8-10th July - Race Report by Aramco

AustriaAustria

2022 season

Lance finished 13th in what turned out to be a difficult weekend in Austria, while Sebastian's progress in the race was halted due to a collision.

2022 season

Austrian Grand Prix circuit figures

Number of pitstops

Longest stint (laps)

350

Total laps in Austria

1511

Total km in Austria

Fastest lapM:S.MS

1.10.048

Lance

1.10.001

Sebastian

Max speedKM/H

318.3

Lance

316.9

Sebastian

I think we have had quite an unlucky weekend so let's just turn the page and focus on the next race.
Sebastian Vettel

Austrian GP

Sebastian Vettel

"It is disappointing to be pushed into the gravel again [after the contact with Alex Albon yesterday]. This time it was [Pierre] Gasly and it almost feels that there is a target on my car!

"I had made a good move on the outside and was ahead leaving plenty of space. I think he was just a bit too keen, ran into me, and I was off in the gravel.

"The car was not in the best shape after that and my race was pretty much done. Before that it was a tricky race because I was hit by some debris on the first lap, which may have damaged the car.

"We were not very competitive on the Hard tyres at the start, but the Medium was better and we were working our way through the field until the contact with Pierre.

"I think we have had quite an unlucky weekend so let's just turn the page and focus on the next race in France."

We have to keep pushing and will try and return to the points in France.
Lance Stroll

Austrian GP

Lance Stroll

"My start was decent, and I could hold position and battle with the McLarens early on. I also had some good wheel-to-wheel moments out there with cars on different strategies, which was fun.

"However, it was tricky to keep the faster cars behind. It would have been nice to have come away with a point or two after a strong recovery drive yesterday, but we have to keep pushing and will try and return to the points in France."

We felt that there was a reasonable chance to score points this afternoon.
Mike Krack - Team Principal

Austrian GP

Mike Krack

"With Lance starting 12th, we felt there was a reasonable chance to score points this afternoon. He drove well today, despite our car struggling a little for performance.

"He climbed as high as fifth during the first phase of the race, managed his first set of tyres for 30 laps, and enjoyed a spirited tussle with [George] Russell and [Mick] Schumacher.

"Sebastian was unfortunate. He was climbing through the field and had just pulled off a well-judged pass when he was tapped into the Turn Four gravel – a move that rightly earned Gasly a five-second penalty.

"From that point, there was not much else he could do. Once again, we brought two cars home reliably – which is a great testament to the hard work of the mechanics – and we will be aiming to score points in France and Hungary before the summer break."

Your guide to Austria

With Cognizant

Insight and Speed

Tyres

The three softest compounds – the C3, C4 and C5 – will be used for the fourth time in five races. Normally a one-stopper, the timing of a Safety Car can influence a second stop and heavily change the dynamics of the race.

Overtaking

The Red Bull Ring is one of the easiest places on the calendar to overtake. The run to the Turn Three hairpin and Turn Four right-hander are the key locations for passes – 90 per cent of moves take place into or out of these corners.

Safety Cars

Since returning to the calendar in 2014, 60 per cent of races have featured a Safety Car or a Virtual Safety Car – which is close to average. As was the case at Silverstone, VSCs are used very rarely – there has only been one occurrence, back in 2018.

With SentinelOne

Unlocking the Lap

The Red Bull Ring is not only the fastest lap on the calendar, it also has the fewest corners with just 10. This makes every braking zone, apex and corner exit absolutely critical to lap-time.

Hard braking zones conclude all three DRS zones – but the nature of these three corners is very different. Turn One (named after the late Niki Lauda) is uphill and deceptively tight on exit; Turn Three is an overtaking possibility and encourages both attack and defence on entry; Turn Four is a late-apex right-hander that also creates action on both entry and exit.

Two more key corners are the pair of downhill right-handers that conclude the lap. Both are extremely fast, requiring maximum commitment and extreme accuracy – running wide can result in laps being deleted due to exceeding track limits and impacts with the large exit kerbs.