What the teams said – Race day at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix
What the teams said – Race day at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc, who had gone seven races without a win, returned to the top step of the podium in Austria by beating pole-sitter Max Verstappen and passing him three times during the race.
Ferrari
When Carlos Sainz’s engine failed with 13 laps to go, spoiling the possibility of a 1-2 finish for Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc, 1st
“Any victory is sweet, but this one is especially satisfying. Because of the problem, the final 15 laps were quite close, but we managed to finish in the first place. Today’s action was fast-paced and intense, and the fights were thrilling. Last night I put forth extra effort to figure out where I might still improve, and it paid off today. In a nutshell, I’m over the moon with joy right now.”
Carlos Sainz, DNF
It’s hard to find the perfect words to describe how obvious a one-two was today. Today, I had excellent speed, especially when using the hard tire. There was a lot of degradation, but we handled it successfully. On the last laps, the car felt great, but we were forced to pull out due to an obvious problem.
“Today’s result is disappointing since it cost the team and me valuable points in the race for the two titles. The fact that I’m getting more used to driving the car and more confident with each race is inspiring. Time is of the essence, and we excel at moving quickly. We congratulate Charles on his victory. Never give up!
Red Bull
In the end, Max Verstappen couldn’t keep up with Ferrari’s performance and finished second in the Austrian Grand Prix, behind Charles Leclerc, despite winning the Sprint on Saturday and starting from pole position. Sergio Perez, on the other hand, had a miserable afternoon as he collided with George Russell on Lap 1, spun out, and damaged his car to the point where he had to retire.
We tried our best with the strategy, but the Ferraris were just too fast for us today.” Obviously, we need to figure out what caused the tires to wear out so quickly; I have my suspicions, but I can’t say for sure.
“Even though we lost today, we still earned a lot of points. To win games like today’s, you have to score points when you need them the most. The fans’ overwhelming enthusiasm over the course of the weekend was fantastic, but I have learned some surprising information. On a weekend that should be a celebration of Formula One at our home race, I shouldn’t have to argue that what’s been happening is wrong or inappropriate.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton finished the weekend in third place and George Russell in fourth despite the fact that Russell received a time penalty for his collision with Sergio Perez on Lap 1 and had to change his front wing as a result of the damage he caused. Both Mercedes drivers crashed during qualifying on Friday.
Alpine
This year’s Austrian Grand Prix marked the 100th Grand Prix for Esteban Ocon, and he marked the occasion by finishing an impressive fifth. Fernando Alonso believed he might have been right behind his teammate, but vibrations on his second set of tires prompted an early second pit stop, dropping him back to P10 at the flag – still, an improvement from Saturday when he failed to even start the Sprint due to an electrical fault.
Haas
The driver of the Day Mick Schumacher finished in a career-best sixth place, and Kevin Magnussen, who was managing an engine issue throughout the race, finished in eighth place. Haas is on a roll, as they were able to get both cars into the points in their most recent race at Silverstone, and they repeated the feat in Austria.
McLaren
In Austria, the weekend got off to a rough start for McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo struggled to keep up with the pace required for qualifying and Lando Norris had issues with his brakes. But after making up ground in the Sprint, they managed to position themselves further up the order on race day to ensure double points finish for the team. This was accomplished despite the fact that Norris was given a time penalty for any violations of the track limits.
Alfa Romeo
A more positive race for Alfa Romeo than the double DNF – and frightening accident Zhou Guanyu suffered – the previous time out at Silverstone, but the team still did not score any points as Valtteri Bottas climbed from a pit lane start to P11, with Zhou finishing three places behind after struggling on the hard tire during a long opening stint.