F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Styrian GP Speed Trap: Who is the fastest of them all?

A lap around the Red Bull Ring is a 64-second mad dash that includes just 10 corners, but that's all the more reason why every little bit of a car's potential must be extracted over the 4.315km course.

The track's layout is not a power track comparable to Silverstone or Monza, but a healthy dose of engine muscle is still required to produce a good flyer.

The speed trap - located at the end of the stretch between Turns 3 and 4 - placed the Mercedes-powered McLaren boys at the top of the readings with a maximum velocity of 317.8 km/h.

But while Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris shared approximately the same top speed in qualifying, there was a significant disparity between their fastest lap times, with the Aussie lagging his teammate by a massive 0.7s as his car clearly couldn't keep up with Norris' MCL35M in the corners.

At the other end of the spectrum, Ferrari's drivers were the slowest through the speed trap, a fact highlighted by Charles Leclerc who qualified P7 but was puzzled by the SF21's loss of speed in the Red Bull Ring's three DRS zones.

But while those are the cold facts at both ends of the spectrum, anything goes when the lights go out...

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Michael Delaney

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