Perez becomes the first driver to record two podiums from 15th on the grid, Verstappen records the third longest leading streak in F1 history and Ocon sets a new record for the most penalties received in a single race. Here’s a statistic from each driver’s 2023 Austrian Grand Prix weekend!
🇳🇱 Max VERSTAPPEN
After equalling Mika Hakkinen for tenth in the all-time list of most F1 poles with his 26th pole position on Friday at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen went on to win Saturday’s Sprint race, win Sunday’s Grand Prix and set the fastest lap.
Over the weekend, Verstappen equalled his own longest pole and win streaks, overtook Ayrton Senna’s total Grand Prix victories, became the first driver to take four consecutive poles in Austria, extended the record for most front row starts, wins, fastest laps and podiums at the Red Bull Ring, overtook Lewis Hamilton for most points scored at the track, overtook Kimi Raikkonen for the third-longest scoring streak in Formula 1 and became the fifth driver to achieve a streak of ten podium finishes. Verstappen also became only the third driver – after Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to have won five consecutive races on two separate occasions during his career.
Losing the lead to Charles Leclerc when he made his first pit stop, Verstappen’s 248 lap streak of laps led in Formula 1 finally came to an end. It ended up as the third longest such streak in Formula 1 history and the longest since Senna led 264 consecutive laps between the 1988 British and Italian Grands Prix.
🇲🇽 Sergio PEREZ
For the fourth successive race, Sergio Perez failed to reach Q3 at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix. It marked the first time since the end of the 2008 season that Red Bull have failed to reach Q3 with at least one car at four successive races. This was the first time Perez has failed to reach Q3 at four successive races since he qualified outside of the top ten at all of the last eight races of the 2019 season.
On Sunday, Perez returned to the podium for the first time since the Miami Grand Prix. This was the first time Perez finished on the podium at the Red Bull Ring, his previous best result here being fourth place in the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix. Perez recorded the 30th podium finish of his Formula 1 career. He is the 36th driver to record 30 podiums and equals the career tally of Juan Pablo Montoya.
Finishing third from 15th on the grid, Perez recorded the first podium from 14th or lower on the grid in Austria since 1975, when Tom Pryce also finished third having started 15th. The only lower position from which a podium has been recorded is 17th, by Rolf Stommelen in 1970. Perez is the first driver to have finished on the podium having started 15th on the grid twice in his Formula 1 career. He also finished on the podium having started 15th at the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix.
🇲🇨 Charles LECLERC
After recording Ferrari’s worst F1 Sprint result to date with 12th place on Saturday, Charles Leclerc started from the front row at the Austrian Grand Prix for the second year in a row. Finishing the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix as runner-up, Leclerc recorded the 800th podium for Ferrari in Formula 1. Ferrari are the first team to reach the milestone.
This was Leclerc’s second podium finish of the 2023 season and his best result of the year to date. He finished third in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Leclerc recorded the 25th podium finish of his carer. He became the 43rd driver to record 25 podiums in F1 and equalled the career tally of Jacky Ickx.
On Lap 25 of the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Leclerc became the first non-Red Bull driver to lead a lap of a Grand Prix since Lap 2 of the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was Leclerc who led that lap too.
🇪🇸 Carlos SAINZ
Started third at the Austrian Grand Prix for the second year in a row, Carlos Sainz finished in the top four on the road for the first time since the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. However, a post race penalty dropped him to sixth in the final order. It was his first finish outside of the top five since the Monaco Grand Prix.
🇬🇧 Lewis HAMILTON
Along with Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton maintained his 100% Q3 appearance record at the Red Bull Ring. Hamilton still leads the way for most Q3 appearances in Austria. The 2023 Austrian Grand Prix marked his 12th top ten qualification at the venue. On Lap 29 of the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton became the first driver to have raced 800 laps at the Red Bull Ring. In the race, with eighth place, he recorded his worst result of the season to date.
🇬🇧 George RUSSELL
Qualifying 11th for the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, George Russell became the first Mercedes driver to fail to reach Q3 at the Red Bull Ring.
🇫🇷 Esteban OCON
Esteban Ocon equalled his worst qualifying result of the season with 12th place. He went on to finish 12th in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix but then dropped to 14th in the final order after receiving multiple post race penalties. Ocon was handed four penalties for exceeding track limits during the race. It’s a new record for the most penalties a driver has received in a single Grand Prix. He finished outside of the points for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
🇫🇷 Pierre GASLY
Pierre Gasly’s tenth place finish in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix made this the sixth consecutive race at the Red Bull Ring in which the Enstone-based team has scored points.
🇬🇧 Lando NORRIS
Lando Norris maintained his record of finishing in the top seven on every appearance in Austria during his Formula 1 career. He finished fourth in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix and equalled David Coulthard as the driver to have made the most appearances at the Spielberg circuit without failing to score.
Fourth place is McLaren’s best result of the 2023 season to date and the team’s best result since Norris finished fourth in the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris was voted Driver Of The Day for the sixth time in his career. He last won the accolade at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix.
🇦🇺 Oscar PIASTRI
While his team-mate had upgrades to his McLaren car, Oscar Piastri was stuck with the older spec and could finish no higher than 16th – his worst result since the Miami Grand Prix. Piastri has lost at least three positions from where he has started in all of the last three races.
🇫🇮 Valtteri BOTTAS
With 14th place, the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix was the first time in his career that Valtteri Bottas has failed to qualify in the top ten at the Red Bull Ring. He did not reach Q3 in 2022 but improved to 10th in the Sprint race which determined the grid. Though he finished only 15th in the Grand Prix, Bottas – along with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez – was one of a trio of drivers to become the first to finish 11 Formula 1 races in Austria.
🇨🇳 ZHOU Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu was eliminated in Q1 for the second race in a row at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix. It marked the second time this year that Zhou was eliminated in Q1 at two successive events. With Zhou 12th and Valtteri Bottas 15th, this was the fifth consecutive race at the Red Bull Ring in which neither Alfa Romeo driver scored a point.
🇪🇸 Fernando ALONSO
With seventh place, Fernando Alonso qualified in the top seven at the Austrian Grand Prix for only the second time in his career. His only better qualifying result at the Red Bull Ring was fourth place with Ferrari in 2014. With fifth place in the race, he maintained his record of finishing in the top seven at every race so far this year and equalled his best ever Austrian Grand Prix result. He also finished fifth with Ferrari in 2014.
🇨🇦 Lance STROLL
Lance Stroll qualified in sixth place for the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, out-qualifying team-mate Fernando Alonso for the second time in 2023. Stroll equalled his best qualifying result of the season, having previously qualified sixth three times already this year.
Picking up points with Aston Martin’s best F1 Sprint result to date on Saturday (4th place) and 9th place in the Grand Prix, Stroll overtook Jacques Villeneuve to become the Canadian driver to have scored the most points in Formula 1.
🇩🇰 Kevin MAGNUSSEN
The 2023 Austrian Grand Prix marked Kevin Magnussen’s 150th Grand Prix start. It was also his 150th start in car number 20. He became the ninth driver to have made 150 appearances with a single car number.
Magnussen qualified on the back row for the race, recording his 60th Q1 exit. He is only the third driver to record 60 Q1 eliminations and overtakes Timo Glock for third in the list of most Q1 exits in Formula 1. In the race, he became the sixth driver to reach 150 starts without taking a victory (not including Carlos Sainz who won on his 150th start or Sergio Perez who won on his 190th start).
🇩🇪 Nico HULKENBERG
Reaching Q3 for a third race in a row at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenberg qualified in the top ten at three consecutive races for the first time since the 2019 Italian, Singapore and Russian Grands Prix.
Hulkenberg picked up points in the F1 Sprint, recording Haas’ best Sprint result to date with sixth place. On Sunday, he was the only retirement from the Grand Prix. This was Hulkenberg’s first retirement of the season and the first time he retired from a race since the 2019 German Grand Prix.
Hulkenberg recorded the first retirement from eighth on the grid in Austria since Mika Hakkinen retired from the 2001 Austrian Grand Prix.
🇯🇵 Yuki TSUNODA
On Friday at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda recorded consecutive Q1 exits for the first time since the 2022 Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix. This was the first time Tsunoda out-qualified his team-mate at the Red Bull Ring.
With 19th place in the race, Tsunoda recorded his worst race result since his retirement from the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix. This was the second time in his career, after the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix, that Tsunoda has finished 19th.
🇳🇱 Nyck DE VRIES
Nyck de Vries’ 20th place marked the first back row qualification for a Red Bull junior team driver at the Red Bull Ring since Brendon Hartley in 2018. 20th equals the team’s worst qualifying position at the track, with Daniil Kvyat having also qualified 20th for the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix.
Finishing 17th in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Nyck de Vries finished ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda for the second time this year. As a result of the race, de Vries dropped to 20th and last in the Drivers’ Championship.
🇹🇭 Alex ALBON
Alex Albon reached Q3 for the second race in a row. It was only the second time in the last nine races at the Red Bull Ring that a Williams driver reached Q3. This is the first time since the 2021 Austrian and British Grands Prix that Williams reached Q3 at successive races.
🇺🇸 Logan SARGEANT
Finishing in 13th place, Logan Sargeant overtook Nyck de Vries for 19th place in the Drivers’ Championship despite neither driver having picked up a point so far in 2023. The two drivers had previously picked up a 12th place finish each in 2023, with their second-best result being 14th. Sargeant’s 13th place in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix moved him ahead of the Dutchman.
