Verstappen takes five successive wins for the second time in his career, Red Bull enjoy the best start to a season for any team since 1988 and Sargeant moves ahead of De Vries in the championship. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix!
5 WINS IN A ROW FOR VERSTAPPEN AT THE 2023 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen took victory at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, recording the 42nd victory of his Formula 1 career. That saw him surpass Ayrton Senna’s tally of wins and take fifth place on the all-time list of most F1 wins.
This was Verstappen’s fifth win at the Red Bull Ring, extending his record for the most wins at the venue. This was also his fourth Austrian Grand Prix win, overtaking Alain Prost for the most victories at the event.
For the first time in their history, Red Bull took a tenth consecutive victory. They become the fourth team to win ten consecutive races, after McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. This is the sixth time that a team has taken ten wins in a row. Mercedes were the last team to do so, between the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 2019 French Grand Prix.
Having won all of the first nine races of the 2023 season, Red Bull become the first team to win all of the first nine races of the year since McLaren in 1988.
Winning for a fifth race in a row, Max Verstappen equalled the longest winning streak of his Formula 1 career. He previously won at five consecutive races between the 2022 French and Italian Grands Prix. Verstappen is only the third driver – after Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to have won five consecutive races on two separate occasions during his career.
Verstappen is currently on the longest podium streak of his career. At the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, he became the fifth driver to achieve a streak of ten consecutive podium finishes in Formula 1.
Losing the lead to Charles Leclerc when he made his first pit stop, Max Verstappen’s 248 lap streak of laps led in Formula 1 finally came to an end. It is the third longest such streak in Formula 1 history and the longest since Ayrton Senna led 264 consecutive laps between the 1988 British and Italian Grands Prix.
Red Bull’s streak of consecutive laps led – from Lap 3 of the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix to Lap 24 of the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix – was the fifth longest such streak in Formula 1.
Scoring points for the 28th consecutive race weekend, Max Verstappen overtook Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have scored in the third-most consecutive Formula 1 races. Only Lewis Hamilton – with two longer streaks – is now ahead of Verstappen in that particular list.
With his eighth podium finish at the Red Bull Ring, Max Verstappen moved clear of Valtteri Bottas to become the driver with the most podium finishes in Austria. Meanwhile, his fourth fastest lap at the track saw Verstappen overtake David Coulthard and Lewis Hamilton as the driver to have set the fastest lap on the most occasions in Austria. In addition, Verstappen overtook Hamilton as the driver to have scored the most points at the Red Bull Ring and overtook Nico Rosberg as the driver to have led the most laps at the track.
ON THE PODIUM
Finishing as runner-up, Charles 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 is 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.
Sergio Perez returned to the podium for the first time since the Miami Grand Prix. This was the first time Perez has 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 with third place in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix. Perez 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.
The 2023 Austrian Grand Prix is the second time this season that a driver has finished on the podium having started 15th. Max Verstappen also did so at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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.
This is the first time in their history that Red Bull have recorded a double podium finish at their home event.
IN THE POINTS
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.
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.
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.
Fernando Alonso finished off the podium for only the third time in the first nine races of the 2023 season. Nevertheless, with fifth place in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, he maintained his record of finishing in the top seven at every race so far this year.
Fifth is Alonso’s best result in Austria since finishing fifth with Ferrari at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. It’s only the second time he has finished in the top five at this circuit in his Formula 1 career.
With fifth place, Alonso was one position away from equalling the Silverstone-based team’s best Austrian Grand Prix. Their only better results here came in their Jordan guise when Giancarlo Fisichella and Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished fourth in 1997 and 1999 respectively.
With Fernando Alonso sixth and Lance Stroll ninth, this was the first race at the Red Bull Ring in which both of the Silverstone-based team’s drivers finished in the points since the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz finished in the top four on the road for the first time since the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix but 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.
For only the second time since Austria returned to the F1 calendar in 2014, neither Mercedes driver finished on the podium at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix. The 2018 race, in which both Mercedes retired, is the only other race at the track in the V6 hybrid era in which neither Mercedes finished in the top three.
With George Russell seventh and Lewis Hamilton eighth, this was the first race of the season in which neither Mercedes driver finished in the top six. Hamilton recorded his worst result of the season to date with eighth place.
On Lap 29 of the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to have raced 800 laps at the Red Bull Ring.
Pierre Gasly’s tenth place finish made this the sixth consecutive race at the Red Bull Ring in which the Enstone-based team has scored points.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
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 moves him ahead of the Dutchman.
Esteban Ocon finished 12th in the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix then dropped to 14th in the final order after receiving multiple post race penalties. He finished outside of the points for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
With Zhou Guanyu 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.
Though he finished only 15th, Valtteri 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.
Finishing 17th, Nyck de Vries finished ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda for the second time this year.
With 19th place, Yuki 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.
Kevin Magnussen became the sixth Formula 1 driver to start 150 Formula 1 races without achieving a victory in his career. In addition to the other five drivers to have done so, Carlos Sainz won on his 150th attempt while Sergio Perez won on his 190th start.
Magnussen was 19th and last of the drivers who finished the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix. Of all the races he has finished, this would have been only the second time that Magnussen finished as low as 19th. His other 19th place finish also came at the Austrian Grand Prix, back in 2019. He was moved up to 18th in the final order, however, as the result of a penalty for Yuki Tsunoda.
HULKENBERG IS THE ONLY RETIREE
Nico Hulkenberg was the one and only retirement from the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix. This was Hulkenberg’s first retirement of the season and the first time that he has retired from a race since the 2019 German Grand Prix.
This was Hulkenberg’s third retirement from his last five appearances at the Red Bull Ring. It was the first time that a Haas driver retired from a race at the track since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, when the team recorded a double retirement.
Hulkenberg recorded the first retirement from eighth on the grid in Austria since Mika Hakkinen retired from the 2001 Austrian Grand Prix.