Austrian Grand Prix result not yet decided after successful Aston Martin protest

Stewards at the Austrian Grand Prix have upheld a protest by the Aston Martin F1 team that claimed “a number of cars” were not penalised for exceeding track, meaning the race result is not yet final.

Seven drivers received penalties for continuously going beyond the white lines that define the limits of the track during Sunday’s race, with race control deleting in excess of 100 laps in total as a result of drivers straying wide.

Under F1’s regulations, drivers receive a warning after exceeding track limits three times, followed by a penalty for the fourth transgression.

Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen all received in-race or post-race five-second penalties for track limits violations.

However, Aston Martin argued other drivers should have been penalised during the race but slipped through the net. Its two drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, finished sixth and 10th.

The stewards allowed the protest and said the final result of the race was still to be determined.

“An examination of the list of deleted lap times provided to the stewards by race control, revealed that a number of track limit infringements had not previously been referred to the stewards for potential penalty,” the stewards said. “It was determined that some of these infringements warranted a penalty that was not previously applied when the provisional classification was published.

“These penalties will be reflected in the final classification.”

Three hours after the end of the race, a communication from the FIA said it was still analyzing over 1,200 possible infringements.

“Regarding the track limits infringements at the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, 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,” an FIA spokesperson said.

“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.

“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. 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.”

Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix by 5.155s from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez third. It is not yet clear which drivers are still being investigated or when the final classification will be issued.