F1 | Styrian GP: analysis of qualifying

On the Bulls' home track, a Red Bull places itself in front of everyone. After having conquered pole position a week ago in France, Max Verstappen also confirmed himself as the fastest in qualifying in Austria, thus guaranteeing himself the possibility of starting the race from the first spot on the starting grid for the third time this season. A result achieved on a track whose characteristics are well suited to those of the RB16B on the flying lap, in particular due to the presence of long straights on which the single-seater from Milton Keynes proved to have something more than its most direct competition.

Being able to count on a good position on the grid, the objective for the Dutchman will be to confirm himself in the race too, trying to repeat the successes of 2018 and 2019: “Winning the team's first pole position on our home circuit is great and I'm very happy about it. We made some progress in qualifying this year and, although the car proved competitive and easy to set up throughout the weekend, we still decided to make some changes for qualifying. There aren't many corners on this track, but it's really difficult to interpret the lap because of the braking in turns three and four, where you can lose a tenth or more if you make a small mistake. It wasn't easy to manage the traffic in the final corners to complete a clean lap, but I think our first attempt in Q3 was enough in the end. I expect a close fight tomorrow. We know that the Mercedes car is very strong in the race and they are good at managing the tyres, we will be really close, I think the fans will enjoy it, everyone likes this challenge", explained Verstappen at the end of qualifying, demonstrating his satisfaction with today's result.

Lewis Hamilton will also start from the front row, third on the time board but who will gain a position on the grid thanks to the penalty of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who was punished by the stewards for spinning in the pit lane during free practice. Beyond the opportunity to recover a place in view of the race, the British champion did not hide the fact that he was slightly disappointed by today's performance, especially considering that in free practice he had shown that he had a pace on his side that would have allowed him to at least stay ahead of the Finn and limit the gap to Verstappen, despite the advantage on the straights in favor of the Dutch driver: “It was a difficult session for me. Overall it's been a good weekend so far, I definitely wasn't able to be as quick as Max [Verstappen], but I worked a lot before arriving here and the car yesterday was excellent. But in qualifying it didn't give me the same sensations that I had experienced in the third free practice session, I don't understand why. I wasn't particularly fast in qualifying, but I'm happy with where we are, it's difficult to take away those two tenths, Red Bull once again has that advantage on the straights which is difficult to compete with. But I'm proud of the fact that the team continues to work hard,” explained the Englishman, who lost the opportunity to improve in the last run due to a wrong strategic choice. Having emerged in the last positions, given the short time available and the long queue in front of him, Hamilton had feared not having the opportunity to bring the tires up to temperature due to the slow procedure of the drivers at the head of the group, a factor which had pushed him to overtake his rivals before launching for what should have been the final lap: in doing so, however, Lewis had ended up off the ideal line, picking up dirt which had compromised the overall grip offered by the tyres, thus compromising his chances of fighting for pole. In view of the race, it would be vital for Hamilton to be able to overtake his rival in the early stages of the race to try to impose his own pace and not rely on strategy as the only alternative to aim for stage success.

Also benefiting from the penalty received by Bottas will be Lando Norris, who on Sunday will be able to start from third place after a great performance on a track where, moreover, over the years he has always shown his ability to have his say on the flying lap. The MCL35M adapted well to the characteristics of the Austrian track, especially in the hands of the English driver, who was able to make the most of his single-seater's speed on the straights while maintaining a good pace even in the more driven sections, unlike his teammate. , Daniel Ricciardo, who in fact had to face a bitter exclusion in Q2: “An excellent qualifying, third at the end. The car was excellent during all qualifying, I had confidence and could aim to make small improvements where there was a need” – explained Norris -. “This allowed us to take third position which is an excellent result, especially considering that we are only two tenths away from pole. There are many positive aspects and we could be able to score valuable points tomorrow,” added the McLaren driver. Being able to achieve a good result would be fundamental especially for the constructors' championship, where at the moment the Woking team has a small advantage over its most accredited rival, Ferrari. Closing the second row will be Sergio Perez, who on the flying lap has not yet managed to extract the maximum potential of his car, thanks to a feeling that is not yet ideal which led him to have to review his strategy during the three heats. The difficulties encountered in Q1, where there was difficulty in making the tires work, had forced the Mexican to have to use two new sets of soft compound tyres, placing him at a relative disadvantage for the last two heats: "I couldn't drive the car in the first run in Q1. The fact that we had to use two sets of tires in the first heat completely ruined my qualifying. This meant having only one set available for Q3,” explained the Mexican, who paid dearly for that initial lack of pace. In the last session, in fact, Sergio had to make the first attempt with a set of used tyres, while in the second run he was the protagonist of a big mistake in turn one after not being able to bring the tires up to temperature due to the traffic on the lap of preparation. A mistake which, according to the Red Bull standard bearer, cost him around a tenth and a half, depriving him of the chance to fight for what could have been a 1-2 draw for the home team.

Pierre Gasly will start from sixth place, once again the author of an extremely convincing performance in qualifying, where this season he was able to reach the top ten on seven occasions out of eight events held. A sixth position achieved despite the Frenchman having been forced to skip the second free practice session on Friday due to some anomalous data coming from the Power Unit, which had pushed Honda technicians to proceed with the replacement of the electric motor generator. As found in other events, the AT02's speed on the straights made the difference, guaranteeing the transalpine the opportunity to fight and beat more renowned teams. Despite a small mistake in the last part of the lap, being able to do better would have been essentially impossible, which is why sixth place represents a great opportunity for the Faenza team to gain important points in the constructors' standings, where the challenge with Alpine and Aston Martin is more alive than ever: “I'm really happy. After missing the second free practice session yesterday, we didn't expect an easy day. But the car felt fantastic all weekend and I was confident for qualifying. And we demonstrated it this afternoon: we passed Q2 using just one set of tires and we are also just a few tenths from the front row", explained the Frenchman at the end of qualifying. AlphaTauri's Austrian Saturday, however, could have held further surprises thanks to Yuki Tsunoda's excellent place, except that the latter will have to serve a three-place starting grid penalty for having obstructed another driver on his lap fast. Beyond the penalty, for the Japanese it is an important signal, of that growth path which, if it had not been for the mistake in Q1 in France, could have seen him in the top ten on three consecutive occasions. Undoubtedly the gap from his teammate is still large, almost three tenths, also thanks to a mistake in the last attempt, but the direction is the right one. Splitting the two AT02s will be Charles Leclerc, capable once again of bringing the SF21 to prominent positions despite a weekend that didn't see the Ferrari shine on the flying lap, as confirmed by the exit in Q2 of the Scuderia's flagship act from Maranello, Carlos Sainz. Compared to other events, on this occasion Ferrari decided to maintain a more loaded set-up than that of its rivals, avoiding modifying the rear for the sole purpose of chasing a better result in qualifying, as seen, for example, in Azerbaijan or Paul Ricard, where the straight sections were king. A choice that weighs heavily on the timed lap, given the speed gap recorded on the sprints compared to the more direct opponents, such as McLaren and AlphaTauri, even if this allowed us to attack in the corners while maintaining higher minimum speeds and limiting the partialization of the pedal of the accelerator, an element that can be found in particular in turns six, seven and nine, sections where better mileage can make the difference. The hope was that the opening of the DRS could contain the possible disadvantage of running with a more loaded set-up than that of the opponents, but it is also true that the aerodynamic configuration in terms of rear wing chosen by the Maranello engineers provides for a large mainplane with a smaller flap, which can totally compensate. “Personally I'm very happy with my lap because I managed to put everything together, but the gap between me and Lando is quite large on a track like this” – said the Monegasque in interviews, whose objective is to focus on the good race pace demonstrated in Friday's free practice to move up a few positions -. “We expected more from this weekend, especially on the flying lap which is normally our strong point. We focused more on race pace, doing more long runs in free practice to better understand the car and we hope that this will help us tomorrow. Obviously I expected to be higher than seventh place, but on the other hand our race pace was very good, so we didn't want to sacrifice what we built just for a better result in qualifying.

Ninth time for Fernando Alonso who, like Lance Stroll and George Russell, will have the opportunity to move up one position on the starting grid due to the penalty received by Yuki Tsunoda. An overall positive day for the Spanish champion, who once again demonstrated his class in conditions in which no mistakes should be made, considering the close gaps in the middle of the standings. It is worth mentioning that there is also a small aerodynamic difference between the two Alpine drivers, as Alonso had the opportunity to run with a more compact bonnet which features asymmetrical final vents, while his teammate, Esteban Ocon had to opt for a more traditional and wider configuration, which allows for greater heat dissipation. At a chronometric level, the difference between the two solutions should not be so significant, but it is an interesting detail to report as this situation had already arisen at Paul Ricard a week ago, when the Spaniard had the opportunity to adopt a solution on his single-seater. more compact. Inaugurating the fifth row will be Lance Stroll, capable of returning to Q3 after a few rounds in which he missed the target thanks to some unlucky episodes. Over the course of the weekend, the Canadian managed to find an increasingly better feeling with his car, to the point of earning well-deserved access to the final heat, even if he arrived by just a few thousandths: "I'm happy to be back in Q3, especially when Qualifying was as close as today's. I think tenth place was the best we could achieve today. It's been a clean weekend so far, since FP1 I've felt good in the car and that's given me the confidence to push as the balance has been consistent throughout the various sessions. We have been competitive during the last races, I think we can fight for points tomorrow,” explained Stroll at the end of qualifying. Concluding the top ten will therefore be George Russell, who was eliminated at the end of Q2 by just eight thousandths compared to the Aston Martin driver: overall, Williams proved to be competitive on the Austrian track which, given its shape, it is well suited to the characteristics of the single-seater and, above all, it allows us to keep the gaps low and give teams that are further back in the standings the opportunity to shorten the gap from their rivals. An opportunity that the Briton took full advantage of and which will give him the opportunity to be first on the starting grid with free choice in terms of tyres, with the aim of finally being able to score that long-awaited first point with the Scuderia of Grove.

Carlos Sainz, however, was unable to go beyond twelfth place, having to deal with a weekend in which he was unable to be as incisive as in other events. The difficulties in making the front tires work in the correct operating window, and the consequent understeer, had a significant influence on the ambitions of the Spaniard, who would have slipped a further position if it had not been for the time canceled by Sebastian Vettel at the end of Q2 due to a slight exceeding of the track limits. Understeer which made itself felt particularly on the long corners, such as turns four and six, where having a precise front is essential: “It wasn't a positive day. We had already struggled on the flying lap yesterday and therefore we weren't expecting miracles today. Not qualifying in the top ten is certainly not ideal but on such a short circuit and with such close values ​​you have to be perfect in all three sectors and I suffered a bit in the second. There remains the partial consolation of being able to choose the compound to start with, an opportunity that we will have to try to make the most of", explained Carlos at the end of qualifying, who will still have the chance to get back into the top ten, especially if he manages to find that something extra at the start as in past years, an element that has disappeared a little this season. Difficult day also for Daniel Ricciardo, only thirteenth on the grid, who after the good performances on Friday was then unable to repeat himself in qualifying, running into one of his worst performances of the season considering the overall trend of the weekend: a difficulty in feeling with the car that had already highlighted itself on Saturday morning during the last free practice session, particularly in the fastest corners, an element that was then repeated in the afternoon. Something that the Australian is also aware of, so much so that in interviews he later declared that he didn't fully understand how it was possible that all the good pace demonstrated on Friday was lost in less than twenty-four hours. Although it is true that the temperatures recorded at the beginning of the weekend were significantly lower than those on Saturday, it is difficult to think that this alone could be the cause of Ricciardo's debacle, who will have a long journey ahead of him to get back into the points.

Keeping him company from the seventh row will be Sebastian Vettel, who probably expected something more from this day considering what he had demonstrated in the previous sessions, where he had managed to enter the top ten with some consistency. On the one hand, the German seemed to lack the pace and ease in managing the car that he had demonstrated in the first free practices, on the other, the difficulties in putting together a clean lap probably weighed heavily on the ambitions of the four-time world champion, thanks to a few too many mistakes in turns one, three (where, finishing slightly long, he had to wait before getting back on the accelerator, losing something on the straight) and ten. The slight off-piste at the last corner then led to the cancellation of what could have been the twelfth fastest time, which could still have represented a good chance to get back into the points, given that he would have been among the first riders on the grid with free choice when it comes to tyres. “I struggled to put the laps together today and when the grid is so compact on such a short lap, a mistake can be quite costly. So I'm not so happy after today's qualifying and I have to try to understand why I didn't find the rhythm. There can still be a good race ahead of us and I am confident that we will have a decent race pace tomorrow. We have a free choice of tires and it is a track where overtaking is possible,” the Aston Martin representative then explained. Also eliminated in Q2 was Antonio Giovinazzi, who expected something more considering the good performances shown during free practice, where on several occasions he managed to position himself on the margins of the top ten: in addition to a slight lack of straights, there was a lack of speed in the fastest corners, such as turns six and nine, where the Italian was unable to equalize his closest rivals.

A half day, however, for Nicholas Latifi who, on the one hand, can be happy with the performance put on the track on Saturday in Austria, but on the other clearly cannot help but show a bit of regret for having missed out on access to the subsequent heat by just a few thousandths, which would have confirmed the goodness of Williams on a circuit where the English single-seater had performed well last season too. A small mistake during his lap certainly had a significant impact on his chances of reaching Q2, but overall it was still a positive day. The same cannot be said for Esteban Ocon, bitterly eliminated already in the first qualifying stage and author of a disappointing seventeenth place: “It is not acceptable to be out in Q1, we are not happy. We've been missing steps since this morning and haven't been able to find him. We have to analyze what is happening because on our side of the garage the situation is becoming difficult. I'm not happy with the car, it's as if at the end of the lap I think I've given everything but the time isn't coming", the Frenchman tried to explain at the end of qualifying. His path was strange, because in free practice Esteban had shown that he had a pace on his side that could at least allow him to fight for access to the last heat, like his teammate, but that clear negative change of pace between on Friday and Saturday, exactly as happened for Ricciardo, precipitated the situation, leading to a harsh premature exclusion. Concluding the starting grid will be Kimi Raikkonen, who also crashed into the gravel during one of his attempts in Q1, and the two Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

The strategies

From a strategic point of view, Pirelli recommends using the soft tire in one of the two stints as the fastest race tactic to reach the finish line, with the soft-medium combination being the fastest. The soft-hard combination should be slightly slower, while the one that involves alternating medium and hard would be a step below. Pay attention, however, to the temperature issue, because with the risk of rain the degrees present on the asphalt could also drop, favoring the life of the softer compound. It is unlikely that a situation similar to that seen a week ago at Paul Ricard will arise again, where heavy rain during the night and morning had completely washed out the track, reducing the grip available to the riders.