Five things we learned from the Austrian Grand Prix

It really can’t get enough of ‘em. Having promised last year to be stricter about enforcing the rules around track limits - i.e. don’t go over the white lines - stewards did exactly that by dishing out time penalties left, right, centre, and probably a few in the fourth dimension for good measure.

And it got a bit embarrassing, didn’t it? Almost half the field was hit with at least one time penalty, and only Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ George Russell weren’t warned at all during the race.

The problem was (mostly) the final two corners, where it’s quicker to ride the kerbs as much as possible but still very easy to run all four tyres beyond the white line.

So frequent was the problem that the stewards had to review 1,200 separate incidents after the race, from which they dished out another one-minute-and-forty-seconds’ worth of penalties to various drivers. Explains why it took so long to work out the result…

Apparently officials are going to make yet another request for a gravel trap at turns 9 and 10 for next year. Here’s hoping.

It’s a formality now, isn’t it? Victory in Austria was Verstappen’s fifth win in a row and seventh of the season, and just nine races into 2023 he holds an 81-point lead over teammate Sergio Perez.

Which is little surprise because the RB19 continues to be utterly dominant: Perez finished on the podium having started way back in 15th, while Verstappen’s lead over Charles Leclerc heading into the final few laps in Austria was so large that he convinced Red Bull to let him stop for fresh tyres so he could grab the bonus point for the fastest lap as well.

Which is an odd risk to take, because at this stage the biggest threat to his third world title is a series of unfortunate and persistent flight cancellations. Maybe he’s flying BA to Silverstone this weekend…

Lewis Hamilton's record at the Austrian GP isn’t that good, all things considered: he’s only won it once (remember when he clashed with Nico Rosberg on the last lap in 2016?), or twice if you count that time it was run as the Styrian Grand Prix.

Anyway, there was more disappointment for the seven-time champ this weekend as he could only qualify 19th for the Sprint race, and after missing out on points on Saturday his promising start to the grand prix unravelled with a five-second penalty for track limits.

Hamilton was so peeved at this that team boss Toto Wolff eventually had to intervene on the radio and remind him to “just drive it”. Ouch.

And it got worse. Hamilton was one of the several drivers to be served a second helping of penalties hours after everyone had gone home, dropping him to eighth in the final classification. Hashtag cursed.

Well, who saw that coming? McLaren’s woeful start to the season - which cost technical director James Key his job back in March - has been one of F1’s major storylines this year. It missed its development targets for the first race and has basically been competing with a car that isn’t finished ever since.

Until now. The first of several upgrades was bolted onto Lando Norris’s car in time for Austria, and boy did they do the trick. The 23-year-old qualified fourth and finished there in the race, and even managed to stick the car third in Saturday’s Sprint Shootout.

Teammate Oscar Piastri should also get the new parts in time for the British GP this weekend. Things are looking up for the Woking team…

Dare we say this was the best Sprint since the format was introduced? Go on then, we dare. The action was intense right from the start, as Perez grabbed the lead from Verstappen down into the first corner but then lost again almost immediately, having squeezed the Dutchman onto the grass. Apparently he “didn’t see” him. Hmm…

Further back there was action everywhere, and the drama kept coming as the track - which had been damp to begin with, requiring everyone to run inters - began to dry. George Russell was the first to gamble on slicks, and the decision paid off as he leapt into the points-scoring positions from near the back of the field.

What followed was a frantic finish as those who pitted for slick tyres chased down those who’d stuck with inters: the top five had nothing to gain and so finished on inters, but Haas - fearing he’d be overtaken by the Astons anyway - made the bold call to pull Nico Hulkenberg in from fourth, and the veteran driver carved back up through the order to finish sixth and grab some precious points to leap above Alfa Romeo in the constructors’ battle.