Austrian Grand Prix 2023: Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz fall, Fernando Alonso and others ascend amid several track limit violations

A thrilling race day at the Austrian Grand Prix as the drivers fiercely challenged the Red Bull team at their home race. Despite the Ferrari teams’ best efforts, Max Verstappen won his 16^th race this season making the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix his 42^nd race win. His teammate, Sergio Perez came an astonishing 3^rd after starting 15^th on the grid.

The FIA has published the ultimate standings for the Austrian Grand Prix subsequent to a series of penalties issued for exceeding track limits. Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton are among the drivers who have been moved down in the updated rankings, while Lando Norris has been promoted to 4^th place. Additionally, Fernando Alonso and George Russell have also advanced in the final classification.

Final standings of the Austrian Grand Prix

Following the conclusion of the Austrian Grand Prix, the FIA imposed 12 penalties on eight drivers several hours later, after conducting a review of track limit violations at turns 9 & 10 which was prompted by a protest from Aston Martin. As a result, the final race classification was revised.

Aston Martin protested the provisional classification shortly after the 71-lap race in Austria in response to several other drivers already receiving penalties for exceeding track limits.

Following the protests, the stewards reviewed the situation and decided to uphold the protest. They confirmed that additional penalties would be applied to the final classification for drivers who exceeded track limits during the race.

The FIA has officially announced that Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Estaban Ocon, Logan Sargeant, Nyck de Vries, and Yuki Tsunoda have received additional penalties.

What chaos occurred due to track limit infringements?

As a result of these penalties, the revised standings show Sainz moving down from 4^th to 6^th, with Norris now occupying the 4^th spot and Fernando Alonso in 5^th. Hamilton dropped from 7^th to 8^th place and his teammate George Russell is promoted to 7^th.

Meanwhile Gasly moves down to 10^th allowing Lance Stroll to take the 9^th position. Ocon on the other hand drops from 12^th to 14^th after receiving a 30-second time penalty.

Alex Albon retains his 11^th place on the grid along with Sargeant who also held onto the 13^th place. Nyck de Vries from AlphaTauri moves down from 15^th to 17^th while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda falls from 18^th to 19^th place.

Furthermore, the stewards emphasized their strong recommendation for finding a solution to the issue of track limits at the Spielberg circuit as they changed the order of the entire grid after the race.

What are your opinions on the track limits at the Speilberg Circuit? Let us know in the comments below.