The 2023 Austrian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Rolex Großer Preis von Österreich 2023) was a Formula One motor race, which was held on 2 July 2023 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. It was the ninth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the second Grand Prix weekend of the 2023 season to utilise the sprint format.
Both races were won by Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen, who started on pole position for both. The weekend saw numerous penalties be given to drivers for track limits violations.
Background The event was held across the weekend of 30 June – 2 July. It was the ninth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, and the 36th running of the Austrian Grand Prix in a World Championship season. The weekend was the second of six in the season to follow the sprint format.
McLaren worked to bring improvements to the MCL60, which had shown underwhelming performance in earlier races. Prior to this Grand Prix, Lando Norris' highest finish of the season was a sixth-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix earlier in the year. McLaren was able to prepare half an upgrade package which would be fitted into Norris' car, specifically the sidepods, bodywork, and floor. Teammate Oscar Piastri would receive it at the next race at the British Grand Prix.
Regulation change about tyre usage for sprint shootouts The tyre rules for sprint shootout were modified, enabling drivers and teams who made it through to SQ3 (the third segment of sprint shooutout) to use any set of soft tyre, whereas they were previously required to use new soft tyres. The change was made after Lando Norris could not run in SQ3 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, due to him exhausting his allocation of soft tyres.
Championship standings before the race Coming into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship by 69 points from teammate Sergio Pérez, with Fernando Alonso third, a further 9 points behind. Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship, leading Mercedes by 154 points and Aston Martin by 167 points.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4 and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.
Practice The single free practice session was held on 30 June 2023, at 13:30 local time (UTC+2). Max Verstappen topped the session, followed by the two Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 30 June 2023 at 17:00 local time (UTC+2) and determined the starting order for the main race.
Qualifying report The first session (Q1) was red-flagged when Valtteri Bottas spun out at turn one; by this point, Max Verstappen topped the session, with Kevin Magnussen second; the former had his best lap time deleted due to a track limits violation; in addition, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu and Lewis Hamilton all committed track limits violations. Verstappen set the fastest time as Yuki Tsunoda, teammate Nyck de Vries, Zhou, Logan Sargeant, and Magnussen were all eliminated following Q1.
As Verstappen started his Q2 (the second segment) lap, he exceeded track limits at turn ten and had his lap time deleted. This allowed Lando Norris to momentarily top the session ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Hamilton. Sergio Pérez committed more track limits violations, denying him a spot in Q3, (the third session) for the fourth consecutive time, as all his lap times in Q2 were deleted for track limits violations. He joined George Russell, Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri and Bottas in being eliminated.
Due to this, Alexander Albon appeared in Q3 for the Williams team, going on to qualify tenth. Verstappen took pole, with Charles Leclerc and Sainz making it two Ferraris in the top 3. Lance Stroll in sixth outqualified teammate Alonso in seventh.
Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q311 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:05.1161:04.9511:04.3911216 Charles LeclercFerrari1:05.5771:05.0871:04.4392355 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:05.3391:04.975 1:04.581344 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:05.617 1:05.0381:04.6584544 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:05.6731:05.1881:04.8195618 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:05.7101:05.1211:04.8936714 Fernando Alonso1:05.655 1:05.1811:04.9117827Haas-Ferrari1:05.7401:05.3621:05.0908910 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:05.5151:05.3081:05.17091023 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:05.6731:05.3871:05.823101163 George RussellMercedes1:05.6861:05.428N/A111231 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:05.7291:05.453N/A121381 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:05.6831:05.605N/A131477 Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:05.763 1:05.680N/A141511 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:05.1772:06.688N/A151622 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:05.784N/AN/A161724 Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:05.818N/AN/A17182 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1:05.948N/AN/A181920Haas-Ferrari1:05.971N/AN/A2021 Nyck de VriesAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:05.974N/AN/A107% time: 1:09.674Source: Notes – Kevin Magnussen qualified 19th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé. – Nyck de Vries qualified 20th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane due to changes to the setup of the suspension and to the rear and beam wings while the car was under parc fermé.
Sprint shootout The sprint shootout was held on 1 July 2023 at 12:00 local time (UTC+2) and determined the starting order for the Sprint race.
Sprint shootout report The first session began after a patch of rain around the Red Bull Ring earlier in the morning; as such, the track was cloudy, with no rain forecast over the first 20 minutes of sprint shootout. The track, however, remained wet, so drivers were able to run any compound; Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen put on the mediums. The Williams cars of Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant put on the intermediate tyres. All other cars were on softs. Both Williams cars would later swap for softs. Zhou Guanyu spun and caused a brief yellow flag.
Carlos Sainz Jr. suffered a failure of his brake-by-wire system, going into the pit lane with smoke billowing from the back of his Ferrari SF-23. Due to this, he was unable to set a lap time for the majority of the first part until his car was repaired during the closing minutes of the session. His only lap of the session ended up topping the timing sheets for the first session after Lewis Hamilton's time was deleted for track limits violations.
Verstappen, Zhou, Sergio Pérez, Hamilton (who initially topped the session), and Sargeant's first times were deleted for track limits violations. Oscar Piastri was blocked by Charles Leclerc, as the latter went back to the pits. The stewards investigated the incident as Leclerc made it through the next session by 0.1 millisecond. Zhou, Piastri, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Sargeant were all knocked out and the end of the first part. This is the first time Hamilton got knocked following the first segment of a qualification session since the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Hamilton's teammate George Russell, having set a time for seventh, reported a hydraulics failure, ruling him out of the rest of qualification. Nico Hülkenberg was the third-fastest behind the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.
In the second session, De Vries and Verstappen had their lap times deleted due to track limits violations, and a replay showed Hülkenberg's car running over a tyre; stewards investigated the unsafe release, although no penalty was awarded. Albon, Pierre Gasly, and the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda and De Vries joined Russell all out of the session.
Verstappen took the pole position for the sprint, with Pérez allowing the Red Bulls to start 1–2 with the Ferraris fifth (Sainz) and sixth (Leclerc, who was penalised and dropped to ninth after he impeded Piastri earlier). Norris was in third and Hülkenberg fourth as Alonso and Stroll were classified seventh and eighth respectively.
Sprint shootout classification DriverConstructorSprintgridSQ1SQ2SQ311 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:06.2361:05.3711:04.4401211 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:06.9241:05.8361:04.933 234 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:06.7231:05.6991:05.0103427Haas-Ferrari1:06.5481:06.0911:05.0844555 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:06.1871:05.4341:05.1365616 Charles LeclercFerrari1:07.0611:05.673 1:05.245 9714 Fernando Alonso1:06.611 1:05.7591:05.2586818 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:06.5691:05.9141:05.3477931 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:06.8401:05.6041:05.36681020Haas-Ferrari1:06.6291:05.7301:05.912101123 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:06.8921:06.152N/A111210 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:06.8731:06.360N/A121322 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:06.8961:06.369N/A131421 Nyck de VriesAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT1:06.7041:06.593N/A141563 George RussellMercedes1:06.653 No timeN/A151624 Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:07.062N/AN/A161781 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:07.106N/AN/A171844 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:07.282N/AN/A181977 Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1:07.291N/AN/A19202 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1:07.426N/AN/A20107% time: 1:10.820Source: Notes – Charles Leclerc received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri in SQ1. – As the sprint shootout was held on a wet track, the 107% rule was not in force.
Sprint The sprint was held on 1 July 2023 at 16:30 local time (UTC+2).
Sprint report The sprint started in damp conditions, with all cars starting on the intermediate-wet tyres. Sergio Pérez had two near-miss moments between him and teammate Max Verstappen, leading to Pérez running wide at turn 3 on lap 1, losing positions to Hülkenberg and Sainz, and asking about Verstappen’s actions over team radio. Verstappen would remain the leading car for the rest of the sprint.
Nico Hülkenberg ran as high as second place before Pérez passed him, with Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lance Stroll passing Hülkenberg soon after. Hülkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen, Logan Sargeant, Nyck de Vries, and Zhou Guanyu all boxed for dry tyres. The sprint ended with Verstappen winning from Pérez as Esteban Ocon and George Russell had a battle going into the final corner, with the former edging out the latter by 0.009 seconds for 7th place.
Sprint classification DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints11 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT24 30:26.73018211 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT24 +21.04827355 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari24 +23.08856418 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes24 +29.70375514 Fernando Alonso24 +30.10964627Haas-Ferrari24 +31.29743731 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault24 +36.60282863 George RussellMercedes24 +36.61115194 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes24 +38.6083 1044 Lewis HamiltonMercedes24 +46.375181181 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes24 +49.80717 1216 Charles LeclercFerrari24 +50.7899 1323 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes24 +52.848111420Haas-Ferrari24 +56.593101510 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault24 +57.65212 1622 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT24 +1:04.82213 1721 Nyck de VriesAlphaTauri-Honda RBPT24 +1:05.61714182 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes24 +1:06.059201924 Zhou Guanyu24 +1:10.82516 2077 Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo-Ferrari24 +1:16.435Fastest lap: Nico Hülkenberg (Haas-Ferrari) – 1:10.180 (lap 24)Source: Notes – Valtteri Bottas qualified 19th, but he started the race from the pit lane as he made a pit stop during the formation lap. His place on the grid was left vacant.
Race The race was held on 2 July 2023, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2).
Race report