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The Austrian GP was the 11th race of the season, which means we're done with half of the 2022 season.
Charles Leclerc provided a timely reminder that he and Ferrari are fast enough to take on the best in the grid. Mercedes sneaked through into another podium, as a Red Bull and Ferrari had their races compromised.
Austrian GP 2022: Charles Leclerc, Mercedes, Mick Schumacher and more
Even though the Austrian GP came after the highs of the British GP, it delivered in more ways than one. On that note, here're the few key learnings from the race:
#1 Charles Leclerc is fast but needs Ferrari's support
The commentators wondered during the Austrian GP why Charles Leclerc was unable to put the sort of challenge against Max Verstappen he did during the sprint on Saturday. Well, that was because early in the sprint, Leclerc was forced to use his tire life to fend off his fast-closing teammate and keep him behind.
It's not a far-fetched idea that if Ferrari had told Sainz to hold station at the time. Leclerc could have been able to challenge in the sprint as well, like in the Austrian GP. Nevertheless, with his win on Sunday, Leclerc moved to second in the standings, trailing Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 38 points.
At the halfway point in the season, Leclerc has done everything possible to show the team he's the faster of the two Ferrari drivers. He cannot have Carlos Sainz disrupting his race time and again because every point is going to be crucial as the season winds down.
On Sunday, Leclerc showed he can take the race to Verstappen, but will Ferrari provide him enough support?
#2 Mercedes endure a humbling experience
The Austrian GP was not the best race for Mercedes, as it somewhat exposed the claims the team had been making till now. There had been suggestions that once the team can get rid of the porpoising or bouncing effect, it will be able to compete at the front of the grid.
The Austrian GP featured no bouncing issues for the team. However, Mercedes were nowhere close to what Ferrari and Red Bull did in terms of lap times. The Mercedes no-side pod design was the talk of the town when it was launched; the German team might need a rethink on that.
#3 Mick Schumacher is one to keep an eye on
Mick Schumacher's performance compared to Kevin Magnussen is not much of a surprise, as he showed his prowess earlier in the season. What was slightly surprising was the young German channeling his father, the legendary Michael Schumacher, demanding better support from his team, leaving his 'good boy' image to one side.
Schumacher was very serious and somewhat angry at the way Haas did not allow him to get ahead of Kevin Magnussen. During the Austrian GP, though, Schumacher would not be denied, as he hounded his teammate for much of the race till Haas relented and let him past. In the process, he registered his best finish in F1 - sixth.
A P6 is a strong result, considering Haas' up and down season. It will be very interesting to see how Schumacher builds on that and what he can do in that car compared to his teammate.
#4 Alpine is Ferrari of midfield
Alpine cannot help itself these days. The team is making strong progress when it comes to car performance, but reliability is a major issue. If it was Esteban Ocon at the British GP, it was Fernando Alonso at the Austrian GP.
At the Austrian GP, Alpine was easily the fastest car in midfield and a P5-P6 was easily on the cards (with the two frontrunners out of the race). However, that did not happen. The team cannot keep on scoring with just one driver because of reliability issues in every race. Alpine should have easily leapfrogged McLaren lasy weekend, but it could only match the points tally of the Woking-based squad.
Alpine desperately need to improve its reliability to contend with the top teams.
#5 Boos/cheers from Austrian GP crowd
It was not a good sight to see fans cheering Lewis Hamilton's crash in qualifying. No F1 driver should be put through something like that, but is important here is to know the genesis of where this toxic culture began.
It all started last season at the British GP, where Max Verstappen suffered a 51G crash, ended up in the hospital and had his car turned into a pulp. What was the crowd's reaction? The crash received the loudest cheer of the season. The toxicity that began at that race has continued since then and has built up to this level.
Last week, Max Verstappen was booed relentlessly by British fans at Silverstone. When his car endured damage, there was a huge cheer across the grandstands. Was that toxic? Yes, it was.
It wasn't until Lewis Hamilton crashed and received the same treatment from the Dutch fans did the toxicity become noticeable. Why did Hamilton not address it when Verstappen was relentlessly booed at Silverstone last week ir the crash in Silverstone last season?
If Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton want to end the toxic culture, they need to start by speaking out against the abuse Verstappen gets. Until then, the toxicity could only grow.
