A two-faced race, the GP d’Austria 2024 al Red Bull Ring: one of the least eventful of the season until about ten laps from the chequered flag, with Ferrari reduced to a supporting role, before the finale with the adrenaline level rising to paroxysmal levels.
A very tense duel between Verstappen e Norris led to contact between the two, after a very tough fight, with a few too many “shoves” and “bumps”. Both paid the price, more Norris (who ended up out of the race) than Verstappen.
In the end he got his way George Russell, who took his second career win, the first of the year for Mercedes. Sainz saved the Rossa’s balance with a third place (it is more useful to him in terms of the market than to Ferrari, although it is better than nothing), while Piastri gave the excellent McLaren the second place.
Friendship is on standby
There is much to say about it duel between the world champion and his English rival at the 2024 Austrian GP. The two fought harshly, but the inadequacy of the race direction watered down this parenthesis of great fun. An old problem, who knows how long Liberty Media will accept that the FIA tries to rein in the drivers with absurd Azzeccagarbugli rules. But these people, the FIA men, have never watched a “healthy” Formula Indy race (and we must not even mention the Nascar battles)? Meh…
The fact is that at the time of the key duel, Norris already had two violations for tracks limits on his shoulders and collected a third (he will serve a penalty for this next Sunday) while Verstappen defended himself with arrogance and for this he was punished with a penalty (10 seconds) that was completely irrelevant.
Too bad, said from the outside and with an impartial spirit, for Lando Norris, who would have deserved to win. After all, the decisive contact that took him out of the race was entirely Verstappen’s responsibility and the 10 second penalty (to reiterate: irrelevant) was insufficient. Also because – if we really want to be strict – you can’t change trajectory more than once when braking.
The joy of Mercedes
In any case, Russell takes the victory in deserved manner: “A tough battle in the end – he said – I was holding third position, then I saw on the big screens what the two in front were doing, what sparks. I couldn’t even believe it. But above all I’m proud of how much our car has grown”.
“Red Bull and McLaren are still a bit ahead, but we are going swimmingly. After all, I could have already won the Canadian GP. Now there is our home race at Silverstone, let’s hope to continue like this”.
The Furious Lando
Lando Norris seemed literally furious after the 2024 Austrian GP race: “I’m disappointed, what else can I say? I expected a tough battlebut correct. I wouldn’t say that’s how it went – he explains – Max moved several times, there’s a rule, he moved three times out of three”.
“It’s not me who ruined his race, it’s him who ruined mine. I couldn’t have done anything different. My job is to drive and be fast, that’s what I did. Now I’m thinking about Silverstone. The friendship with Max? I don’t know, it depends on what he says. He has to admit that he was stupid and incorrect”.
And Verstappen’s response? “From the outside it looks like I moved under braking, but in reality it’s not like that. Furthermore, some attacks were real “dive bomb”. But these things happen.” The feeling is that if there is a clarification with Norris, it will happen in Monte Carlo, where they both live.
Ferrari, it was said, was only a supporting actor. Sainz achieved the maximum that this car, on which upgrades are very hard to work (or, to put it more clearly, they don’t work), finishing third. Leclerc had contact at the start (with Piastri) and was forced to stop at the end of the first lap, to change the wall and tires.
But despite the “hard” he then had to carry out three pits (four in total) just like the others, his salvation would have been a safety car that instead was not there. Thus a modest placing was achieved which, added to the errors of Saturday, contributes to making the period following the victory in Monte Carlo decidedly negative. It is necessary that the bouncing problem (that is, the single-seater that “belts”) is resolved quickly, because at Silverstone it could weigh heavily.
Carlos, a podium that gives confidence
Sainz enjoys the podium, the result of great perseverance: “It was a lively race, for me the problem was to keep up with Russell – he says – We knew that Mercedes had a small advantage in pace compared to us. In the end Piastri also arrived, who at that moment had a super pace. In any case, third place is excellent. We bring home 15 points at the end of the weekend and that’s no small thing. We are not yet in a position to fight to win, but we will continue to push to stay in the fight.”
Add VasseurFerrari Team Principal. “Our feelings are mixed, the podium is a good result, but we are a bit frustrated, because before the 2024 Austrian GP we knew we were in a position to do a better job.
The updates on the car? There is no going back, we have to start from this point and be ambitious, we want to have both cars in front”. Leclerc very disappointed: “It was a weekend to forget, nothing went right. The only thing I can do is put this race behind me and look to the future”.
Isola (Pirelli): “Simulations confirmed”
The 2024 Austrian GP was a tough race from the point of view of Pirelli. No surprises, but the air and asphalt temperatures were high, higher than expected.
“From our point of view – argues Mario Isola, director of the Motorsport Pirelli – the tyres performed exactly as we had expected, both in the simulations we ran before arriving here in Austria and in the analysis of the data collected on Friday and yesterday.
Even the strategy forecasts were substantially respected. Medium and Hard were the big protagonists at the 2024 Austrian GP. The Medium was probably a little more performing, especially on the more competitive cars.
The two Red Bulls, despite having two sets of Hards available, chose the C4 for the third stint, both for this reason and to be in the same conditions as the opponents with whom they were fighting at that stage of the race.
On the other hand, the C3, which showed slightly less degradation, was functional for those who chose to do a very short first stint on the Mediums and then exploit the greater consistency of the white tyre, thus also managing to get into the points zone as Hulkenberg and Magnussen or Ricciardo did”.
