Lazy Thoughts on the Austrian Grand Prix
In which Red Bull Racing's home race becomes a horror show
It has not been a good weekend for Red Bull, to say the least. From their F3 darling Nikola Toslov being disqualified after a first-place finish for a technical infringement, to their F2 poster boy Arvid Lindblad getting caught in a multi-car wreck, Red Bull’s home race was already starting to look less like a comeback and more like a curse laid on their doorstep.
F1 qualifying certainly wasn’t helping. Longtime Spielberg kingpin—and Red Bull Racing in general, let’s be real—Max Verstappen not only limped into P7 in qualifying, but shockingly one spot behind the junior team’s Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls car. The same Liam Lawson the senior team demoted after two disappointing races this season. Ouch.
Surely race day can’t make things worse, right?
Oh.
Three turns into the first lap, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli’s rear brakes locked up, causing his car to hurl into Verstappen’s and taking them both out of the race. Verstappen not mincing his words in the radio aftermath: “I’m out, I got hit like crazy… fucking idiots.” And Antonelli, to his credit, admitted to his mistake, relaying, “Sorry about that. I locked the rear.” There seems to be no hard feelings, thankfully. Kimi was even photographed going to the Red Bull hospitality suite to personally apologize to the team.
There’s an irony in the crash as well, I feel. Last time in Canada, McLaren racers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were involved in a collision, taking the former out of the race and robbing the latter of a podium finish. Whatever McLaren did in the past two weeks to repair Canada’s chaos, it worked.
This time, Norris and Piastri kept their racing clean, giving the papaya team its fourth 1-2 finish this season. Compared to two weeks ago, it’s like McLaren poured salt in Red Bull’s wound and trampled on it.
(And let’s not forget: Both Verstappen and Antonelli scored podium finishes in Canada. Talk about karma’s poetic sense of choreography.)
Rounding out this week’s podium is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third. Ferrari’s clearly working towards a comeback after a lackluster season, and boy, did they deliver. Leclerc qualified second and stayed on point through the opening lap’s carnage—even after getting mugged by Piastri at Turn 1. Teammate Lewis Hamilton placed behind him in fourth, marking the team’s best finish so far this year. Hamilton praised the upgrades Ferrari brought to Spielberg, calling them “world-class” in an interview.
Ferrari’s fans have waited a long time to taste even a hint of triumph, and the Austrian GP might give them reason to believe. The team could finally be learning how to stay sharp when the knives are out. And with its 3-4 finish below McLaren, Ferrari’s weekend felt like a well-placed foothold in what has otherwise been a slipstream of frustration.
Hopefully, they can keep this energy up— maybe Hamilton can finally have that Ferrari podium he’s clearly dreaming of.
So, to sum up: Red Bull’s weekend was a beautifully catastrophic opera. McLaren turned their own Canadian implosion into a controlled, clinical execution. And Ferrari is finally building a ladder out of mediocrity.
That’s the sort of folklore Spielberg exists to write.
Miscellaneous Notes
And now, for other thoughts I had during the race:
Red Bull wasn’t alone in its suffering; Williams was experiencing its own hell. Not only did Carlos Sainz’s car catch fire before the race could start, but Alex Albon also retired for the third consecutive time. Once again, it was for an engine issue. Whatever momentum the team started with in Australia is now on life support. Someone get James Vowles a sage stick pronto.
In a continued dramatic irony, both Racing Bulls drivers outperformed senior Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda— with Liam Lawson even scoring points. I’m seriously wondering just how dysfunctional Red Bull Racing is, especially since this happened at, once again, the team’s home race. How much more chaos can the Red Bull empire hold? Vote now on your phones (or the comments below).
Shout-out not just to Nico Hulkenberg this weekend, but to the Kick Sauber team as a whole. Hulkenberg and his rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto both finished in points-scoring positions. Bortoleto especially deserves it. Not just because he took F1 by storm last year, but because he spent part of the time between Canada and Austria on a boat with Max’s in-laws— the Piquets. Yes, you heard right. Bortoleto survived a yachting excursion with the Piquets and still had the mental clarity to score points in Austria. That alone deserves a medal.
(And yes, I will continue to roast the Piquet family every chance I get. It’s always correct to roast them.)
That’s all I have for now. See you in Silverstone next week.
- Flower