Max Verstappen, the polesitter on Saturday, experienced wheelspin on the slippery track, allowing his teammate Sergio Perez to overtake him on the inside of the first turn. Perez’s narrow line upon entry, however, sent him wide onto the painted exit kerbs, causing a loss of traction and a seemingly unintentional swerve across the track.
This swerving under acceleration let Verstappen catch up to his teammate. But as Perez veered more to the right, Verstappen was forced onto the grass to prevent a collision. According to Perez, he hadn’t noticed his teammate due to the spray on the track.
Verstappen didn’t hesitate to voice his frustration over the team radio: “He pushed me off. What the f**k”. At the end of the 24-lap race, he emphasized the potential severity of the incident, saying: “The exit of Turn 1 was not really nice. That could have been a really big shunt. We need to have a chat about that. It was not OK.”
Following the race, the two drivers discussed the incident in the safety car garage. They seemed to resolve any issues, with neither inflaming the situation during their parc ferme interviews.
Perez acknowledged that he hadn’t seen his teammate, but once aware, gave back the position. “We had a good start. A bit of a fight with Max and that obviously gave a position to Nico [Hulkenberg] which he was very strong in the first few laps, so it was quite hard to get by him,” he explained.
“Max was angry that I went into Turn 2, but I didn’t see him there. I just had a very bad Turn 1, so I tried to protect, but once I realized that he was there I opened up the door and gave the place back into Turn 2,” he added.
Despite taking the lead into the third turn, Perez lost time as his path was blocked by Verstappen. Verstappen took this chance to gain the lead, eventually winning the sprint race with a sizable 21.048s gap over Perez, who attributed this to him managing the intermediate tyres.
Reflecting on the incident, Verstappen said: “It was a little bit of a hairy moment out of Turn 1 and of course when you get forced onto the grass, it’s very slippery. But we managed to keep the car under control and from there once we just did our race.”
Also Read: F1 Austrian GP: Verstappen triumphs in sprint race, leading by 21s over Perez
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Austria F1 Sprint
What was the issue between Verstappen and Perez in the Austria F1 Sprint?
The issue arose when Verstappen experienced wheelspin on the slippery track, allowing Perez to overtake him on the inside of the first turn. Perez then lost traction, causing him to swerve across the track, forcing Verstappen onto the grass to avoid a collision.
Did Verstappen manage to overcome the incident and win the race?
Yes, despite the near-collision at the start of the race, Max Verstappen managed to overtake Perez and ultimately win the Austria F1 Sprint race by a considerable margin.
Was there any confrontation between Verstappen and Perez post-race?
The two drivers had a discussion about the incident in the safety car garage after the race. Although initial reactions were heated, they seemed to have resolved the issue and were calm during their parc ferme interviews.
Who won the Austria F1 Sprint race?
Max Verstappen won the Austria F1 Sprint race, leading by a significant 21.048 seconds over his teammate, Sergio Perez.
What did Perez have to say about the incident?
Perez acknowledged that he had not seen Verstappen when he moved into his path, but once he realized his teammate was there, he gave back the position. He stressed the difficulty of the race due to visibility issues.
5 comments
Hate it when the race conditions get this bad, honestly it makes everything too unpredictable!
What a race tho!! Verstappen showing once again why he’s one of the best on the track, slippery or not.
Well, that was a close one! Verstappen’s got some serious skillz avoiding that collision, man that was crazy…
Good on Perez for giving back the position. It’s hard when the visibility is so bad, can’t really blame him.
Verstappens reaction was gold!! But srsly, Perez needs to be more aware of his teammates..