Taking pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix today, George Russell re-launched the race for the world title while Franco Colapinto, who will have to start from 16th position, fell back in his fight against Pierre Gaslyhis teammate, who will start from 11th position.
Franco was in Q2 948 thousandths behind Gasly, with two Audis and two Haas inserted between them, because In what should have been his fastest lap he made an incursion through the escape lane in turn 1. Aware of having ruined his chances, he aborted that turn. had committed a strategic mistake at that important moment which was the closing of the classification test. It wasn’t the right occasion.
On Friday he had made an excursion through the leca, without consequences, in FP2, but he could imagine that he would be at Gasly’s level on Saturday. In FP3 at noon, with the asphalt burning at 51 °C and an ambient temperature of 32 °C, he had an interesting time, 1m08s394, while Gasly set 1m09s193. Going into the qualifying test he was only 201 thousandths behind and he could be optimistic because he had done his time with soft tires that were already five laps old against the new ones that Pierre had used.
The pressure is noticeable
With the stands full of people and the prevailing heat, the Spielberg was a pressure cooker when the qualification test began. At the end of Q1, Franco could rest easy: he had recorded the 11th time and left Gasly behind, who was 13th at 144 thousandths. Both went to Q2. In the few minutes between the end of Q1 and Q2, Franco began to feel the pressure cooker, his own.
You had to take a chance to get into the top 10. The car had improved at the end of the morning FP3 and seemed a little more manageable. The new spoiler was now working. Would it be enough to defeat not only Pierre but also the Audis, the Haas and some of the Racing Bulls, who are increasingly a threat to the team’s aspirations?
In the last minute of Q2, Gasly set his best time of that part: 1m07s223. He was going to finish 11th, just four hundredths behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and one position away from moving into Q3.
The direct rivals were already finishing their fastest laps: Bortoleto (Audi), Bearman (Haas), Ocon (Haas) and Hülkenberg (Audi). Colapinto opened his race wide, climbing on the straight towards Turn 1. He braked between 10 and 15 meters further than Gasly did in his best lap. But he went too far and had to take the escape route. Almost immediately he aborted the lap because he already knew that he was not going to improve his previous best time, which was 1m08s171.
The drive to dominate
Steve Nielsen, Alpine Team Principal, said this to the press: “We cannot be completely satisfied with the result and how it went today, because the goal each weekend is still to get both cars into the top 10. and be in a good position to fight for points in the race. It could be seen that both drivers were pushing as hard as they could to get the best they could. Pierre did a good job and was close to entering Q3, but you could also see from the behavior of the car that it was not a comfortable lap, with a lot of movement. The same can be said for Franco, who was showing good pace, but suffered a difficult moment in Turn 1 on his final lap of Q2. We continue learning about new parts and trying to extract the most. “What we saw on Friday and in previous events indicates that we can be more competitive in the race and aim to advance positions in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.”
Did Colapinto need to brake so far into that curve? That need is like an impulse that Franco finds difficult to control because statistically he tends to be one of those who slows down the most. And that works well in certain curves and moments, but not always. In the telemetry of this Austrian episode it was seen that Gasly, to make the eleventh time, braked earlier and released the brake more gently and for a longer time at the entrance to Turn 1. This technique was enough for him to overtake the four cars that stood between him and his Argentine teammate. Of course, Franco was not the only one who made a mistake on the hot Austrian afternoon. Another, and one of the big ones, was that of Max Verstappen, who crashed at turn 9.
Pole and controversy
Very rarely does Max Verstappen aim to master physics. But, in the last minute of Q3, he crashed into the fences at just under 200 km/h. There was no escape zone to avoid that accident. Max’s maneuver served as an indirect trigger for a controversy surrounding the pole position that George Russell was going to achieve.
George was in crisis. The young Kimi Antonelli, his teammate, had been beating him so far in five of the qualifying tests and in the races, 5 to 2. His status as number 1 driver at Mercedes was in danger, which was taken for granted due to his records and seniority.
For this reason, today in Q3 of the Austrian Grand Prix he went out on the track determined to do everything, everything to stop the insolent challenge of the young Italian, leader of the competition.
And on his fastest lap, reaching Turn 9, simple yellow flags appeared due to Verstappen’s accident. He was forced to take his foot off the accelerator. He lifted, yes. How much time did you waste? Some tenth. Would it be enough to be within the regulations? At the end of that lap, Russell had the best time.
He wanted to celebrate his pole position and Mercedes consulted with the stewards of the International Automobile Federation. In the mixed zone, Toto Wolff, his boss, told Russell that he was worth his time, which ended up defeating the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc (at 236 thousandths), Lewis Hamilton (at 295 thousandths) and, better yet, leaving the annoying Kimi in fourth position, who closed the second row of the grid at 301 thousandths.
There was controversy. Ferrari drivers and other colleagues believed he should be sanctioned. However, before the FIA the matter was clarified: the sporting regulations (Article B1.8.4) say that in the area where there is a single yellow flag waved, the driver entering that area must reduce his speed and be prepared to change direction.
Toto Wolff, the boss of Mercedes, showed the telemetry to the stewards. Russell’s foot lift had extended for 100 meters, losing a tenth and a half in the area under the flag. Since he had arrived there with a half-second lead, that is why he was able to take pole position.
Criticism had arisen because, seconds after Russell passed by the place, double yellow flags were shown, which would have required abandoning the Englishman’s attempt to qualify altogether.
A long torture
At the Hungaroring it is difficult to overtake and tomorrow the forecast calls for the same heat and track temperature as today. A long career, or torture, awaits Franco Colapinto. We will have to take care of the tires and establish a strategy. He will go for a long first stint to take advantage of a virtual or real safety car. The A526s of Franco and Gasly have a pace quite equal to that of the Audis of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg. More accessible to Colapinto are the Haas of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, which proved to be between 3 and 5 tenths per lap slower in long runs.
In the galaxy of the four dominant teams, the one with the best rocket is Russell, because on Friday he showed pace between 3 and 5 tenths faster than the Ferraris and an advantage of up to 6 km/h in the first half of the main straight, until the Ferrari’s rotating rear wing reduces resistance and the speeds are equalized. There will be an interesting battle that will be witnessed by the beautiful Styrian valley, in the same place where Carlos Reutemann won the 1974 GP with Brabham.
