“Woah, were halfway there. Woah, another win for Leclerc…”

2022 Austrian Grand Prix Analysis – By Joe Murphy

We are officially halfway through the 2022 campaign as a result of this weekend’s race. Charles Leclerc ended a miserable five race winless streak to close the gap to current leader Max Verstappen, who has to settle for second. In a weekend that saw fire, controversy and more than its fair share of track limits violations, there is no shortage of talking points.

Charles just about keeps his name in the title picture…

A mature win for the Monaco man in a Grand Prix where he overtook Max Verstappen not once, not twice but three times. The Ferrari may have suffered with some issues towards the end of the 71 laps, but his red car held on for what could be a vital win. With the Dutchman finishing 1.7 seconds behind in front of his adoring ‘Orange Army’ of fans, the gap remains rather comfortable. However, as Charles alluded to, this was an important step for him. He looks composed, confident and determined from the moment the lights went out on Sunday. He may have only closed the gap by a fraction, but his first win with starting on pole couldn’t have come at a better time.

Ferrari’s reliability costing them huge!

In the sister car, Carlos Sainz endured a nightmare, after his dream result a week prior. The Spaniard was set to make it a Ferrari 1-2, but his engine blew up in spectacular fashion with only a minor portion of the race to go. These reliability issues have cost the Italian constructor at least 50 points so far this season, something you can ill-afford if you are a team in the hunt to become Constructor’s Champions. The same can be said for Carlos. Too many times now, his machine has let him down and cost him dear. On this occasion, it is good news he got out OK. The car set on fire extremely quickly as he struggled to get out on a slight hill. The engine issues don’t seem to be getting any less frequent, and it could just hand both the titles to Red Bull.

Alpine’s reliability also costing them huge, although Centurion Ocon impresses…

Somehow, despite everything that Fernando Alonso had to battle against, the other Spaniard managed to win a point as he crossed the line in P10. A nightmare Saturday, which saw a first DNS of the season, jeopardised his chances of a top five finish, something which looked like a strong possibility following Friday’s practice sessions. Across the garage, it was a standout performance from Estaban Ocon. The Frenchman drove extremely well to claim a decent point haul at his 100th race start in Formula 1. Over this century of outings, the Frenchman has been, for the large part, consistent. He has an incredibly strong finishing record at a team that hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to finishing races. As he returns to his home track in just under a fortnight’s time, Estaban will be optimistic at his chances for another strong result.

He Haas to be Driver of the Day…

Kevin Magnussen had a strong showing across the entire weekend, but it was his teammate that looked quicker and outperformed his more experienced counterpart. Mick Schumacher looked angry as he gave his post-sprint race briefing, annoyed at his team for failing to give him the position. He fought well with Max Verstappen at Silverstone. This time, it was Lewis Hamilton’s turn to enjoy a multi-lap battle with the German. However, after navigating his way majestically through the field, Mick ended up claiming a well deserved sixth place, his best ever finish in Formula 1. A week after his first ever points finish, came his second. In what was a difficult period for the German driver, where his long term future in the sport came under scrutiny, he has pulled two magnificent performances out of the bag. Here’s to many more, you

James Caan may have died, but ‘Misery’ very much alive for Seb…

It couldn’t have gone much worse for Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. Whilst Lance Stroll appeared to have an outside shot at a point, something which later failed to come to fruition, the German endured a torrid afternoon on the back of a frustrating weekend in all. In a weekend that saw him handed a 25k fine for a premature exit from media duties, a final lap five second penalty summarised his Austrian visit up perfectly, as Seb never looked competitive at any point from Friday’s first practice session to Sunday’s chequered flag. After a promising display in Silverstone a week earlier, this will highlight the amount of work the team have to do to give their drivers a competitive car. They have certain fallen backwards in 2022. For the sport’s sake, they need to get this issue sorted, or we risk losing the German from the sport in its entirety. Nobody wants to see that.