:04,658 | 23 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:05,673 | 1:05,188 | 1:04,819 | 25 |
| 6 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:05,710 | 1:05,121 | 1:04,893 | 25 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:05,655 | 1:05,181 | 1:04,911 | 27 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 1:05,740 | 1:05,362 | 1:05,090 | 24 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:05,515 | 1:05,308 | 1:05,170 | 21 |
| 10 | 23 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:05,673 | 1:05,387 | 1:05,823 | 21 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:05,686 | 1:05,428 | 21 | |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:05,729 | 1:05,453 | 15 | |
| 13 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:05,683 | 1:05,605 | 19 | |
| 14 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:05,763 | 1:05,680 | 14 | |
| 15 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:05,177 | 2:06,688 | 19 | |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:05,784 | 10 | ||
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1:05,818 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:05,948 | 9 | ||
| 19 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:05,971 | 10 | ||
| 20 | 21 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | 1:05,974 | 10 |
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Sure looked like Hammy exceeded track limits on his first push lap of Q3 but no call. Imagine that.
Some others also seemingly exceeded at the final corner but got to keep their times, so I guess they were only on the limit in the end.
Heh No picking on the Dame, a 7 times WDC saying 5th is ok, dear oh dear
See the KKK leader has started. Thought shoddypost might quieten down as he cannot harp on about how much faster GR than Hamilton.
Oh Dear Its national idiots weekend , All I can say is 5sec+5sec lo
The weekend is now over, but I'm sure you continue your hate
What a track limits galore again at Red Bull Ring qualifying, but Checo is the biggest flop.
Four times total, three in Q2, lol.
If he didn't have his streak of not reaching Q3, I'd expect him to finish the race 2nd or 3rd at least.
However, as the DRS train effect proved surprisingly effective in Canada, I reckon it could be even more effective in Austria, so climbing through positions would be challenging despite driving the outright fastest car.
Nice report above , i have nothing to add, Except , everyones had updates but they still arent quick enough... Well done Max , roll on tomorrow
I have good memories of when quali was just an hour drivers pounded round non stop
Off Topic but I liked the way this guy spoke his mind R.i.p
Former Force India senior manager Robert ‘Bob’ Fernley has passed away at the age of 70, his former team have confirmed.
Aston Martin, the team for whom Fernley worked in a previous guise as Force India, have confirmed Fernley passed away on Friday. The British manager and entrepreneur was 70 years old.
Fernley served for over a decade as the deputy team boss of the Force India team, working closely alongside Vijay Mallya as the Indian businessman’s representative on the ground as Mallya was frequently unable to leave the United Kingdom.
Bob Fernley moves from Force India to McLaren
Having put in stints in IndyCar and with the Ensign team during the 1980s, Fernley moved to work with Mallya at Force India in 2008. He became the face of Force India over the following 10 years.
Following on from the sale of Force India to Lawrence Stroll’s Racing Point consortium, Fernley left the organisation for whom he had worked for so many years, in order to head up McLaren’s IndyCar programme under CEO Zak Brown.
This guy was in the Eddie Jordan mould, sad day at Spa though