2024 Austrian Grand Prix

The 2024 Austrian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 30 June 2024, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. It was the eleventh round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the third Grand Prix weekend of the season to utilise the sprint format.

2024 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 11 of 24 in the 2024 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Red Bull Ring
Layout of the Red Bull Ring
Race details[1]
Date 30 June 2024
Official name Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024
Location Red Bull Ring
Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.318 km (2.683 miles)
Distance 71 laps, 306.452 km (190.420 miles)
Weather Partly cloudy
Attendance 302,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Time 1:04.314
Fastest lap
Driver Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes
Time 1:07.694 on lap 70
Podium
First Mercedes
Second McLaren-Mercedes
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen won the sprint from pole position, and also took pole position for the main race. Verstappen led the majority of the race, but with eight laps to go Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris collided as they fought for the lead. This dropped both drivers down the order, with Verstappen recovering to fifth and Norris retiring because of damage sustained from the collision. George Russell took his second career race win in Formula One, as well as Mercedes's first race victory since the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix. Russell was joined on the podium by Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri, and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr.

Background

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The event was held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg for the 20th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 28–30 June.[3] The Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the 37th running of the Austrian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[4] It was also the third Grand Prix of six in the season to utilise the sprint format and the third time overall to feature it.[5]

Championship standings before the race

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Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship with 219 points, 69 points ahead of Lando Norris in second, and 71 ahead of Charles Leclerc in third. Red Bull Racing, with 330 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, who are second and third with 270 and 237 points, respectively.[6]

Entrants

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The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[7]

Tyre choices

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Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (the three softest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at this event.[8]

Track changes

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New light blue stripes between the track limits white line and the kerb were painted. In addition new gravel traps between the track and the run-off area were installed.

After the previous iteration of the race saw 1,200 potential track limit violations, the Red Bull Ring took steps to prevent a repeat of the issues. Gravel traps were installed and some track limits were moved closer to existing gravel traps to deter drivers from running wide. Additionally, a contrasting blue line on the outside of the white track limits line was painted to increase visibility and contrast for stewards reviewing possible violations.[9][10]

Practice

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The only free practice session was held on 28 June 2024, at 12:30 local time (UTC+2), and was topped by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.[11]

Sprint qualifying

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Sprint qualifying was held on 28 June 2024, at 16:30 local time (UTC+2), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.[11]

Sprint qualifying classification

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Sprint
grid
SQ1 SQ2 SQ3
1 1   Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:05.690 1:05.186 1:04.686 1
2 4   Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:05.786 1:05.561 1:04.779 2
3 81   Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:06.081 1:05.379 1:04.987 3
4 63   George Russell Mercedes 1:05.764 1:05.325 1:05.054 4
5 55   Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:05.781 1:05.435 1:05.126 5
6 44   Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:06.504 1:05.539 1:05.270 6
7 11   Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:06.256 1:05.612 1:06.008 7
8 31   Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:06.343 1:05.686 1:06.101 8
9 10   Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1:06.465 1:05.757 1:06.624 9
10 16   Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:06.149 1:05.526 No time 10
11 20   Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:06.387 1:05.806 N/A 11
12 18   Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:06.037 1:05.847 N/A 12
13 14   Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:06.487 1:05.878 N/A 13
14 22   Yuki Tsunoda RB-Honda RBPT 1:06.557 1:05.960 N/A 14
15 2   Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 1:06.518 No time N/A 15
16 3   Daniel Ricciardo RB-Honda RBPT 1:06.581 N/A N/A 16
17 27   Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1:06.583 N/A N/A 17
18 77   Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1:06.725 N/A N/A 18
19 23   Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:06.754 N/A N/A PL1
20 24   Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1:07.197 N/A N/A 19
107% time: 1:10.288
Source:[12][13]

Notes

  • ^1Alexander Albon qualified 19th, but was required to start the sprint from the pit lane due to changes made to the set up of his car during parc fermé.[13]

Sprint

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The sprint was held on 29 June 2024, at 12:00 local time (UTC+2), and was scheduled to be run for 24 laps before being shortened by one lap due to an aborted start procedure.[11]

Sprint classification

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps1 Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 23 26:41.389 1 8
2 81   Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 23 +4.616 3 7
3 4   Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 23 +5.348 2 6
4 63   George Russell Mercedes 23 +8.354 4 5
5 55   Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 23 +9.989 5 4
6 44   Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 23 +11.207 6 3
7 16   Charles Leclerc Ferrari 23 +13.424 10 2
8 11   Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 23 +17.409 7 1
9 20   Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 23 +24.067 11
10 18   Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 23 +30.175 12
11 31   Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 23 +30.839 8
12 10   Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 23 +31.308 9
13 22   Yuki Tsunoda RB-Honda RBPT 23 +35.452 14
14 3   Daniel Ricciardo RB-Honda RBPT 23 +39.397 16
15 14   Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 23 +43.155 13
16 2   Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 23 +44.076 15
17 23   Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 23 +44.673 PL
18 77   Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber-Ferrari 23 +46.511 18
19 27   Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 23 +48.4232 17
20 24   Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber-Ferrari 23 +53.143 19
Fastest lap:   Lando Norris (McLaren-Mercedes) – 1:08.935 (lap 2)
Source:[13][14]

Notes

  • ^1 – The sprint distance was scheduled to be completed for 24 laps before being shortened by one lap due to an aborted start procedure.[14]
  • ^2Nico Hülkenberg finished 14th on track, but received a post-sprint ten-second time penalty for forcing Fernando Alonso off track at turn 3.[14][15]

Qualifying

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Qualifying was held on 29 June 2024, at 16:00 local time (UTC+2), and determined the starting order for the main race.[11]

Qualifying classification

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 1   Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:05.336 1:04.469 1:04.314 1
2 4   Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:05.450 1:05.103 1:04.718 2
3 63   George Russell Mercedes 1:05.585 1:05.016 1:04.840 3
4 55   Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:05.263 1:05.016 1:04.851 4
5 44   Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:05.541 1:05.053 1:04.903 5
6 16   Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:05.509 1:05.104 1:05.044 6
7 81   Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:05.311 1:05.070 1:05.048 7
8 11   Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:05.587 1:05.144 1:05.202 8
9 27   Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1:05.596 1:05.262 1:05.385 9
10 31   Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:05.574 1:05.274 1:05.883 10
11 3   Daniel Ricciardo RB-Honda RBPT 1:05.569 1:05.289 N/A 11
12 20   Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:05.508 1:05.347 N/A 12
13 10   Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1:05.598 1:05.359 N/A 13
14 22   Yuki Tsunoda RB-Honda RBPT 1:05.563 1:05.412 N/A 14
15 14   Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:05.656 1:05.639 N/A 15
16 23   Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:05.736 N/A N/A 16
17 18   Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:05.819 N/A N/A 17
18 77   Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1:05.847 N/A N/A 18
19 2   Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 1:05.856 N/A N/A 19
20 24   Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber-Ferrari 1:06.061 N/A N/A PL1
107% time: 1:09.831
Source:[16][17]

Notes

  • ^1Zhou Guanyu qualified 20th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane due to changes made to the set up of his car during parc fermé.[17]

Race

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The race was held on 30 June 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2), and was run for 71 laps.[11]

Race report

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At the start, Verstappen got a clear getaway from Norris while the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Williams of Logan Sargeant both sustained front wing damage in separate incidents and had to pit for repairs. Throughout the race, the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were involved in a battle with Gasly winning out. Verstappen kept his lead through the first round of pit stops from Norris; during his second stop on lap 52, his crew swapped him into a pair of older medium tyres. However, the pitstop was a slow six seconds because of issues with the left rear tyre; this was further compounded as Verstappen was held to give way to Norris who was in the pit lane for his own pit stop. Norris closed the gap and would make several overtake attempts at turn 3 over the following laps. Verstappen successfully defended against Norris, who would be penalised for breaching track limits. With eight laps remaining, Norris attempted an overtake on the outside line at turn 3, but there was a collision with Verstappen as the latter tried to block him off. Both of them sustained punctures, with third-placed driver George Russell taking the lead as Verstappen and Norris had to pit. Verstappen continued at low speed while Norris' tyre punctured at high speed, causing race-ending damage to his McLaren. Verstappen fitted new tyres and would eventually recover to fifth; the race stewards gave Verstappen a ten-second time penalty for causing the collision. Russell won the race from Oscar Piastri, who passed Carlos Sainz Jr. for second with seven laps remaining, as Sainz followed in third and Russell's teammate Lewis Hamilton finished fourth from Verstappen.[18]

Post-race debrief

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When asked about his friendship with Verstappen off-track and how the clash would affect them, Norris stated his belief that "He (Verstappen) was in the wrong, so he's the one that should say something, not me." Verstappen on the other hand stated he would like to "let things cool off" and was "more annoyed with just how the performance of the race was, the mistakes that we made that normally we don’t make.”[19] Verstappen later said that the crash did not affect his friendship with Norris.[20] McLaren team principal Andrea Stella claimed that "the entire population in the world [knows] who is responsible, except for a group of people," comparing the incident to moments in Verstappen's past rivalry with Hamilton during the 2021 season.[21] Russell stated he was happy to "pick up the pieces" of Norris and Verstappen's incident to win.[22]

Race classification

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 63   George Russell Mercedes 71 1:24:22.798 3 25
2 81   Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 71 +1.906 7 18
3 55   Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 71 +4.533 4 15
4 44   Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 +23.142 5 12
5 1   Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 71 +37.2531 1 10
6 27   Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 71 +54.088 9 8
7 11   Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 71 +54.672 8 6
8 20   Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 71 +1:00.355 12 4
9 3   Daniel Ricciardo RB-Honda RBPT 71 +1:01.169 11 2
10 10   Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 71 +1:01.766 13 1
11 16   Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 +1:07.056 6
12 31   Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 71 +1:08.325 10
13 18   Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 70 +1 lap 17
14 22   Yuki Tsunoda RB-Honda RBPT 70 +1 lap 14
15 23   Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 70 +1 lap2 16
16 77   Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber-Ferrari 70 +1 lap 18
17 24   Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber-Ferrari 70 +1 lap PL
18 14   Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 70 +1 lap 15
19 2   Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 69 +2 laps 19
203 4   Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 64 Collision damage3 2
Fastest lap:   Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes) – 1:07.694 (lap 70)
Source:[17][23][24][25]

Notes

  • ^1Max Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Lando Norris. His final position was not affected by the penalty.[23][26]
  • ^2Alexander Albon finished 14th, but received a five-second time penalty for crossing the line at pit entry.[23]
  • ^3Lando Norris was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance. He also received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. The penalty made no difference as he was classified in the last position.[23]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2024 Austrian Grand Prix". Formula 1. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  2. ^ "302,000 Attend 2024 Austrian Grand Prix Weekend". F1 Destinations. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Spielberg". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Grands Prix Austria". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Formula 1 announces 2024 Sprint Calendar". Formula 1. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Spain 2024 – Championship". Stats F1. 23 June 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  7. ^ "2024 Austrian Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  8. ^ "No surprises for the compounds for Spain, Austria and Great Britain". Pirelli. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  9. ^ Barretto, Lawrence (27 June 2024). "Changes in Austria that look to solve the track limit issue". Formula1.com. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  10. ^ Parkes, Ian (27 June 2024). "FIA explain major Red Bull Ring changes to end track limits debacle". RacingNews365. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – F1 Race". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – Sprint Qualifying". Formula 1. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – Sprint Grid". Formula 1. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  14. ^ a b c "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – Sprint". Formula 1. 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Infringement – Car 27 – Forcing Car 14 off the track" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 29 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – Qualifying". Formula 1. 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  17. ^ a b c "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – Starting Grid". Formula 1. 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Russell claims surprise win in Austria after Verstappen and Norris dramatically collide in battle for the lead". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  19. ^ "'I feel let down' – Norris says Verstappen 'in the wrong' as both drivers give their take on Austria clash". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  20. ^ "'I'm not there to crash you out' – Verstappen shares details of post-Austria chat with Norris after 'silly' coming together". Formula One official website. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  21. ^ ""The entire world knows who is responsible" – Stella weighs in on Verstappen/Norris Austria clash as he makes 2021 comparison". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  22. ^ "'The single dumbest thing I've done' – Wolff reflects on 'embarrassing' radio message that 'could have taken' Russell out of Austrian GP". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – Race Result". Formula 1. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 – Fastest Laps". Formula 1. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  25. ^ "F1 – George Russell takes surprise Austria win as Verstappen and Norris collide". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Infringement – Car 1 – Causing a collision" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  27. ^ a b "Austria 2024 – Championship". Stats F1. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
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