Lap time scrapped 47 times in Spielberg qualifying: FIA angers F1 stars

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Max Verstappen (25) races non-stop to his third world title in his Red Bull Honda. On Friday, the Dutchman already achieved his 26th pole position for Sunday in front of more than 30,000 Orange fans in Spielberg. His fourth in a row. Leading last year’s winner Leclerc – 0.048 seconds.

Verstappen converted his previous 25 pole positions into a victory 20 times, which corresponds to 80 percent. No F1 driver who has started a race more than twice from first place has a better success rate.

The curbs at turns 1, 6, 9 and 10 on the Red Bull Ring became a major annoyance. If you drive over the white line (track limits) with all four wheels, you can forget the time driven. Verstappen: “This rule takes the fun out of us. The speed just forces us off the track!”

The FIA ​​cracked down on 47 occasions (Sainz and Norris six each). World Cup runner-up Pérez was hit hardest in the second part of qualifying. He had the second best time. But this fell through for the Mexican – and so he fell back to 15th and last place behind Bottas. The Finn had just survived the first qualifying session in 15th after a spin and a red flag – 0.021 ahead of Tsunoda.

Alfa-Sauber opponents in the top ten final

Pérez therefore missed the top ten final for the fourth time in a row. There, two opponents of Alfa-Sauber appeared in the battle for 7th place in the World Championship: Hulkenberg (8th) in the Haas-Ferrari and Albon (10th) in the Williams-Mercedes.

Now Bottas and Zhou (17th) know their task on Sunday. With nine championship points, Hinwil Haas (8) and Williams (7) are just ahead.

Vortex at Audi

Incidentally, all hell breaks loose at Audi, which already owns 25 percent of Sauber. Former CEO Rupert Stadler was sentenced this week to probation over the global diesel scandal. And Ingolstadt’s current CEO, Markus Duesmann, has already been fired.

Apparently, a crisis had been raging behind the scenes for weeks. Now the Supervisory Board spoke a strong word. Formula 1 sponsor Duesmann gone – is that a bad sign for the joint project with Sauber from 2026? Well, his successor should also be positive about the future of Formula 1.

what really happened Andreas Seidl (47), CEO in Hinwil, to Blick: “You have to ask Audi!” The German will not give official interviews until 2024. But soon he will have to communicate the tricky driver question for 2024!

Source : Blick