2024 Formula One Austrian Grand Prix

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2023 Austrian Grand Prix. Image Credit: Lucas Pripfl / Red Bull Ring

WHO ARE YOU SUPPORTING THIS WEEKEND?

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From the bustling metropolis of Barcelona to the hills of Austria: Formula One arrives in Spielberg this weekend for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix with McLaren hot on the heels of Red Bull.

The news coming out after the Spanish Grand Prix was that McLaren is starting to push Red Bull harder and harder at the front of the field. The MCL38 led the field away after Lando Norris managed to put his car in pole position.

Max Verstappen would ultimately win the race, but McLaren's advantages are a huge encouragement for the neutral fans and of course for the Papaya's fanbase.

Alpine Announce Gasly's Contract Extension​

Alpine has announced that Frenchman, and current driver, Pierre Gasly has signed a multi-year extension. His French compatriot Esteban Ocon will not return to the team, and his replacement for 2025 and beyond is yet to be announced. Speculation ranges form Oliver Bearman, to Sebastian Vettel!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1806238651229024669

The French outfit has had their worst start to a Formula One season since they became Alpine from Renault in 2021. However, last weekend in Spain was a huge step forward for the team. Both cars made headlines by making it into Q3 on Saturday's qualifying session.

Gasly has committed 'Long term' to the team. Time will tell if it was the right decision, but Alpine will be quickly looking to the rule changes in 2026 and beyond to get a head start to save their struggling outfit.

McLaren To End Red Bull Dominance?​

The battle between McLaren and Red Bull continues to rage into Austria this weekend. With Red Bull's home support and Verstappen's 'Orange Army' expected to be out in full force, the McLaren duo have certainly got work to do.

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Max Verstappen on his way to victory in Austria, 2023. Image Credit: Philip Platzer / Red Bull Ring

With this weekend being one of the Sprint weekends, by Friday we will have seen where everyone is in terms of pace. What will be intriguing is if the McLaren boys go hell for leather in the sprint, or if their concentration will be on the main race on Sunday. 2022 saw Ferrari's Charles Leclerc take victory, so this track is not a given victory for the Red Bull man.

Red Bull are still very much the team to beat. Even with McLaren showing promise of beating out the Bulls, Verstappen and Perez are not going to roll over and let the Papaya squad have it all their way. This weekend is crucial for both teams and the momentum is very much in the balance.

Lance Stroll Extends Aston Martin Contract​

A somewhat unsurprising second contract announcement is Aston Martin re-signing Lance Stroll for "2025 and beyond". Stroll's father, Lawerence Stroll, bought out the consortium that remained of Racing Point and Force India at the end of 2019. The team has done great things, including multiple podiums, but unfortunately, Stroll has not been a major factor in that progression - at least not on the track.

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Lance Stroll. Image Credit: Formula One

Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack stated: "We are delighted to confirm Lance's future with Aston Martin. He has played a key role in building this team. His technical feedback, alongside his committed simulator work, has helped contribute to the continuous development of the car each season."

"The consistency and stability of both Lance and Fernando remaining with our team is a great platform to continue to realise our ambitions. We look forward to creating some more incredible memories and achieving further success together."

Stroll's retention will bring Aston Martin into a fourth year with Stroll and teammate Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard also extended his contract with Aston Martin earlier in the year.

2024 Austrian Grand Prix Schedule​

Friday, June 28​

  • 10:30-11:30: Free Practice 1
  • 14:30-15:14: Sprint Qualifying

Saturday, June 29​

  • 10:00-11:00: Sprint Race
  • 14:00-17:00: Qualifying

Sunday, June 30​

  • 13:00: Race
all times UTC

Who are you supporting this weekend in Austria? Let us know in the poll above or down in the comments below!
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Connor Minniss
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

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Comments

Richard Wilks
TRASGU said:
This was yesterday. I told the key to win yesterday's sprint, very predictably it was also the key to win today's race, Lando blew it up again for the same reasons as yesterday.

I also said that one driver can only win so many races by the skin of his teeth without a mistake, RBR needs at least to fix their suspension. Their tire degradation turns them in sitting ducks at the end of the stints and weirdly enough at the end of the stints with low fuel.

In the last stint of the race Lando had what seemed like a full second advantage over a Max that also had a huge flatspot making him unable to brake hard. Lando had the race in his pocket but he again managed to grasp defeat from the jaws of a sure victory.

Lando got impatient not waiting for a clean pass that was just a matter of time. But he tried to bully Max with out of control dive bombs sending Max out of track twice (the same mistake Lando also did and also failed yesterday) and the third time Max showed him that he may be his friend, but he wasn't going to tolerate that, he isn't a push over. Riling up Max always ends badly, he races you twice as hard.

Not only Lando doesn't give himself a pause to think about the big picture along the race, he didn't even learn from yesterday mistakes. D--k measurement test always end in tears with Max, Lando should know better, he has raced online with him both in F1 and online hundreds of times. Lando wanted to not only win, but to humiliate him on his home race with a flamboyant pass to send a message to unstabilize Max, and instead Lando was on the losing side with the clearly faster car once again.

The overview is that Lando started the weekend 69 points behind against a rival with a car that eats it's tires alive, and now Max is 82 points ahead. All because of falling into the hype trap, Lando believed his own hype, like Perez did 2 years ago.

I can't believe how much Lando has been suffering since Miami against a Max that is in a car that even when it is slightly faster at the start of the races ends up being quite slower due to the high tire degradation issue they have.

He lost the race the moment he chose to rile up the most aggressive driver on the grid instead of waiting for the clean pass that was going to happen as the red bull tires were dead and in the process of dying even more.

Mclaren is also losing a chance to win the WDC by making stupid mistakes: like letting your lead driver choose his own pit strategy, allowing the second driver to block and interfere with your lead driver. Today they even could have used Piastri to block and slow down Max after both his pitstops so Lando could catch up.

RBR is crippled by: losing Newey, the team instabliltiy and internal infighting, the amount of wind tunnel hours that Mclaren has to spare, Perez is lost in combat, the car has a big tire degradation issues, suspension issues, Perez shows RBR underside and diffuser at every chance he has, Max had the DNF at australia, and a 10 grid penalty pending over him for the power unit that only lasted few minutes and the fact that we still have not reached the half point of the championship.

Mclaren can't have it more favourable to them, RBR only weapons to counter them as of now are Max and the points advantage that can dissapear really fast if the next Mclaren upgrade works again. Remember 2022, arriving at Hungary the championship seemed Ferrari's to lose, the TD arrived and it turned out to be a Max's walkover.
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I agree. People saying Max was too hard on his defense, or worse, that he was "desperate", are not seeing the big picture. Lando wanted to get the upperhand here, with which, with a nice points swing, and a better car, could propel him into a genuine title contention position when there are still so many races to go. Max foiled that by using Lando's agression against him, and maybe stopped that momentum on it's tracks, by gaining even more points on Lando, and making a statement that he is prepared to fight, and fight hard, no matter how big is points advantage is. He is clearly thinking 10 races ahead, while most people still think race by race. His technical foul might end up being crucial come the end of this championship.

Also, i have to smile when i see people calling Max a cheat, when i see far worse in IMSA, or indycar races, and those are deemed "good racing"...
 
P
Richard Wilks said:
I agree. People saying Max was too hard on his defense, or worse, that he was "desperate", are not seeing the big picture. Lando wanted to get the upperhand here, with which, with a nice points swing, and a better car, could propel him into a genuine title contention position when there are still so many races to go. Max foiled that by using Lando's agression against him, and maybe stopped that momentum on it's tracks, by gaining even more points on Lando, and making a statement that he is prepared to fight, and fight hard, no matter how big is points advantage is. He is clearly thinking 10 races ahead, while most people still think race by race. His technical foul might end up being crucial come the end of this championship.

Also, i have to smile when i see people calling Max a cheat, when i see far worse in IMSA, or indycar races, and those are deemed "good racing"...
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Max's intelligence is severely understated. People also don't understand the difference between agressive and assertive. Most drivers are the former, Verstappen is the latter.
 
muzikant
Last week Norris tried to push Verstappen onto the grass, but I have no problem with it, but the well-known UK F1 press makes it a nice story today. It was just hard racing where both fell off

It will be fun later in Silverstone for Max. But actually RB shouldn't have put Max in this position at all.
 
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RichardHessels
To overtake you have to go around, that will never work at that shitty corner.
As long as you are not weaving, you can pick any position to enter a corner.
Up to the other driver to find a gap, there never was a gap there,
Both been pushing it too far.
Now don't complain about any of them, this is what we been waiting for.
Clean DRS overtakes are boring.
On to Silverstone, Copse corner here they come!
We got a medic-heli ready.
 
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markg88
Premium
Apart from a couple of comments that can be ignored it's good to see here some grown-up comments about the Lando and Max incidents. Max is no angel (what top drivers are or were) and he wasn't going to be bullied. He was a bit naughty on the occasion when the cars collided but I honestly believe Lando could have avoided contact, but he was in excited puppy mode against a cold calm calculating warrior. He will learn.
I hate to think how much bile and infantile stuff is written on the Autosport forum and other British press online which will unfortunately make Silverstone a place full of hate for Verstappen with gazillions of boozed up yobs baying from the stands and through the fences.
 
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markg88
Premium
RichardHessels said:
To overtake you have to go around, that will never work at that shitty corner.
As long as you are not weaving, you can pick any position to enter a corner.
Up to the other driver to find a gap, there never was a gap there,
Both been pushing it too far.
Now don't complain about any of them, this is what we been waiting for.
Clean DRS overtakes are boring.
On to Silverstone, Copse corner here they come!
We got a medic-heli ready.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Also, there is a problem with the term 'racing-line'. This 'line' is purely the quickest way round a circuit when NOT racing. The 'racing-line' is not something any racer is entitled to. As for giving a car's width, this is not always possible. Anyone who races or who has raced, knows instinctively when the car ahead is going to close off a gap (fairly) and if a driver goes into that space expecting stewards to rule in their favour that there wasn't a car's width allowed is a bit naive, a fool, or taking the xxxx.
 
BillyBobSenna
Premium
The FIA ruled the accident Max’s fault and gave him a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points on his license. This seems to be a great trade-off for Max considering you eliminate your rival that could have closed the points gap. Maybe next time, you simply declare this deal before the accident and you both just park your cars. This way you avoid repair bills and everyone is happy.
 
RichardHessels
BillyBobSenna said:
The FIA ruled the accident Max’s fault and gave him a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points on his license. This seems to be a great trade-off for Max considering you eliminate your rival that could have closed the points gap. Maybe next time, you simply declare this deal before the accident and you both just park your cars. This way you avoid repair bills and everyone is happy.
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Forgot about Hamilton at Silverstone? Deliberately sending Verstappen in the barriers at one of the most dangerous corners of the track, and in to the hospital (for checks).
10 seconds penalty and Hami still won the race with a 5 second margin. He was waving the victory flag without any remorse (while Max was still in the hospital).
 
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Pete Conway
Premium
markg88 said:
Apart from a couple of comments that can be ignored it's good to see here some grown-up comments about the Lando and Max incidents. Max is no angel (what top drivers are or were) and he wasn't going to be bullied. He was a bit naughty on the occasion when the cars collided but I honestly believe Lando could have avoided contact, but he was in excited puppy mode against a cold calm calculating warrior. He will learn.
I hate to think how much bile and infantile stuff is written on the Autosport forum and other British press online which will unfortunately make Silverstone a place full of hate for Verstappen with gazillions of boozed up yobs baying from the stands and through the fences.
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Please don't mix up the Red top gutter press with the Brits that are actual Motor Racing Fans... you'll give us a bad name, it's already a bad thing to be a white straight mame over 40 in the UK as it is.

However, Max and Carlos had an almost identical issue last year, max was wise and experienced enough to back out of it and have him down the straight, Lando should have done the same, he didn't, contact was made and Verstappen's tyre deflated, this caused the rear of the car to slide and Max counter steered into the path of Norris, that's racing sometimes... the bit I'm sure was unsportsmanlike was that Max then for several seconds blocked Lando from passing, edging him off the road and causing more damage, but Norris again with the bit between his teeth was being determined and didn't think about the situation clearly enough to back out and regroup.
Twice Norris could have backed out and saved the day, but necks were red and commonsense went out of the window.

Aaaand, well done Nico for firing that Haas home splitting the Red Bulls, ON MERIT!
 
markg88
Premium
RichardHessels said:
Forgot about Hamilton at Silverstone? Deliberately sending Verstappen in the barriers at one of the most dangerous corners of the track, and in to the hospital (for checks).
10 seconds penalty and Hami still won the race with a 5 second margin. He was waving the victory flag without any remorse (while Max was still in the hospital).
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You beat me to the exact same response :)
 
E
I think this is just a continuation from the incidents in Spain where the stewards made it clear that deliberately driving into one another is acceptable.

F1 is entertainment first, sport second and is officiated that way. Look at the Premier League for another example. If the Leclerc and Stroll incidents happened at a club meeting, the cars would be on trailers and licenses would be under review. But you aren't going to send Charles Leclerc home or give him a grid penalty and 'spoil the spectacle' are you.

Now you get this incident, where in this case the lead car who had been moving in the braking area turned left on a right corner, in the braking area then continued turning left off the track. Hit the car again. Then spent the following straight trying to run the same car off the road again. I'd like to give benefit of the doubt.... but, you'd need there to be doubt. Even the fact that Norris' slam dunk 5 second penalty for track limits was 'noted', then 'under investigation', it was all about dragging it out and making sure they could keep the spectacle going as long as they could before they ruined it.

Now in a purely sporting sense the obvious answer is a severe penalty, to restore the balance, because the illegal action gave him an advantage against his rival in the championship, but also to deter it from happening again. That's not going to happen though. This is about entertainment as a priority over everything, including a fair contest. It's entertaining when they crash, it drives 'engagement' when the DTS crowd abuse each other on social media about it, they don't want to discourage this behaviour. They want angry fans, they want highlights with carbon bits flying everywhere, welcome to 2024, I think I feel ill.

As an aside, I wonder if we would get more overtaking and better racing if they actually penalised drivers who when defending ran the attacking car off the road or moved under braking?
 

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