Qualifying was a thriller, but the race was a bit of a bore. Fortunately there was various strategies to keep things somewhat interesting. Also the increased temperatures caused some issues for a few teams.
Red Bull Racing appeared to have the best package this weekend, which isn't too surprising given the Red Bull Ring has been one of their stronger tracks in the hybrid era. Obviously Max was still a step above Perez, as Perez was forced to use the Soft tires in Q2, thus starting the race on the less than optimal strategy. Perez did push Norris and Hamilton on the first lap, but eventually had to concede the position. Sadly Red Bull made an uncharacteristically slow pitstop which seems to have cost Perez a podium. Verstappen had full control of the race, and cruised to victory.
Mercedes I feel are not that strong in hotter temperatures. It could be a case of lack of development, but Mercedes were absolutely the strongest car in the opening races, which were much cooler. Despite Lewis claiming the Mercedes have been the underdogs all season, their car is very very strong. Even Toto says this was the first race in over 7 years where the Mercedes did not have a good enough car. Lewis and Bottas both did what they could, and they can't complain about 2nd and 3rd.
McLaren remains in a tight battle with Ferrari, led by the outstanding performances from Lando Norris. He is really carrying the team and was stuck in a lonely 5th all race. Ricciardo needs to figure things out,he had his issues, but his driving is still not where it needs to be. The car is good enough to pull gaps on Ferrari, but McLaren is only getting points from one driver at this point.
Ferrari by all accounts had a very good race. After France's horrible race pace, and their poor qualifying pace, it was expected that Ferrari would struggle again. As it turned out, their race pace was excellent. Sainz had a brilliant opening stint, but unfortunately was stuck behind Hamilton, who was slow on worn tires. Leclerc had a clumsy race, not only making another misjudging mistake that took out his front wing, but also took Gasly out of the race, but he did it again later when he clipped Raikkonen's front wing. He was fortunate not to cut a rear tire. A very impressive recovery drive though.
Aston Martin for whatever reason, was not very fast this weekend. Stroll seemed to have a handle on the car better than Vettel. I figured the long straights would play into their Mercedes power, but they just lacked pace. Overall you would have to say a good race for Stroll, and a poor race by Vettel.
Alpine did not have the pace either. I suspected their power unit would cost them, and perhaps that was the reason they were off the pace. Alonso is really coming around with the car compared to Ocon, who had a miserable race. It is not unreasonable to suspect that Alpine have developed the car more to Alonso's favor at this point.
AlphaTauri had a very good car. It's a shame Gasly got hit by Leclerc twice before turn 2 which forced his DNF. He would have likely battled for his usual 6th place. A decent drive from Tsunoda to earn himself a points finish.
Alfa Romeo had great race in the hands of Raikkonen. Starting 18th to finish 11th is one of the best drives of the race. Their pace was pretty close to Vettel and Ocon who are in much faster cars.
Haas had a good result this weekend, at least in the hands of Mick Schumacher, who had one of his best F1 weekends to date. His pace was good, but his race was better. Mick had a brilliant start, much like he did in F2, but unfortunately got spun in turn 2. From there he settled in and obliterated his teammate, and even beat Latifi in the Williams.
Williams another missed opportunity. George Russell might have had the drive of his career. Missing Q3 by just .008 seconds, and driving well into the points until the car let him down. One of these days this guy has to catch a break. His talents far exceed the results he's had.
Driver of the Race: Carlos Sainz. Despite the fans giving the award to Leclerc, I have to give it to Carlos because he didn't make any silly mistakes, he had great pace, and if it wasn't for an odd case of unlapping himself, he may have had a shot at 5th.
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Originally Posted by SS454
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