Austrian Grand Prix: Catching Fire
Brand Geraten is German for Caught fire, and that could explain the Austrian Grand Prix for many people and for many different reasons. Some are good reasons, like when Leclerc was putting in fastest lap after fastest lap chasing down Verstappen, and we were like oh man that dude is on fire! Some for bad reasons, like when Pierre Gasley picked up 10 seconds in time penalties and everyone was like that is just a dumpster fire. Other times its literal, like holy shit Carlos Sainz car caught fire!!!!!
Fresh off of a thrilling Silverstone, F1 gave us little chance to breath as we went straight to the Red Bull ring. It was widely speculated that Red Bull would dominate at their home track, as they have in the past. However, Ferrari was desperate for a good showing as this was a Sprint Race weekend and a bonous haul of points was available. Side note, I am glad we only have on of these left. Not because I don’t think they are exciting, but because I receive quite a bit of…lets say… feedback from pool participants about lack of clarity around these unique weekends. It is defiantly top priority for all future sprint races to All of those who did have there picks in by qualifying Friday, I wish I could have given you even more extra points, amazing work. Anyways, back to Austria.
Qualifying on FRIDAY!!! Was mostly standard, the Red Bulls and Ferraris locked out the first two rows and a lone Mercedes was in fourth. What was surprising was the sight of two HAAS cars in the top 10. For a team that has brought the least amount of upgrades on the season, they just seem to get better and better. Hard to believe they use to be the laughing stock of F1. See that Fast Car Dive Bars, there is always hope.
The Sprint Race took place on Saturday and the new format this year sees up to 8 points given to the winner. So for the likes of many in our pool, a good result in the sprint would be key for them to get back into the fight. Charles Leclerc coming away with a 2nd place finish and 7 bonus points was a good result, however being beaten by Max wasn’t ideal. For the 15 pool participants who choose Hamilton, an 8th place finish in the sprint a just one bonous point, had them a little worried. While for Meg and Fyshing, who choose Russel, their weekend was looking like the good caught fire. Now for ITZ Formula 1, who had one driver not even start the sprint, while another scored zero points, it was starting to look like their weekend was a dumpster fire.
Race day was when the excitement really happened. We had spins and penalties being handed out like candy and even a 4 car wide battle into several tight corners. Russell kicked everything off by making contact with Perez, sending the Red Bull spinning into the gravel with side pod damage which eventually led to him DNFed (Did Not Finish). As mentioned, Gasley took home 10 seconds in penalties, while 5 drivers in total would receiving track limit penalty this race. We had Alonso giving young Yuki Tsunoda a finger wave while he was traveling at over 220 km/hr while Hamilton showed form once again, earning a 3rd consecutive 3rd place finish, mostly due to his magical ability with tire management. He went long on his first stint and was able to jump more than a few cars during the pits stops. Interestingly enough Russel's eventful 4th place finish had him end the weekend with 1 more point than Hamilton. But the real battle was out front, between 2 Ferrari's and a Red Bull.
Verstappen vs. the Ferrari's was the main event of this weekend. Despite starting strong and keeping the prancing horses at bay, the Ferrari's race pace looked to much for the Verstappen. By lap 12 Leclerc had made his first over take of Verstappen. That’s when Red Bull realized they needed to make this a strategy battle. Ferrari doesn’t tend to win these. Red Bull went for the under cut (pitting first) and bet on a 2 stop race. After his 2nd stop, Max's fresh tires had him closing in on the Ferrari's. The Italian team responded with a 2nd stop of their own, handing 1st place to Mad Max on track, had Red Bull actually won the strategy game? Unfortunately not, 2 laps after his pit stop, Leclerc had caught Verstappen and passed him with ease, and with Sainz gaining on Verstappen faster than me eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream, it seemed a guaranteed 1-2 finish would be the cookie dough in the ice cream for Ferrari… Or so it seemed. Never forget, Ferrari will always Ferrari. Yet another engine failure for Sainz saw his car engulphed in flames, which is an apt metaphor for his season. That wasn’t even the end to Ferrari's day, a gas pedal problem had Leclerc white knuckling to the finish line, but he still held on to finish 1st and hopefully get back into the title fight. Speaking of title fights, how did this exciting grand prix and sprint race effect or standings? Well like Carlos Sainz, they are all shook up.
Last years champion Meg lead wire to wire, but this year she has yet to reach to peak….until now. Meg finds herself back in her rightful spot at the top of the table. A solid 9 point gap separates her from 2nd place Marstar and a healthy 16 points separates her from 3rd place Leah. Her claim to first comes at a price though. Meg is the FIRST competitor to max out on drivers. She has maxed out on both Verstappen and Leclerc picks. Can she maintain her lead despite this? Only time will tell. Now as for the fate of Mahkatz who was our leader before Austria, she failed to delivery her picks in on time, but avoided disaster she finds herself in 4th 28 points behind Meg. One of the big movers of weekend was Cam-ando-Alonso. He jumped from 8th to 6th off a 75 point weekend, and sits only 30 point behind Meg, putting himself in the hunt. While Jafyshe, a veteran F1 fan, sees himself unexpectedly battling his way through the mid-field. Defiantly not the season he environed. However, a move past Louanne now has him seeing the rear of Cargo V. Roum as he tries to regain some respect. The weekends top perform comes surprisingly from the back markers. Brownie scored a record 76 points! This giant haul was able to vault our man from Beaumont Alberta 2 spots! If he keeps this form up who knows, the underperforming rookie might be able to enter into the mid pack battle. Now the Williams poor performance award went to ITZ Formula 1. The average score for the weekend was a whopping 60 points. ITZ left Austria with a mere 23 points. However I have no doubt this will only motivate them to bring it all next race.
The season is now officially half way done, we have great battles at the top middle and back of the field. However, no matter where you fall, as many people have demonstrated so far, no one is truly out of it. We have and just as many races ahead as behind and we already had one competitor max out, this is when it gets exciting. So everyone keep up beat, dive into the data and get ready for Paul Ricard and the French Grand Prix!
