Is F1 2022 now a two-way title fight? And does it suit Red Bull or Ferrari?
Losers
Carlos Sainz
Momentum was on Carlos Sainz’s side following a run of podium finishes and then his maiden F1 victory at the British GP.
Unfortunately, Sunday could prove fatal in terms of his title chances, with an engine failure costing him a comfortable P2 finish.
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Sainz was about to overtake Verstappen for second place, to give Ferrari an important 1-2 finish at the Red Bull Ring but his engine ignited, forcing him to evacuate his fiery Ferrari.
With the Spaniard falling further behind in the title race, surely it’s time for Ferrari to prioritise Charles Leclerc?
Sergio Perez
It was a bad day for the ‘number two’ drivers in Austria with Sergio Perez also failing to make the chequered flag.
The Mexican recovered from a disappointing qualifying to secure fifth on the grid after the sprint race.
Perez’s eagerness to get past Russell on the opening lap proved to be his undoing as contact with the Mercedes driver at Turn 4 put him in the gravel trap.
His Red Bull was severely damaged and several seconds off of the pace meaning he was forced to retire from proceedings prematurely.
Realistically, Perez was never in the title fight but this was probably the final nail in the coffin.
Alfa Romeo
After a strong start to the year, Alfa Romeo have taken a serious stepback relative to Alpine and McLaren.
A lack of straight-line speed seems to be at the route of their problems, while their low-speed performance doesn’t seem to be as good as it was in the opening five races of the year.
Valtteri Bottas recovered well from the pit lane to finish 11th, while Zhou Guanyu was heavily involved in the midfield chaos but never looked likely to score points.
The team now sit 30 points behind Alpine and McLaren in the race for fourth in the constructors’ championship.
They’ll have to be wary of Haas behind them now.
Pierre Gasly
It was a miserable weekend for Gasly, who was involved in two avoidable incidents that were entirely his own fault.
He collided with Hamilton on the opening lap of the sprint, dropping him down to 11th before spinning Sebastian Vettel around at Turn 4.
Gasly subsequently picked up a five-second time penalty to cap off a poor weekend which saw AlphaTauri drop behind Haas in the constructors’ championship.
Winners
Charles Leclerc
After five races without finishing on the F1 podium, Leclerc’s return to the top of the rostrum was long overdue.
Reliability cost him a guaranteed victory in Barcelona, while poor strategy choices from Ferrari put him out of contention in Monaco and Britain.
There was no stopping Leclerc on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring, overtaking main title rival Max Verstappen on three separate occasions.
Even a throttle issue in the closing 10 laps didn’t halt Leclerc’s charge as he claimed his third win of the year to reduce Verstappen’s lead to 38 points at the halfway point.
Mercedes
It was a scrappy weekend for Mercedes overall but it still came away from the Austrian GP with a big points haul.
Lewis Hamilton scored his third straight podium finish, while George Russell recovered from 19th (after contact with Perez) to finish fourth.
It was a strong recovery after both drivers crashed heavily in Q3 despite being in contention for a top three grid position for the sprint.
While their outright performance wasn’t as strong as at Silverstone, Mercedes continue to maximise their package in terms of points.
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon enjoyed his best weekend of the year with a strong drive to fifth at the Austrian GP.
It was a timely performance as in recent rounds, Fernando Alonso has comprehensively out-performed him despite the championship standings stating otherwise.
Ocon qualified a superb fifth on Friday before securing sixth in the sprint.
He enjoyed a quiet but productive Sunday drive to come home with 10 crucial points in P5.
Mick Schumacher & Haas
Another star performer this weekend was Mick Schumacher and Haas.
It seems that Schumacher has made an important breakthrough following his maiden F1 points finish last time out at the British GP.
Schumacher was understandably frustrated after the sprint as he was stuck behind his slower teammate before dropping out of the top eight.
He made amends on race day, even overtaking his teammate at Turn 9 before coming home in P6 - a career-best result.
Lando Norris
After qualifying 15th on Friday, finishing seventh is a fantastic result for Lando Norris.
Despite running an older engine, combined with an ill-handling car, Norris drove beautifully to secure seventh.
He will be left to rue the time penalty that he picked up for track limits but he overtook the quicker Haas of Magnussen in the latter stages.
