The Ferraris asserted their 2 against 1 in the absence of Checo Pérez and beat Red Bull on their circuit, at the Austrian GP, where Charles Leclerc achieved his third victory of 2022, the first for three months.
However, the engine of the Cavallino ‘s car failed in Carlos Sainz’s car with 13 laps to go, when the Madrid native was going to overtake a slower Verstappen to be second. The abandonment left Carlos without 18 points that seemed safe, and allowed Verstappen, who suffered a lot of degradation, to minimize his loss against a Leclerc who happened to him up to three times on the track.
Leclerc ended up suffering problems with the accelerator pedal, but he held on to win by almost three seconds.
Sainz’s KO left another podium finish on a silver platter for Lewis Hamilton, who finished well ahead of his teammate George Russell. The youngster stole fourth place from a very competitive Esteban Ocon who took Alpine to fifth place in the absence of Sainz and Sergio Pérez.
The Mexican received a touch, precisely from Russell (who took a five-second penalty), on the first lap and fell to last place, with the car damaged. He returned to the pits and continued, finally leaving with no options.
Sixth and scoring for the second race in a row was Mick Schumacher, who beat teammate Kevin Magnussen after not letting his team do it on Saturday. The German thus achieved his best result in F1. Between the Haas slipped, seventh, Lando Norris. Despite a gray weekend, McLaren saved the furniture with a double top 10, as Daniel Ricciardo could be ninth.
He completed the points, tenth and with a very brave overtaking on the last lap, a Fernando Alonso, who started 19th at the start after another engine change. The Asturian had to stop three times due to a problem with Alpine in the second pitstop, and in extremis stole tenth place from Valtteri Bottas, who started from the pitlane after changing the engine and rear wing and finished 11th.
In a long and tough race, Gasly was penalized 5 seconds for exceeding track limits and another 5 seconds for running an unlucky Vettel off the track. For his part, Norris also served a penalty for track limits and several drivers, including Sainz and Hamilton, were on the verge of punishment.
F1 Austrian GP 2022 Race Results
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
71 | – | 25 | ||
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
71 | 1.532 | 1.532 | 1.532 | 19 |
| 3 |  Lewis Hamilton |
 |
71 | 41.217 | 41.217 | 39.685 | 15 |
| 4 | George Russell |
 |
71 | 58.972 | 58.972 | 17.755 | 12 |
| 5 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
71 | 1’08.436 | 1’08.436 | 9.464 | 10 |
| 6 |  Mick Schumacher |
 |
70 | 1 lap | 8 | ||
| 7 | Lando Norris |
 |
70 | 1 lap | 6 | ||
| 8 |  Kevin Magnussen |
|
70 | 1 lap | 4 | ||
| 9 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
70 | 1 lap | 2 | ||
| 10 |  Fernando Alonso |
 |
70 | 1 lap | 1 | ||
| see results | |||||||
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
F1 Austrian GP 2022 Race Summary
Exit of the F1 Austrian GP, Pérez’s career sinks
At the start, Verstappen held the lead and Leclerc the second position. Behind them, Russell attacked Sainz and beat him to the inside of the first corner, while the Madrid native had to go off track in turn 2, without letting go of his foot fully, which allowed him to maintain third place.
That tight duel invited Pérez to battle, who tried it on the outside at turn 4. However, the Mercedes and the Mexican touched, the Red Bull taking the worst part after spinning and ending up in the run-offs. He was able to rejoin but was forced to pit, where he rode hard from last position.
In the first laps, Alonso and Vettel, both having a hard time starting in the last positions, got involved in a complicated duel to be 17th, with a couple of overtaking, while Mick Schumacher took advantage of a mistake by Hamilton to take away seventh place.
Battle for the Austrian race lead and early pitstops
On lap 7, up to 14 drivers could open DRS by running just tenths from the one in front. Among them Leclerc, who was close to the leader Verstappen, threatening the first place of the champion. The duo lapped Perez on lap 8 and Leclerc tried it around the inside of turn 3 on lap 10, but to no avail.
Race management announced a 5-second penalty for Russell for his incident with Pérez at the start, which the British complied with at his stop. Leclerc finally overtook Verstappen at turn 3 on lap 12, and on lap 14 Red Bull put the Dutchman in, while Leclerc and Sainz received their second warning for exceeding track limits.
Hamilton passed Mick Schumacher in lap 14, and Magnussen in lap 15, while Verstappen stuck to the Haas, who ran out of tires. Magnussen pitted and Mick was powerless to stop the Dutchman at Turn 3 on Lap 16.
On lap 18, Pérez already received the black and white warning flag for the track limits, when the two 2021 rivals met face to face. Hamilton, who was complaining about the state of his tires, could not with a very fast that was trying not to lose time against the Ferrari, who were leading without having stopped.
Battle in the middle zone in the Austrian GP and Pérez abandons
After seeing how Ocon passed him without problems, Vettel took off the hard ones on lap 21, returning to the track in penultimate position, only ahead of Pérez. In fact, Ocon also overtook Alonso, Zhou and Tsunoda for the next two laps to take sixth.
As Alonso tried to pass Zhou, an incredible five-car battle for eighth place ensued which was won by Magnussen, ahead of Norris and Alonso. Zhou entered, and Mick Schumacher, in another strategy, noticed Alonso, who continued without stopping. There, on lap 26, Verstappen received the second warning.
Meanwhile, Red Bull decided to retire Pérez’s damaged car, far from the peloton in last place and without any options.
Ferrari stop, Leclerc overtakes Verstappen in Austria
Leclerc stopped at the end of lap 26, and returned to the track more than six and a half seconds behind Verstappen, although he would quickly begin to close the gap. The next to enter was Sainz, third. For his part, Alonso finally entered on lap 28, and Hamilton was the last to do so, on lap 29, with a slow pitstop.
Gasly became the first to be penalized for exceeding track limits, and Verstappen, who complained of having an unpredictable car, was unable to fend off Leclerc, who was once again leading the race.
Norris was the second sanctioned for track limits, while Alonso and Tsunoda had it stiff in a heads up that Alonso took. Verstappen made his second stop on lap 37, when Sainz was receiving a black and white flag, reaching the warning limit.
On lap 40, Gasly took Vettel off the track, who spun at turn 7, while Alonso and Stroll fought for thirteenth place. Gasly quickly received a five-second penalty, and several drivers began to make the second stop, leaving Alonso 9th.
Ocon managed to split from Sainz, and began to close in on an Alonso who was temporarily fifth.
Second stop for the Ferraris, another Leclerc-Verstappen, and drama for Sainz
Leclerc stopped on lap 49 and Sainz on lap 50, leaving first place in the hands of Verstappen. Latifi became the second DNF, and Hamilton made his second pitstop on lap 52. There, Leclerc caught up with Verstappen again, and on lap 53 he overtook him for the third time.
Sainz was on his way to overtake Verstappen on lap 58, when his Ferrari’s engine let him down. The man from Madrid had to park the car far from the track, and stayed on an uphill that generated a moment of danger. The power unit of his car had caught fire and when the flames began to spread, the car fell downwards, forcing the man from Madrid to jump and run while the stewards put it out.
His frustration was heard on the radio, and Sainz sat waiting for the car to pick him up, sunk.
Alonso took advantage during the Virtual Safety Car to make his second stop, and then he was forced to make a third one very quickly, having had a problem in the previous one with one of the wheels. That led to an unsafe release investigation, and after passing Albon, he overtook Bottas at Turn 3 on the final lap to take 10th.
The last laps also had some suspense, when Leclerc began to warn of accelerator pedal problems. He was able to hold on, however, to be the first to see the checkered flag.
