Austria 2024 Sprint Weekend - Race 11, Sprint 3
To this point a somewhat interesting start to the weekend.
The initial Sprint start was waved though for another lap after the start was aborted. At the time, I don't think anyone noticed why, nor did I. But after the fact it was found that photographers in the turn 1 area were thought to be too close and in a danger zone for debris, even though they were behind the barrier. As such, the start was aborted and some photographers moved. A smart move on the part of the FIA after Monaco.
The Sprint itself wasn't great, but had some spice at the beginning. Lando made a really late move on Max that stuck, and put him into the lead. Not to be denied, Max returned the favor with an even later moved that put him back in the lead. Both moves were probably some of the latest braking moves seen this season, and both were executed very well. In the shuffle, when Max passed Lando, Oscar moved up into second place and held it. I don't think either McLaren could have taken it back to Max, to the team let them race.
With new gravel traps you would think the track limits fiasco of last year might be gone. But it's not, with quite a few deleted times taking place. Hopefully the race won't have as many issues, and whoever wins tomorrow won't be worried about 10 or 20 seconds of penalties incoming. Shame they didn't make the gravel traps a bit closer, but at least it's an attempt.
Hulkenberg got a penalty including points for forcing Alonso off track during the Sprint. From the race footage it didn't look bad to me, more of a block pass type thing and Alonso chose to go off track rather than wait to turn. Alonso himself called the move borderline, but has also said that both a time penalty and points was a bit much. His quote was "It was too optimistic for sure, but I probably disagree with the penalty points again. You can succeed, or you can make a mistake, and maybe you pay the price or you have to give back the position, or if it's the last lap of the race, there is a time penalty, but I don't think that it was a dangerous manoeuvre. He was just attempting an overtake. Too optimistic, okay, but not the penalty points. I still don't get it," Alonso told GPblog and others in Austria.
e taken it back to Max, to the team let them race.
Yuki fined 40,000 euros for using the word "retarded" on the radio, with half the fine suspended for the rest of the season. This in spite of the fact that Yuki stated he did not have a grasp of how offensive this word was in the language, and someone who obviously is not the most fluent English speaker. I think this is a bit excessive myself, radio messages are bleeped all the time from a number of drivers, and they could have done the same with Yuki had they wanted. And it's words from a non English speaker, known to be a bit wild on the radio. And it really wasn't that long ago that the term was used in professional circles, and a somewhat common term for anyone with a mental deficit. Yuki did apologize and took responsibility, and seemed honestly upset that the use of the term was considered inappropriate, but at the same time he also said his lack of command of the language is no excuse.
Meanwhile, Merc leave the jack and some garage exhaust removal hose and piping on the back of Lewis' car when they wave him out. Both were dragged out of the garage box into the edge of the pit lane. Thankfully the team slowed him on the radio and the items came off without incident and Lewis would go into the fast lane and exit. Mercedes were handed a 5,000 euro fine for the incident.
Now I fully understand that Yuki might have offended some viewers, but as a non fluent English speaker it's an understandable mistake to some extent. But even if it had been intentional, it was words, and chances are most would understand it was not intended as offensive. The Merc mistake on the other hand, wasn't far from becoming an ugly incident. It could have caused real physical harm to those in the pit lane. I guess in this day and age the FIA are more concerned with offending someones feelings vs someones body. I think they have set a very bad example in terms of safety being less important than political correctness.
As for the race qually, the closest ever Q1 since the current knockout format started. It seems that more often than not lately, drivers have to be on it fairly quick, or even the big teams can find themselves on the outside of Q1.
Four teams hold the top 4 starting spaces. It looks to be a race with potential, even though Max sent a strong message or two in qually.
