Austrian GP (Red Bull Ring) | July 8–10, 2022

Ugh, it’s hard to even process what just happened. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm stoked about the Leclerc win, but man... it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We just watched another golden opportunity for a 1-2 slip through our fingers, which basically just handed Max and Red Bull a free pass to minimize the damage again.
It’s blindingly obvious that if Ferrari wants any prayer of standing up to RB, they have to push those engines to the absolute limit—but the hardware just can't take the heat. Honestly, thank God Sainz managed to scramble out of that car in time... things could have gone south really fast there.
Leclerc absolutely earned that trophy today. He went door-to-door with his direct rival and pulled off three overtakes on track, all while nursing those fuel issues during those final ten laps. What a drive.

edit : Kazo k mag I’m just sitting here waiting for some idiot to point at this race and claim Ferrari is now the dominant force. Get real. The truth is Red Bull was just as fast on the mediums; their setup was just a complete disaster when they switched to hards. So, in this specific race—and strictly looking at that stint on the hard tires—yeah, Ferrari had the better car.

swiftmaker12 said:George Russell is gonna be a world champion one day

He shuts the door on Perez so perfectly you'd think Perez did it to himself...

To me, that looked like a total racing incident. Perez had plenty of room on the outside, but he was just too desperate to get past Russell right then and there, so he tried to close him out way too early.

Bottom line? It was Perez's mistake for being so impatient with Russell. He would've gotten past him eventually anyway, no matter what...

cosmicmoose2 said:To really looked like a racing incident to me. Perez had plenty of room on the outside, but he was just too eager to get past Russell right at that exact moment, which caused him to try and close the door prematurely.

Regardless, it was definitely a mistake on Perez's part to be that impatient with Russell. He would have overtaken him a little later on anyway.

Checo and Horner don't really have a leg to stand on here; George gave him more than enough space...

Jacob Castillo70 said:Checo and Horner have zero room to complain here—George gave him plenty of space...

Yeah, which is exactly why he ended up getting hit with that penalty.

ruggedcyclist56 said:Leclerc already flew off on the straightawaybut some people are claiming Red Bull is still the fastest and best car here 😬

Ferrari had way better grip on the hards. That means much faster corner exits, which obviously leads to a gap on the straights. So yeah, it makes total sense that Ferrari was faster in those spots. But look, if you actually watched the speeds while Leclerc was chasing Max, Leclerc only had a 10kmh advantage even with DRS. That’s the real indicator of which car has the higher top speed...

Thomas Rogers said:Exactly, which is why he ended up taking that penalty.

A five-second penalty is nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Red Bull didn't even stand a chance on those hard tires. They absolutely tore through them just as fast, if not faster than they did on the mediums.

edit : Kazo k mag says in his post-race interview that he was dealing with engine issues the entire race, which basically means that Ferrari engine is a ticking time bomb. Literally.

Richard Walker38 said:Red Bull didn't even show up on hards—they ate them just as fast, if not faster, than the mediums

edit : Kazo k mag said in his statement afterward that he had engine issues the whole race, so I guess that Ferrari engine is basically a ticking time bomb. Literally.

so I mean, they've probably swapped engines 5 or 6 times already across 3 different teams this year. Ferrari ditched Honda a few years back anyway.

stormybadger8 said:It wasn't that Ferrari was fast, it's just that RB was incredibly slow during this race...
First off, Ferrari clearly pushed their luck too far, which ended up causing one car to catch fire and the other to break down...

On the flip side, RB obviously completely botched their setup. They were absolutely destroying their tires and had zero grip, so they never stood a chance at being fast...

Besides, one swallow doesn't make a spring...☕

One swallow doesn't make a spring?

What about Australia or Monaco? During which part of the weekend did RB actually look equal to Ferrari to you?
Spain? Did RB really match Ferrari there?
I think those are rhetorical questions...

Come on, TBF, please...

Max, Charles, and Lewis have all been called in to see the stewards... oops.

It’s a parc fermé rule violation. They’ll most likely be hit with some heavy fines...

"The issue involves driver physios having contact with the drivers while in parc fermé before the official weigh-in has taken place. This has been an ongoing problem, and the FIA has already issued warnings to the teams that this behavior needs to end."🤣

Jacob Castillo70 said:Max, Charles, and Lewis got called in by the stewards... oops.

A parc fermé rule violation. They'll probably just slap them with a fine...

"It relates to the drivers' physios interacting with the drivers in parc ferme before they've been weighed. It has been going on for a while and the FIA have previously warned the teams it needs to stop" 🤣

haha, the FIA acting like cops and politicians with their laws😵
probably trying to "prevent adding extra weight" right before the weigh-in
😵

Both Ferrari and RB have had races where they just dropped points on the table due to mistakes or bad luck.
If it hadn't been for George Russell's issues and that specific incident with George, Mercedes would have finished all 11 races. Reliability remains one of their strongest suits, just like it always has been.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Both Ferrari and RB have had races where they just dropped points on the floor... total mess.
If it wasn't for George and Russell, Mercedes would've knocked out 11 races and finished them all. Their reliability is still holding up better than most, as usual.

Look, Mercedes is slowly crawling back into the fight. They might actually start shaking things up and snatching a win here and there from the big dogs. Hamilton was driving his head off today, staying right on the tail of Ferrari—and let's be real, Ferrari was the benchmark today, he was within like 2 or 3 tenths of their pace. And once again, he was faster than Russell, also by about 2-3 tenths.

Thomas Rogers said:Yeah, that's why he got hit with the penalty.

He got penalized because the stewards clearly have no clue what they're doing...
It's a total circus. They end up slapping both him and Vettel with penalties, and honestly, nobody has a clue what logic they used to justify Vettel's call. 😁

So, the penalty is for leaving the track...
But here’s how the progression actually works:
1st violation
2nd violation
3rd violation
Black & white flag
penalty

Vettel had his second violation on the penultimate lap, and then somehow magically jumped straight to a penalty without hitting the third violation or seeing the black & white flag. Just straight to the penalty...
How or why? No idea. It's just how it went...

Same deal with Russell—that shouldn't even be a penalty.
Even if you argue Perez should've been penalized before Russell, it's because Perez is the one forcing people off and leaving zero room, rather than being forced out himself.

So you're telling me Gasly didn't even do anything wrong? He just got boxed in by Vettel who was aggressively forcing his way through? 🍿

Richard Walker38 said:So what, you're saying Gasly did nothing wrong and Vettel just boxed him in and pushed him? 🍿

How on earth are those two contacts even similar? Vettel was practically off the track, whereas Perez had enough room to park two buses between the end of the track and his car. 🍿
Give me a break. 🤣

I love a good troll, but let's be real—this isn't even funny. It's just a pathetic attempt at being edgy...
Go find a mentor if you actually want to learn how to stir the pot, then maybe come back when you know what you're talking about...
Until then, go play soccer or something. Maybe someone out there will actually fall for these lame attempts at trolling...

cosmicmoose2 said:I guess Mercedes is slowly finding their way back into the conversation. They might actually start shaking things up and maybe even snatch a win from the big players every now and then. Today, Hamilton was driving a pretty solid race, staying right on the heels of Ferrari, which seems to be the benchmark today—he was basically within two or three tenths of their pace. And yeah, he was faster than Russell again, too, by about that same margin.

🤦
The guy finished 40 seconds behind the top two.
If you take away Perez, Russell, and Sainz from today's podium run, he probably would have ended up in 6th. A masterful 6th place, if you catch my drift...

stormybadger8 said:How on earth are those two incidents even similar? Vettel was practically hugging the edge of the track, while Perez had enough room to park two buses between the end of the track and his car.🍿
Give me a break.🤣

Look, I love a good troll and some banter, but you have to actually be good at it. This is just a pathetic attempt at trolling...
Hit up Billy or Joe for some lessons, and once you actually learn how it works, then you can come back...
Until then, go play soccer outside. Maybe someone there will actually fall for these ridiculous attempts to bait people...

Screenshots taken right at the moment of contact.

The fact is, Vettel was right on the limit🤣, basically driving through the gravel, for crying out loud.🍿

You aren't just wearing pink fanboy glasses; your eyesight is clearly failing you too.

Richard Walker38 said:

Screenshots taken right at the moment of contact.

Honestly, Vettel was right on the edge of the track 🤣, practically driving through the gravel, man. 🍿

Not only are you wearing those pink fanboy glasses, but your vision seems to be failing you too.

That was a real classy presentation you gave us there. Really impressive. 👍

It's great how you feel the need to tell a fellow forum member that their eyesight is shot. 👍

Jack Kelly5 said:🤦
The guy finished 40 seconds behind the leaders.
If it wasn't for Perez, Russell, and Sainz grabbing trophies today, he probably would've landed in 6th. A masterclass 6th place, if you want to be generous...

It’s not actually that bleak. Hamilton dropped about 19 seconds just fighting his way through traffic, but after that, he basically held steady until the Safety Car came out and there was nothing left to gain.
Last year, they were trailing by about 40 seconds too.