Lewis Hamilton has questioned whether the high altitude of the Red Bull Ring played a role in Mercedes’ surprising qualifying performance at the Austrian Grand Prix, where the team secured a front-row lockout after Max Verstappen’s crash.
Mercedes Front Row After Verstappen Crash
Without the Verstappen crash, Mercedes might have claimed an all-Mercedes front row again. A sheepish Kimi Antonelli conceded that George Russell’s times were superior but believed he was on track to take second before aborting his lap. Ferrari, with their latest upgrades, were tipped to perform well, but perhaps a bit more was expected. What happened? Their improvement may have vanished literally into thin air: Spielberg is 660 metres above sea level.
Hamilton Addresses Altitude Factor
Hamilton addressed the issue directly: “I think this weekend we’ve not been confident that we could fight for a win. We knew coming into this weekend it would be tough with the long straights we’ve got here, and the deficit looked bigger than other circuits that we’ve been at. Maybe it’s altitude, I’m not sure.” For comparison, next week’s race at Silverstone is 153 metres above sea level, Barcelona was about 130 metres, and Monaco might as well be under water.
