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A hectic Grand Prix took place in Austria in terms of investigations regarding track limits. And five hours after the chequered flag fell, the results of the Austrian GP are now final.
Approximately an hour after the conclusion of the race, Aston Martin filed a protest regarding the results, as it claimed that a few more penalties should have been applied. Fernando Alonso finished within five seconds of Lando Norris for fifth and Lance Stroll was just two seconds behind Pierre Gasly, so the team could benefit both cars in case more penalties were applied.
The main areas of concern regarding track limits were the final two corners of the lap. The issue surfaced during qualifying, when plenty of drivers lost their laps. A prime example of this was Sergio Perez, who had all three of his Q2 flying laps deleted and was eliminated in that session.
Eight penalties were handed out during the race in total, all coming at the fourth offense, after three warnings. The first penalty was given to Lewis Hamilton, while Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon were a few other drivers that also earned penalties for exceeding the track limits too many times. Later, the FIA published an announcement claiming that accepting Aston Martin’s protest and stated that the results could change. It would go over 1,200 instances where a car may have exceeded track limits, which have to be looked at.
Eight drivers penalised post-race
Fans waited for the outcome of the investigation and it came at 21:30 Austrian time, five hours after the race concluded. The following penalties were announced, in a document by the FIA:
- Carlos Sainz: 10 seconds
- Lewis Hamilton: 10 seconds
- Pierre Gasly: 5 seconds
- Alexander Albon: 10 seconds
- Esteban Ocon: 30 seconds
- Logan Sargeant: 10 seconds
- Nyck de Vries: 15 seconds
- Yuki Tsunoda: 5 seconds
The document also mentions the way in which the penalties were applied:
For four infringements, a 5 second time penalty; for five infringements, a 10 second time penalty. Then a “reset” has been allowed due to the excessive number of infringements. The counting of infringements restarts. After another four infringements, a 5 second time penalty will apply; after five, a 10 second time penalty.
The final classification of the Austrian GP
- Max Verstappen
- Charles Leclerc
- Sergio Perez
- Lando Norris
- Fernando Alonso
- Carlos Sainz
- George Russell
- Lewis Hamilton
- Lance Stroll
- Pierre Gasly
- Alex Albon
- Guanyu Zhou
- Logan Sargeant
- Esteban Ocon
- Valtteri Bottas
- Oscar Piastri
- Nyck de Vries
- Kevin Magnussen
- Yuki Tsunoda
In conclusion, these are the changes as far as the points-paying positions are concerned. Carlos Sainz loses two positions as he drops from fourth to sixth, while Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly are losing one position each. Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Lance Stroll gain a position each, so Aston Martin is a beneficiary of its protest after all. The post-race penalties bring the British team just three points behind Mercedes in the battle for second in the constructors championship.
The FIA also mentioned in its statement that the officials at the Red Bull Ring will need to think about alternative solutions regarding the run-off at the final two corners. Most likely, the alternative solution to be proposed will be the addition of gravel at the edge of the circuit, much like the middle part of the lap. Sergio Perez made remarks concerning the situation after qualifying on Friday, as did Lewis Hamilton after the race today.
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