2018 Austrian GP : Drivers of the Day

The Austrian Grand Prix was a race where two of the future generation’s finest battled virtually all race, plus there were some outstanding performances from those within the minnows. Of the 22 drivers, who was awesome in Austria?

5. James Clark

To a large extent, James Clark could’ve won this race thanks to a better strategy. While Alessandro Farina and Vaino Kimminen chose three-stop strategies, Clark went for just two, and his strategy came into play at half distance when he gained track position over his two main rivals. He had a lead of around nine seconds when he made his second stop and had he stayed out of trouble, he might’ve maintained the lead after Farina and Kimminen’s final stops, but get into trouble he did with the two Shake ‘n’ Bake drivers where three into Hella-Licht ended in tears. Although Clark escaped without damage, the time loss meant that he had to settle for 3rd.

4. Kevin Magnussen

FJR have been going through a torrid spell of late with their design philosophy harming their straight line performance, particularly at Aragon and Monaco, and poor reliability is only adding to their woes. At the Österreichring, it was as bad as ever with both Kevin Magnussen and Catharina Caracciola struggling for pace through Friday’s running. If anything, Magnussen’s 9th on the grid was a bit of an overachievement. In the race, he chose the same two-stop strategy as Clark, but unlike Clark, he stayed out of trouble and after the two Andrew Racing drivers collided, he sniffed an opportunity for an unlikely point, which he took off of Daniel Ricciardo with less than ten laps remaining.

3. Nolan Bryant

Despite his teammate leading the championship, Nolan Bryant seemed the quicker Shake ‘n’ Bake driver at the Österreichring as he outqualified his more experienced teammate by two places. What’s more, Shake ‘n’ Bake looked very competitive and had a good chance of a podium finish. In the race however, Gojira AutoSport and Kimminen were just a bit too quick, but Bryant wasn’t afraid to give teammate Fernando Alonso a hard time as they got stuck behind Esteban Ocon. At one point, Bryant snuck past Alonso on the straight before the Bosch Kurve as the Spaniard found himself snookered behind Clark, and reacted superbly to stay out of Alonso and Clark’s collision. Although Bryant found himself behind Clark again thanks to his three-stop strategy, it was a very strong performance from the American, and his second career podium finish must surely be on the cards in the near future.

2. Vaino Kimminen

After a difficult last three races where issues have meant that only a 7th place at Monaco was all he could muster, Kimminen needed a strong result to kickstart his championship defence. Although he qualified down in 10th, Tornado had once again sacrificed qualifying for better race pace, which as Charles Leclerc proved at Montreal, can be risky. However, Kimminen’s trademark patience in race was demonstrated once again as a good start moved him up to 6th during the first lap, and then he methodically worked his way to the front before his first stop, where he was jumped by Farina thanks to a slow stop. Knowing he had a quicker car than the Gojira, Kimminen bided his time and eventually retook the lead during the third stint and stayed there for an important win.

1. Esteban Ocon

Monolith Racing System’s first points of the season came at Road America courtesy of Nico Hulkenberg, but it should’ve been Ocon delivering the payload as he was running 7th before an engine failure. A failure to qualify for the following race at Montreal delayed Ocon’s chance for redemption, but a good lap amongst the FJR drivers in pre-qualifying comfortably sealed his place in the race. From 14th on the grid, a good aggressive opening few laps moved him into the points and briefly ran 2nd before his first of two pitstops. Much like Tildesley GP (George Russell set an astonishing lap in Friday Qualifying to be 2nd in his group and 4th quickest overall), the Monolith MRS-18 chassis looked very quick in a straight line and Ocon was able to utilise this to frustrate Lewis Hamilton and the two Shake ‘n’ Bake drivers for a superb 5th, his first career points and helping Monolith move up to 10th in the Teams Championship ahead of Tildesley and GRM.

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