02/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Following Aston Martin's protest of the result of the Austrian Grand Prix, 8 drivers are hit with post-race penalties.
Speaking on Friday after almost losing out in qualifying after having his time deleted for exceeding the track limits, Max Verstappen described the situation as amateur.
Little did we know that it was going to get worse... a lot worse.
Track limits remained a factor on Saturday, and consequently it came as no surprise when race control started issuing warnings once the race got underway.
As the majority of drivers continued to run wide first came the black and white flags and then the penalties.
As drivers were notified that they had received a penalty the poachers quickly became gamekeepers advising their teams - and thereby the stewards - of other drivers committing an offence.
Shortly after the race, as we contemplated the ridiculousness of the situation, Aston Martin protested the result, claiming that a number of drivers had exceeded the limits without punishment.
Sure enough, it was confirmed that the provisional result had been issued before a number of violations had been included, the delay down to the fact that these were violations picked up by the FIA's control room in Geneva.
It's understood that in total there were over 1,200 violations over the course of the race, which officials admit caused an "unprecedented situation".
"Regarding the track limits infringements, we note that due to the specifics of the circuit layout and the propensity of many drivers to repeatedly drive outside of the boundaries of the track, an unprecedented situation arose which resulted in all potential infringements not being able to be reviewed during the race.
"Prior to the submission of a protest against the result, we had already begun a full review of the track limits infringements, which is ongoing. During the grand prix, race control was tasked with reviewing well over 1200 instances where a car was reported as potentially leaving the track.
"The results will be updated once the review of those which were not able to be reviewed during the race is complete."
It was subsequently confirmed that no less than eight drivers received post-race penalties between them, including Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.
Understandably, the FIA has strongly recommended that a solution be found to the track limits situation at the circuit.
"In order to address the issue for future events we will renew our recommendation to the circuit to add a gravel trap at the exit of Turns 9 and 10," said the spokesperson.
"We note that while this is not a straightforward solution in relation to other series that race here, it has proved to be very effective at other corners and circuits with similar issues."
While the race ended at around 16:30 local time, the result was not officially confirmed until 21:45.
The post-race penalties were as follows:
De Vries: 5 second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track
Sargeant: 5 second time penalty for exceeding track limits
Magnussen: 5 second time penalty for exceeding track limits
Ocon: 5 second time penalty for exceeding track limits (x 2)
De Vries: 5 second time penalty for exceeding track limits
Tsunoda: 5 second time penalty for exceeding track limits
Tsunoda: 10 second time penalties for exceeding track limits
Sainz: 10 second time penalties for exceeding track limits
Hamilton: 10 second time penalties for exceeding track limits
Gasly: 10 second time penalties for exceeding track limits
Albon: 10 second time penalties for exceeding track limits
Ocon: 10 second time penalties for exceeding track limits (x 2)
De Vries: 10 second time penalties for exceeding track limits
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Red Bull Ring here.