Red Bull boss explains they are not favourites in Austria. As the Formula One teams prepared to race in Austria last season, McLaren had been woeful during the preceding Grand Prix. The papaya liveried team had scored just 17 points while Red Bull Racing led the charge for the constructors’ championship on a whopping 323 points.
Yet the Woking based squad were to bring their first decent upgrade of the season, but only had enough components to fit to Lando Norris car. With Austria now a designated Sprint weekend, the teams have just one practice session before qualifying and McLaren with their upgraded car did a decent job in the Friday morning practice session.
Norris qualified in P4 on Friday afternoon for the Saturday morning short version of the Grand Prix and such was the improvement in the McLaren car Lando was less than two tenths slower than Charles Leclerc in second place.
Chaos in Austria 2023
In the Sprint race, Norris proved his qualifying pace was no flash in the pan as the British driver avoided much of the chaos from track limits times being deleted, to bring his car home in third and claim McLaren’s first podium for over a year.
Of course the rules in 2023 meant the driver classification in the Sprint set their grid slot for there Grand Prix on Sunday, where Norris lined up behind Verstappen on the clean side of the grid. As the lights went out, Norris found himself battling with Lewis Hamilton for P4, a position he retained to the end of a chaotic race marred by some 1200 track limits violations.
Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz, Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen all received time penalties for their transgressions during the Grand Prix and Fernando Alonso was adjudicated after the race to also be worthy of a penalty.
Aston Martin protested the result, offering evidence of the more than 1200 track limits violations to the stewards, who issued another twelve post race penalties late into the night after many of the drivers had left the circuit.
Track revised to prevent track limits violations
Track limits has been an issue in particular at the Red Bull Ring for some years, with most transgressions occurring on the final two corners where the kerbs meet large asphalt run off areas which fail to penalise the drivers like a wall in Monaco or a gravel safety pit.
This year under threat from the FIA of losing the Grand Prix, the organisers have inserted strips of gravel outside the kerbs, before the asphalt returns, which should prevent the drivers from using too much of the track in whether in qualifying, the Sprint or the Grand Prix.
These strips of gravel can now be replaced quickly and cheaply by the circuit owners with asphalt for when the motor bikes race compete on the Spielberg circuit.
Norris and McLaren’s P4 was the beginning of a remarkable turnaround, rarely seen in the history of Formula One. Norris’ 12 points in the Grand Prix saw a resurgence in form for the team which scored more points over the remainder of the season than all others with the exception of Red Bull Racing.
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Red Bull “not the fastest” car
Lando Norris was also to score more than any other driver over the remaining 14 races of the year. What a difference a year makes, this season McLaren and Norris go into the Austrian Grand Prix weekend as favourites to win the race according to Red Bull boss, Dr. Helmut Marko.
Whilst Max Verstappen won last time out in Barcelona, the 81 year old Austrian reckons it would have been a different story had Norris been able to retain the lead into turn 1 at the circuit de Catalunya.
“Max once again made the difference and took victory with a car that was not the fastest,” Marko explained in his weekly Speedweek column. “He started on used tyres, while Lando had new ones on his car. He then pushed Max onto the grass at the start with a manoeuvre that was more than sideways.
“This opened the door for Russell, who took full advantage of the slipstream in the relatively long run-up to the first corner and took the lead.
“I think if Lando had stayed in front at the start, we wouldn’t have won the race. But because of the start he fell back to third position behind Russell and Max.”
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Battle hardened team from Milton Keynes
Red Bull are a battle hardened racing team and they too did their significant part in ensuring Verstappen went on to win his seventh race from ten so far this year. The pit stop for the world champion was sub-2 seconds, while McLaren lost 2 seconds to their rivals with safe but steady changes of rubber.
“The tyre changes went very well, I can’t remember the last time we messed up a pit-stop,” added Marko. “All credit goes to Jonathan Wheatley and his motivated crew of mechanics.
“They are a well-coordinated and well-trained team. Hannah Schmitz also deserves praise, she always makes clear decisions.”
Of course the up coming race in Austria is the home Grand Prix for the Red Bull team which leads Ferrari by 60 points going into the weekend. Yet the iconic red team have stumbled in the past two weeks and don’t look as though they will be Red Bull’s main challengers.
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Setup time at a premium
The RB20 has proven to be difficult to set up each weekend this year and with just one practice session before Sprint qualifying, the team have their work cut out for them to balance the car for competitive action.
“Another challenge awaits us,” continues Marko. “Max always has a chance to win, but we are running a sprint weekend there and that means we only have one session to tune the car.
“The last few races we have always needed all three practice sessions to get the car balanced, so if this problem persists, we could be in for a tough time.”
“Flawless” driving from Max is the difference
Marko goes on to praise the “flawless” driving of Max Verstappen and hopes this will make the difference between himself and Norris who is not quite at the driving standard of the triple world champion.
“But he remains our biggest rival,” adds Marko. “So I hope Mercedes gets stronger and becomes the second strongest team for a while. That would definitely help us in the championship.”
The Red Bull consultant is referring to the fact that Sergio Perez has gone missing since signing his new contract. With just four points from the last four races, the Mexican is dumping all responsibility for Red Bull’s seventh constructors’ title on his team mate.
Ferrari and Mercedes have driver pairings which mostly deliver similar qualifying and race results, but with Mercedes now 189 points behind Red Bull, Marko hopes their recent beating of Ferrari continues as this will mitigate the lack of points coming from Checo.
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Haas sign young British talen
Formula One team Haas have officially secured a replacement for Nico Hulkenberg, who is set to join Sauber/Audi. According to reliable sources, the deal has been finalised and is expected to be formally announced around the time of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
In a significant move that marks a generational change, Haas have chosen 19-year-old British driver Oliver Bearman to take over the cockpit from 36-year-old Nico Hulkenberg from next season.
This was reported by RacingNews365 on Tuesday, citing sources close to the team who confirmed the agreement, TJ13 can also confirm that this deal is offical. Bearman’s official presentation is expected to take place just before the Silverstone Grand Prix, a fitting venue for the young Briton’s introduction to the pinnacle of motorsport… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
