Lewis Hamilton said his Mercedes team did not manage their time well after he was eliminated in the first phase of qualifying for today’s sprint race.
His final attempt to set a time was thwarted when Max Verstappen appeared alongside him at the start-finish line. The Red Bull driver remained next to the Mercedes as they headed into turn one, and Hamilton was left with no choice other than to abort his lap.Hamilton said he was not too disappointed at qualifying 18th for today’s sprint race. “The sprint race doesn’t really matter anyway,” he said. “So today I’ll just have some fun from the back.”
“Just the timing was not right,” Hamilton added.
Hamilton expressed doubts over Mercedes’ tactics well before the final lap of the session. He queried their decision to bring him into the pits for a new set of soft tyres halfway through the first phase of qualifying.
The track was damp when drivers left the pits to begin with and Hamilton wasn’t convinced he needed to swap his soft tyres for another set.
| Bonnington | So we’ll box, box. We’ll box, box. |
| Hamilton | Still pretty good but okay. |
| Bonnington | Let us know if you need flap angle. We’re ready in the box for you. Alonso car behind two seconds. |
| Hamilton | Tyres are still good, but it’s still wet. |
| Bonnington | Okay copy. Let us know if you need flap adjust. |
| Hamilton | Why are we switching? Why are we the earliest to switch? The tyres were still good so I’m not sure why we changed. |
| Bonnington | Okay, copy. You should be all clear on exit. And should have time for four lap. Four laps, you’re all clear on exit. |
To get the best out of his tyres as the track surfaced improved, Mercedes decided he should do two flying laps, one slower lap, and another flying lap. However his second of those was deleted for a track limits infringement.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
| Bonnington | You’ve got Verstappen five seconds behind. We’re thinking going for two fast laps, then a cool, then a final push lap. Verstappen at two-and-a-half behind, got Perez right behind him. |
| Bonnington | Verstappen at one and a half, then Perez behind him. So let these guys go. It’ll be start seven. Perez next car. |
| Bonnington | And we can go strat two next lap. |
| Bonnington | And we’ll take a cool. And you have Alonso at a three-and-a-half. Currently P1. So the cool can’t be too slow, I’ll keep you updated. So you’ve got Alonso behind, one second, then Stroll at four seconds. Just think about B-mig two for turn four. |
As the final runs began Hamilton was not in the drop zone, but with others poised to improve he was in serious danger of falling into it if he did not post a better time with his final effort.
| Bonnington | See if you can drop 10 degrees on casing, just keep the surfaces up. |
| Bonnington | So we had a lap deleted there for turn nine. |
| Hamilton | Are we safe? |
| Bonnington | Currently still safe, got Sainz behind on an out-lap, then it’s Albon, he’s five away on a timed. Cars ahead on slow laps. So Albon car behind at three seconds. So he’s on a lap, two seconds behind. So we have time in hand now. So we can get your gap. So this will be strat mode two. |
As he approached the fast two corners at the end of the lap, Mercedes realised Verstappen was about to catch him. They told Hamilton to start his lap, but as he set off Verstappen arrived behind him at the final corner.
Verstappen drew alongside Hamilton as they came out of the final corner and completed a lap which put him quickest in the session at that point. It was only beaten by Carlos Sainz Jnr, and he easily made it into the second phase of qualifying.
But as the pair went into the first corner side-by-side, Hamilton was unable to turn in and had to abandon his final run. Verstappen also decided not to begin another lap.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
| Hamilton | Gap ahead? |
| Bonnington | Got Magnussen just ahead, Verstappen’s going to be coming through so go now, strat two. |
| Hamilton | Verstappen just quit his lap. |
| Hamilton | Is there time left or not? |
| Bonnington | Negative. Cars behind. |
| Hamilton | That was really bad time usage, man. |
| Hamilton | Am I out? |
| Bonnington | Yes, we are. |
| Bonnington | So we’ll box, box. |
Verstappen was unimpressed with his rival and accused him of holding him up at the end of the lap. The stewards didn’t investigate the incident, but as Verstappen went through and Hamilton was eliminated, the Mercedes driver clearly hadn’t gained from it.
| Lambiase | Not sure what happened in turn 10. |
| Verstappen | Yeah he just blocked me in the last corner. |
| Lambiase | Russell coming through at… |
| Verstappen | I had to lift off… |
| Lambiase | (Talking over him) Russell coming through at two seconds. Understood. You are P1, Max, P1. That was a good lap. |
| Verstappen | Yeah I lost so much time in that last corner. |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Austrian Grand Prix
- Mercedes left scratching heads by lack of performance at Austrian GP
- Verstappen’s determination to grab every point makes him a record-breaker
- Austrian GP track limits farce was avoidable like ‘IndyGate’ and Spa 2021 – Brown
- Alpine now “definitely beatable” for McLaren after upgrade – Brown
- Paddock Diary: 2023 Austrian Grand Prix
oweng (@oweng)
1st July 2023, 15:40
If Verstappen was completing a lap that put him fastest and after crossing the line, overtook then blocked Hamilton into turn 1 who was starting a flying lap, how is that not a slam dunk penalty for Verstappen?
bosyber (@bosyber)
1st July 2023, 16:09
I also have a bit of trouble to see how technically it shouldn’t @oweng, but to be honest, these last three years have made me expect quite litte in terms of penaties for Verstappen when he races dirty, or does something like this.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
1st July 2023, 16:10
@oweng Agree, he clearly blocked Lewis and Lewis was just slow doing his hot lap when Max came up behind him. One is a blatant block, the other is just the nature of faster / slower cars on same track.
drmouse (@drmouse)
1st July 2023, 16:20
I have to agree.
For Hamilton, it was marginal. He was starting a hot lap, so would obviously want to be in the best position he could. Maybe he should have gone faster, but it wasn’t a slam dunk.
Verstappen, on the other hand, seemed to lose his temper and purposely block Hamilton into turn one. He went out of his way to ruin his lap. There’s absolutely no way it was anything other than purposeful and should have been penalised. I’m amazed it wasn’t even investigated!
osnola
1st July 2023, 18:27
It probably was not investigated because nothing really happened.
Yes Lewis cost Verstappen some time but Lewis was already to late to put in a fast lap when he accelerated.
oweng (@oweng)
1st July 2023, 18:49
Are you saying Hamilton mistimed his launch for a fast lap so was backing out anyway?
Even if that was the case, Verstappen wasn’t to know that. He deliberately blocked Hamilton as retribution for him feeling impeded in the last corner.
I can’t think of any other explanation for what Verstappen did. Staggering it wasn’t even investigated.
Robert Henning
1st July 2023, 22:49
Because Verstappen aborts the lap only in the second straight after Turn 1.
There was nothing malicious going on.
He was on a flying lap as well before aborting it, after GP’s message.
You should checkout the onboards if you can for a better understanding.
How this became an issue because a bunch of people can’t seem to have full information is sad.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
1st July 2023, 23:10
You can be naive and believe that if you want. If you expect the rest of us to accept that he did his first hot lap, seen another car starting their hot lap and thought “yes I can totally do another hot lap with this car in front of me” then you’re delusional.. maybe as much as your Ver. No sane driver would be on the inside of T1, knowing there is no way they can improve their lap with such compromised entry and still decide to go for it. It was typical Max doing his thing without any care in the world about anyone else.
lucifer (@lucifer)
1st July 2023, 23:54
exactly
Robert Henning
2nd July 2023, 11:48
The issue here with all three users responding to me is very clear.
It is called confirmation bias.
You have made up your mind, then distort reality to fit your view.
I saw the onboards, and given that Verstappen didn’t go into out-lap mode (Recharge) before he receives a radio message from his engineer that he is P1, he was on what is a push lap.
The details are discussed even at the F1 Technical Forum.
I know, reality is hard to accept.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 8:19
That’s ridiculous. Nobody does two hot laps in a row in these cars on these tyres. The battery is not full, the tyres need a cool down lap… There was never a chance of him beating his time on a second hot lap in a row.
Also, Hamilton caught him into T1. With how fast the RBR is, he wouldn’t have done that if Max was on a valid hot lap. Either the car had nothing left to give, which Max would have been able to feel and would have aborted the lap before then, or Max was deliberately just trying to put himself in Hamilton’s way. He likely continued after to try to make it look like he’d been attempting a second hot lap, but he isn’t fooling anyone (except maybe you…)
Robert Henning
2nd July 2023, 11:50
See the other response.
The one who seems visibly upset is you.
Take care.
Robert Henning
2nd July 2023, 11:55
Also, Verstappen did 2 push laps every time yesterday.
You are scared to watch F1, understandable, given you are still stuck a few years behind.
Ajaxn
2nd July 2023, 11:11
Here’s the point missed. If Verstappen had continued past Hamilton to do a final lap, Hamilton would likely have picked up a tow, and got a good time behind Max. The fact that Verstappen aborts that lap made it a double whammy for Hamilton.
Silfen (@silfen)
1st July 2023, 18:56
It was clearly impeding by both of them. Verstappen was on his fast lap when he passed Hamilton in the last corner, losing time. Hamilton should have let him pass earlier.
And he should have let Hamilton pass after he crossed the line, but didn’t.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
1st July 2023, 19:23
@silfen Ham was 20 meters in front of Ver at the last corner. He wasn’t going flat out through it because it wasn’t actually his fast lap but he was going at 90% of the speed through there. He accelerated full throttle as soon as he left the apex. Ver attacked the corner harder and then used slipstream to get close to Ham and still at the line he wasn’t ahead of Ham.
Even the stop watch would agree… he had gone 4 tenths faster than second place at that time. It’s all just nonsense from Ver….
Silfen (@silfen)
1st July 2023, 22:48
Apparently Verstappen was supposed to do two timed laps according to his onboard. But after losing time in the first corner due to Hamilton he backed out.
So no impeding from Verstappen, but still from Hamilton for the first timed lap.
lucifer (@lucifer)
1st July 2023, 23:57
you can’t be serious, he totally impeded lewis and knew lewis was going for a hot lap when he impeded
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 8:30
I seriously doubt that. These cars have not been able to do two hot laps in a row. They don’t have the battery, and the tyres don’t give the required performance. Even an aborted lap half way through has often led to requiring a cool down lap after.
I guess there’s a small chance that RBR have somehow set themselves up so that it’s possible, but I don’t remember seeing them do so before. I find it very hard to believe that they’d be doing this for the first time at exactly the time when it would impede Hamilton, nor do I think the Mercedes would have been able to get alongside the RBR on the straight.
MadMax (@madmax)
1st July 2023, 21:05
Usual Verstappen behaviour
Robert Henning
1st July 2023, 22:50
Yes, the standard behavior of actually doing your program and not impeding anyone else, unlike old man Lewis.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
1st July 2023, 23:11
yes his programme is obviously to take 2 hot laps and overtake another driver on their hot lap. Makes perfect sense.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
1st July 2023, 23:57
I agree it’s suspicious by verstappen, not sure if any of the 2 should’ve got a penalty, but if any it’s verstappen.
drmouse (@drmouse)
2nd July 2023, 8:33
Yes, because Lewis should obviously have compromised the hot lap he was starting by going way off line.
That said, with the stewards’ interpretation of impeding with Leclerc, when he was coming into the pits and had no choice but to be where he was, anything is possible…