Joel’s racing rec room

Max Verstappen wins 5th race in a row

Even after the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) handed out penalties to nine different F1 drivers, RedBull’s Max Verstappen was still able to come away with his fifth win in a row at the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.

It was a RedBull, Ferrari, Redbull, Ferrari finish for the race, however, after the FIA released the final classification of results, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton were demoted in the standings.

Lando Norris, who had an amazing race, was elevated to fourth place because of the decision, as well as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ George Russel.

The final five line-up was Verstappen, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (RedBull), Norris and Alonso.

The RedBull team was dominant once more, with Verstappen only being contested after his final pit stop for tire change in the 71 lap race. Leclerc had a taste of the lead before Verstappen was able to use Honda power to take back his podium spot and gain an extra point for fastest lap.

His teammate, Perez, started the race in P15 and ended in P3. Again, that Honda powered RedBull car was unstoppable and the Mexican racer was able to breeze through traffic.

This week I actually spent a little more time on one race. I wasn’t able to watch the entire qualifying program but I did catch the highlights. I definitely think that it helped paint a better picture of how the racers and their cars would perform on race day.

Another thing I did, on race day, was watch the sprint shootout that took place before the race. The sprint is a much shortened version of the grand prix, 100km of the circuit hosting the event. F1 introduced the sprint in 2021.

The sprint race was introduced to spice up certain races, offering venues the chance to effectively have three days of competitive running (Qualifying on Friday, a sprint race on Saturday, race on Sunday) rather than an entire Friday dedicated to practice sessions. That format has been polished up for the six events which will run under a sprint schedule in 2023.

The Azerbaijan, Austrian, Belgian, Qatar, Sao Paulo, and  U.S. (Texas) GPs are the six sprint races. Also, points are allotted for the top eight finishing positions during the sprint races.

Previously, F1’s main qualifying event on Friday, which was run in segments called Q1, Q2 and Q3, would set the grid for the sprint race. The result of that shortened race would then set the grid for Sunday’s showpiece event.

Not only is the practice session now gone, but it has made way for a shorter, standalone qualifying session on Saturday, dubbed the Sprint Shootout, which will set the grid for the sprint race itself.

The shootouts seem to be met with mixed feelings. Verstappen for example said F1’s constant tweaking and expanding of the sprint format will eventually lead to him quitting the sport.

July will host four F1 races, the Austrian, British, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs. The next race will be at the Silverstone Circuit in England. It will be Sunday, July 9 at 10 a.m.