Less than 24 hours after the cars raced around the Red Bull Ring for the sprint race, the drivers were back in action for the main event at the FORMULA 1 ROLEX GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH 2022. Max Verstappen started from pole position after dominating the sprint race on Saturday, but Ferrari was not willing to give up.
Max Verstappen got away well, maintaining his lead from pole position. George Russell put himself on the inside of Carlos Sainz in the first corner. Sainz ran wide into the runoff area, but rejoined to the track with a huge run down to turn 3, overtaking Russell before the corner.
Sergio Perez had a good run out of turn 3, allowing him to attack around the outside of Russell’s Mercedes. He was momentarily ahead, but was spun into the gravel by Russell. Russell appeared to understeer into the side of the Red Bull after touching the inside kerbs. Perez rejoined the race in last with a huge hole in his sidepod and was lapped very early in the race. He retired after 26 laps. Russell was given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.
Unlike the sprint race on Saturday, Verstappen was not able to create a gap to Charles Leclerc behind. On lap 10, Leclerc showed that Verstappen was under pressure, as he tried to drive up the inside of turn 3. He wasn’t able to get the move done there, but a couple of laps later, he made a spectacular late dive on the inside of turn 4 to take the lead of the race.
Verstappen pitted after being overtaken, going for the two stop strategy. It was 13 laps before the two Ferrari drivers pitted. Verstappen rejoined the lead of the race.
Further back, Lewis Hamilton pitted for tyres on lap 29, but it was a slow stop due to some issues with the front-right. He rejoined narrowly behind Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon. However, he made quick work of Ocon the following lap and Stroll pitted, meaning he didn’t lose much time.
By lap 33, Leclerc was right on the back of Verstappen. Verstappen didn’t fight much as his championship rival made an easy overtake in the braking zone on turn 3. A few laps later, Verstappen made a second pit stop.
Turn 4 saw another incident on lap 41, as Sebastian Vettel spun into the gravel. He was able to carry a lot of speed through the gravel so that he didn’t get beached and coasted backwards onto the track. Pierre Gasly was on the inside of the Aston Martin and understeered into the side Vettel. The move earned him a five-second time penalty.
He was not the only driver to earn a time penalty in the race, with a variety of drivers receiving warnings and penalties for track limits, which was strictly enforced during the weekend.
Back at the front of the field, Leclerc made his second pit stop for hard compound tyres on lap 49 and Sainz did the same the following lap. Hamilton also made a pit stop from P4 on lap 51, but his team fitted the medium compound tyres.
Leclerc made quick work on catching and overtaking Max Verstappen. He tried to make an overtake around the outside of turn 3, but Verstappen defended to hold off the Ferrari. Leclerc got a better exit and was able to take the lead of the race well before turn 4.
Verstappen quickly fell into the striking distance of Sainz, who was rapidly catching the Red Bull. On lap 56, Sainz had a good run on Verstappen heading towards turn 4 when his engine abruptly blew. Flames emerged from the rear of the car as Sainz pulled over to the marshal post on the runoff area on the outside of turn 4.
Sainz could not bail out of the burning Ferrari because the runoff was on a hill and he had to hold down the brake with his foot to prevent car from rolling back down the hill onto the circuit. A marshal threw a wedge under the front tyre of the car just as flames engulfed the engine and began to make its way to the cockpit.
The virtual safety car was deployed to allow marshals to extinguish and remove Sainz’s smouldering Ferrari. This allowed Leclerc and Verstappen to pit for medium compound tyres.
When the race resumed, Leclerc began complaining of a strange feeling in his throttle pedal. The team on the pit wall told their driver that the pedal was not returning completely back to idle and told Leclerc to lift the pedal up with his foot when slowing. The issue was also causing issues changing gear. Leclerc was losing time to Verstappen, but fortunately he had built enough of a gap to stay safe from the threat behind.
Despite his technical issues, Charles Leclerc crossed the line in P1 for the third time this season, reclaiming second place in the World Drivers’ Championship battle. Max Verstappen limited damage to his championship with a P3 and a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race. Lewis Hamilton joined them on the podium.
Austria marks the end of another back-to-back weekend this season and the halfway point of the 2022 season. Next up will be another back-to-back weekend starting with the French Grand Prix on the weekend of July 24.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C. Leclerc | 25 | |
| 2 | M. Verstappen | 19 | |
| 3 | L. Hamilton | 15 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 12 | |
| 5 | E. Ocon | 10 | |
| 6 | M. Schumacher | 8 | |
| 7 | L. Norris | 6 | |
| 8 | K. Magnussen | 4 | |
| 9 | D. Ricciardo | 2 | |
| 10 | F. Alonso | 1 | |
| 11 | V. Bottas | ||
| 12 | A. Albon | ||
| 13 | L. Stroll | ||
| 14 | G. Zhou | ||
| 15 | P. Gasly | ||
| 16 | Y. Tsunoda | ||
| 17 | S. Vettel | ||
| DNF | C. Sainz | ||
| DNF | N. Latifi | ||
| DNF | S. Perez | ||
