Alonso finishes 18th as Stroll retires
Red Bull RingThe Austria Grand Prix, Round 8 of the Formula 1 season, was held at Red Bull Ring.
Fernando Alonso started the Austrian race from 21st and Lance Stroll from 22nd, both on medium tyres.
Immediately after the start, Alonso and Stroll passed Franco Colapinto (Alpine) on the run out of Turn 1, each gaining one position. At the entry to Turn 3, Stroll, who had taken the inside line, ran out of room and lost position. Alonso, meanwhile, chose the outside line and went side-by-side with Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) into Turn 4, but was blocked by Sergio Perez (Cadillac) ahead on the exit and was unable to overtake Bottas. Alonso still managed to pass Bottas around the outside at Turn 8 and completed the opening lap in 19th place.
On Lap 2, Alonso was passed by Colapinto before Turn 1. At the entry to Turn 3, Bottas also moved ahead, but Alonso used the switchback to accelerate out of the corner and reclaimed one position. The race then settled into that order, and as other cars began making their tyre stops, Alonso moved up to 16th and Stroll to 17th.
On Lap 24, Carlos Sainz (Williams) stopped on the inside of the main straight, bringing out yellow flags before the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed. The team brought Alonso and Stroll into the pits at the same time, with both cars switching to soft tyres. Both returned to the track, but the timing of the pit stops meant they went one lap down.
At Turn 4 on Lap 38, Stroll overtook Alonso, reversing the order of the two cars. Both drivers continued running with the aim of reaching the finish, but an issue developed on Stroll’s car at the exit of Turn 1 on Lap 45. The team instructed him by radio to “box and retire”, and Stroll returned to the pits to end his race.
Alonso continued and took the chequered flag three laps down after making two tyre stops in demanding heat, with an air temperature of 35°C and track temperature of 51°C.
The Austrian Grand Prix ended with Alonso finishing 18th and Stroll retiring from the race.
Another tough race weekend for us, but nothing we didn’t expect. It was valuable to finish the race, continue collecting data, and keep improving operationally. We have made some progress in some of these areas over recent weeks and can hopefully continue so that we are ready when our upgrade arrives. Now, we look ahead to our home race next week at Silverstone, where we will aim to maximise everything in front of our supporters.
Another tough race weekend for us, but nothing we didn’t expect. It was valuable to finish the race, continue collecting data, and keep improving operationally. We have made some progress in some of these areas over recent weeks and can hopefully continue so that we are ready when our upgrade arrives. Now, we look ahead to our home race next week at Silverstone, where we will aim to maximise everything in front of our supporters.
I felt comfortable in the car today and enjoyed my second stint as we managed the tyres well. We always knew we wouldn’t be up in the fight with anyone, but it was a good race between Fernando and myself. Unfortunately, we had a suspected ERS issue, which we need to look into further, and had to retire the car. We know it’s a very challenging time for everyone in the team, but everybody is working as a hard as they can to bring upgrades to the car so we need to be patient and hopefully in a few races time we will be a bit more in the mix.
I felt comfortable in the car today and enjoyed my second stint as we managed the tyres well. We always knew we wouldn’t be up in the fight with anyone, but it was a good race between Fernando and myself. Unfortunately, we had a suspected ERS issue, which we need to look into further, and had to retire the car. We know it’s a very challenging time for everyone in the team, but everybody is working as a hard as they can to bring upgrades to the car so we need to be patient and hopefully in a few races time we will be a bit more in the mix.
A hot afternoon in Austria where we completed the race with Fernando in P18. We focussed on extracting the maximum from the car knowing that it would be difficult to compete with the cars ahead of us. Lance and Fernando were racing closely for most of the afternoon – running line astern until we had to retire Lance’s car with a suspected ERS issue on lap 46.
A hot afternoon in Austria where we completed the race with Fernando in P18. We focussed on extracting the maximum from the car knowing that it would be difficult to compete with the cars ahead of us. Lance and Fernando were racing closely for most of the afternoon – running line astern until we had to retire Lance’s car with a suspected ERS issue on lap 46.
The Red Bull Ring is in the mountains at a higher altitude compared to other tracks, so there’s a big demand on our turbo charger. We had checked its behaviour in the dyno before coming here, but it was vital to see how this translated to real life track conditions. During the first practice sessions on Friday, we were able to confirm that it’s working as expected. We also took the time to optimise our energy management strategy and driveability during Friday’s running.
On Saturday, we had some positive feedback from Fernando on driveability and energy management; he mentioned that he was seeing some consistency, which is the target. Going forward, it’s integral for us to keep developing our weekend evolution until the new spec engine arrives. This is the only way to maximise our trackside operation until that point.
Today, we ran in extremely warm conditions, with track temperatures reaching over 60 degrees. It was a hard race for our power unit and for cooling management, however we managed via a good collaboration with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team.
Unfortunately, we had to retire the car on Lance’s side as a precaution, after seeing some unusual battery data. The ESME will now go to Honda Racing Corporation UK in Milton Keynes for inspection.
“This weekend, performance itself wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but we found some progress through our trackside operation elements. We will now take this forward with us to Silverstone next weekend.
The Red Bull Ring is in the mountains at a higher altitude compared to other tracks, so there’s a big demand on our turbo charger. We had checked its behaviour in the dyno before coming here, but it was vital to see how this translated to real life track conditions. During the first practice sessions on Friday, we were able to confirm that it’s working as expected. We also took the time to optimise our energy management strategy and driveability during Friday’s running.
On Saturday, we had some positive feedback from Fernando on driveability and energy management; he mentioned that he was seeing some consistency, which is the target. Going forward, it’s integral for us to keep developing our weekend evolution until the new spec engine arrives. This is the only way to maximise our trackside operation until that point.
Today, we ran in extremely warm conditions, with track temperatures reaching over 60 degrees. It was a hard race for our power unit and for cooling management, however we managed via a good collaboration with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team.
Unfortunately, we had to retire the car on Lance’s side as a precaution, after seeing some unusual battery data. The ESME will now go to Honda Racing Corporation UK in Milton Keynes for inspection.
“This weekend, performance itself wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but we found some progress through our trackside operation elements. We will now take this forward with us to Silverstone next weekend.
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