The Austrian GP saw the return to victory of Charles Leclerc, who overtook polesitter Max Verstappen three times during the race, to win in front of him and Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc moves back up into P2 👀#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/OOM87JSHNf
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 10, 2022
Charles Leclerc – 10
The Monegasque needed to bounce back after a difficult spell, and finally he got his first win since round three in Australia.
This also marked his first win after not starting on pole position, and his first of the season when title rival Verstappen finished the race.
Leclerc held off teammate Carlos Sainz in the sprint race and appeared more at ease than Verstappen on Sunday.
He made the move on the Red Bull early on, before creating a tyre delta and using newer tyres to pass him back after the attempted undercuts.
Embed from Getty ImagesMax Verstappen – 9
The hero at the Red Bull Ring went down with a stoic fight, still limiting damages with the fastest lap point and the victory in the sprint.
This meant he just lost five points to Leclerc, and in turn gained 23 on his previously closest challenger Sergio Perez.
Verstappen won pole position and kept his place on Saturday in the sprint race, but the Ferraris’ pace left him concerned.
In fact, the Maranello cars looked more comfortable on Sunday and only Sainz’s engine failure meant he could finish second.
Embed from Getty ImagesLewis Hamilton – 7.5
An unusual weekend for Hamilton ended with a surprising podium finish, after being as low as P8 in the first stint.
A Friday qualifying crash left him in P10, gaining a place due to Fernando Alonso’s troubles and being stuck behind the two Haas cars, proving unable to overtake for long moments.
At the end, Hamilton used the overcut, with his laps in clean air allowing him to clear a train of faster cars.
The issues to Sainz, and the contact between Perez and teammate George Russell promoted him to a third consecutive podium.
George Russell – 7
Fourth was still a solid result, and the same finishing position on Saturday meant he left the weekend with 17 points, the same as teammate Hamilton.
However, Russell crashed in qualifying and also made contact with Perez, being penalised and sustaining damage.
He ended up at the back and slowly made up progress to clear the midfield cars, but finishing behind Hamilton after his head start was not what he wanted.
Embed from Getty ImagesEsteban Ocon – 8.5
Esteban Ocon’s season continues on a high, as the Frenchman finished fifth on Sunday and sixth on Saturday, to bring home 13 points which allowed Alpine to tie McLaren in the standings.
Ocon was best of the rest in all of the defining sessions, comfortably defending from the two Haas cars and challenging the Mercedes drivers.
Making use of Alonso’s troubles, he was the leader for his team and moved up to eighth in the championship.
Mick Schumacher – 8
After claiming his maiden points the week before, Mick Schumacher put in a strong weekend to finish in sixth.
The German driver was eighth on the grid, appearing faster than his teammate during the sprint race, but being asked to remain behind and eventually losing out to Hamilton.
In the race, he made up for it, proving faster than Magnussen, also overtaking Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris after his stop, on the way to a sixth place finish.
Embed from Getty ImagesLando Norris – 7.5
The Brit suffered bad luck on Friday, with an engine issue during practice and a brake issue in qualifying, which meant he was only 15th.
He recovered five places on the grid for Sunday and put up a challenge to the teams in front, eventually finishing in seventh after a long duel with the two Haas.
A penalty for exceeding track limits too many tines cost him a stronger result, but for Norris there were six points which consolidated his seventh place in the championship.
Kevin Magnussen – 7
The Dane returned to a smiling habit this weekend, where Haas proved competitive and he could manage P6 in qualifying.
He held his position going to the race, but soon found himself up against his charging teammate, who passed him later.
Magnussen dropped to P8, unable to fend off Norris, but still brought home points for an encouraging double points-finish for Haas.
Embed from Getty ImagesDaniel Ricciardo – 6
The Australian driver returned in the points after a dark period, racing close to Norris for some parts of the weekend.
He was disappointingly eliminated in Q1, but made up for it by recovering up to a P11 start.
The Aussie was slightly slower than Norris on Sunday and could not follow him up to overtake Magnussen, finishing just behind in ninth.
Fernando Alonso – 7.5
The poor Spaniard cannot seem to catch a break and left Austria after just scoring a point despite proving very quick.
He was fourth fastest in Q1, but broke parts of the car and was ninth on the grid for Saturday, failing to start due to an issue.
On Sunday, he recovered from the back and was running a strong sixth, before choosing to pit under the vsc.
The team made a mess of it and Alonso had to stop twice in two laps to fix an unfitted wheel. He recovered from a low position to salvage just a point on the last lap.
Embed from Getty ImagesValtteri Bottas – 6
The Finn’s weekend was to be compromised before it started, as he got an engine penalty which meant he would have to start from the back of the grid on Sunday.
Valtteri Bottas finished the sprint race in P10, showing he could have fought for points, was he to start from the front.
Eventually, the Finn climbed up to P10, but was overtaken on the last lap by a charging Alonso to drop a place short of the points.
Alex Albon – 6.5
The Williams driver recovered quickly after being hospitalised following a crash at Silverstone and fought for points until the end.
The car proved more competitive than recent races, making use of new upgrades, as he qualified an excellent 11th.
However, a penalty for a collision with Norris and a few contacts dropped him to 15th on the grid.
He followed the McLarens through, but was too far back and lost the points at the end when Bottas and Alonso overtook him.
Embed from Getty ImagesLance Stroll – 5.5
Lance Stroll finished 13th, four places in front of troubled teammate Sebastian Vettel.
However, his weekend will hardly be memorable, as he was 17th on Friday and 13th on Saturday, after making use of issues hitting other cars.
He opted for a long first stint, but by the time of his stop he had already been caught by the points scorers.
Zhou Guanyu – 5
After three strong performances in the last races, the Chinese driver struggled for pace and finished well outside the points.
He was just 18th on Friday and climbed up five places in the sprint, but ended up finishing 14th after a long first stint on hard tyres.
Pierre Gasly – 5
At this stage last year, Pierre Gasly had 49 points. Now he has only 15 and failed to score eight out of 11 times.
The Frenchman was 15th in Austria and was loud to his team, urging them for upgrades.
Perez’s penalty meant he was 10th on the grid for the sprint race, but was soon hit by Hamilton and found himself 15th after a decent recovery from penultimate.
However, on Sunday he received two five-seconds penalties, one for track limits and one for contact with Vettel and dropped back.
Embed from Getty ImagesYuki Tsunoda – 4.5
It was a difficult weekend for Yuki Tsunoda, who never looked to have the pace and finished a desolate 16th.
He was seven tenths off Gasly in Q2, to qualify 14th, and dropped four places at the sprint race start, recovering just to 16th.
From the back, he failed to recover, as Alpha Tauri appeared to struggle more than usual.
Sebastian Vettel – 5.5
His good form took a halt, as Vettel’s weekend looked to be one in which many things go wrong.
Despite not suffering from reliability problems, Vettel was last on Friday, with his fastest time deleted, and last on Sunday.
He was twice the victim of an incident, one in both races, and a penalty for track limits meant he was 17th at the flag.
Carlos Sainz – 8
His fourth retirement in 11 races is a cruel one, as he was looking to pass Verstappen in the late stages to complete a Ferrari one-two.
The Spaniard was just 86 thousanths off pole position and fought hard with Verstappen and Leclerc in the sprint race, though he remained third for the race.
He was following his teammate and looked quite competitive, but an engine failure meant he had to retire and lost out massively in the championship battle.
Embed from Getty ImagesNicholas Latifi – 5
Silverstone’s exploit was soon forgotten, as the Canadian driver qualified eight places down on teammate Albon and was only 19th.
In the sprint race, he finished last, more than a minute behind the leaders, and picked up some damage early on Sunday, compromising the result.
The team opted to retire the car once it became undriveable from the damage sustained.
Sergio Perez – 5
With these kind of performances, the Mexican driver will hardly be a title contender, as, similarly to 2021, he has off races which lead to trouble.
He struggled to set a time in Q2 due to track limits and a penalty relegated him from fourth to 13rd, though he made up for it by finishing the sprint in fifth.
However, once more he suffered trouble, clashing with Russell on the opening lap and shortly afterwards having to retire.
Whilst it wasn’t his fault, as the stewards decided, the chances of overtaking in turn four are slim, as he found already last year, and these risks are to be avoided if he wants to be a title contender.
