2022 Austrian Grand Prix - Saturday

IT’S A SPRINT

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen converted pole position into sprint race victory at the Red Bull Ring over 23 laps (the race distance was reduced by one lap after an extra formation lap was added). The top four finished in grid order, with Verstappen taking his second consecutive sprint win this year.
• He used the P Zero Yellow medium tyre from start to finish, with all the teams apart from Aston Martin and Williams (which used the P Zero Red soft) making the same choice. Conditions remained dry and quite cool, with 26 degrees ambient and 34 degrees of track temperature at the end of the race.
• The performance gaps between the compounds here is estimated at around 0.3 seconds between P Zero White hard and medium (although there has been very little running on the hard so far) and 0.4 seconds between medium and soft.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

According to our theoretical calculation based on the average data from all the teams, the quickest strategy on paper for the 71-lap Austrian Grand Prix tomorrow is going to be a one-stopper from medium to hard.
For cars starting out of position, starting on the hard isn’t out of the question either, leaving a choice between the soft and the medium for the final stint.
A two-stopper is slower under normal circumstances, but the best way to do it would be using all three compounds: medium, hard, then soft. There’s a reasonably high safety car probability here, on a tight and unforgiving track, so that could influence a two-stopper.
Tomorrow there’s a bit of rain forecast for the morning, which shouldn’t affect the race, but will influence the track’s condition. Track temperatures are expected to be broadly similar to today, so the data collected from the sprint today will be very relevant.

 
“The race looks likely to be a medium to hard one-stopper”

“Today the teams were able to get some useful long run data on the medium during the sprint: good information for the race tomorrow, which looks likely to be a medium to hard one-stopper, as also confirmed by the performance of the tyres today. Both compounds performed well, with the medium being the more conservative choice that made it the most popular option for the sprint this afternoon. The soft was chosen by four drivers starting from further down the grid, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll used it well to make up four places.” 

• Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong led from light to flag in the 28-lap Formula 2 sprint race, having started from reverse grid pole. All the drivers used the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tyres from start to finish, which stood up well to the demands of the tightly-fought race. ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire was second, challenged hard by Jack Doohan (Virtuosi Racing).
• All the drivers used the P Zero Red soft tyre for the 21-lap sprint race, with Prema’s Jak Crawford sealing his first Formula 3 win. MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet led from pole but was then passed by ART Grand Prix’s Juan Manuel Correa, who dropped out with technical problems. Crawford took the lead with seven laps to go, managing the safety car re-start perfectly. Fourth place and fastest lap for Arthur Leclerc (Prema) moved him to within one point of the series lead.