System 1 stops once more within the Styrian mountains. The Crimson Bull Ring is allowed to carry a dash weekend for the second time in a row. The large favorites are additionally the house facet: Crimson Bull is anticipated to win at residence. The pursuers got here nearer in the long run. McLaren desires to provoke a turnaround with a significant replace. The focal factors in Austria.
Focus 1: Crimson Bull with an obligation to win at residence
The Crimson Bulls are dominating the 2023 season at will and have received all eight races thus far. The RB19 is clearly one of the best automobile of the season, even when the competitors has come a bit nearer not too long ago. As well as, there may be Max Verstappen’s excellent file in Spielberg: solely on the Crimson Bull Ring and in Mexico has he already received 4 occasions. For Crimson Bull and the World Champion, something lower than victory at their residence race can be a significant disappointment, particularly since 1000’s of Dutch followers of the ‘Orange Military’ are anticipated once more. Final yr, they have been solely allowed to cheer on the Saturday dash. Verstappen needed to admit defeat to Charles Leclerc within the Grand Prix. To date, however, this was Ferrari’s last victory in Formula 1. Since then, Crimson Bull have solely been overwhelmed as soon as, when George Russell triumphed in Brazil 2022.
Spotlight 2: Who is number two?
Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari all seemed to have taken steps in the right direction of late. The ‘Black Arrows’ already saw this in Barcelona when they took a double podium. A race later in Montreal, Lewis Hamilton confirmed the trend with another podium finish, although the track should not have suited the W14 particularly well. Aston Martin, on the other hand, only brought the big update package in Canada, but it seemed to hit immediately. Fernando Alonso secured second place after finishing a disappointing seventh at his home race.
At Ferrari, things are more opaque. The red racers are usually strong in qualifying, but then fall behind in the race due to excessive tire wear. This didn’t seem to change even with updates until Montreal came along. To the surprise of many observers, the picture was reversed there. In qualifying, Ferrari – admittedly in damp and therefore not necessarily representative conditions – did not do well, especially since the pilots and pit wall also made mistakes. In the race, an impressive comeback to positions four and five was achieved, with Sergio Perez in the Red Bull also being beaten by both drivers. The special feature: Ferrari achieved this success with a one-stop strategy, which was based on good tire wear. Red Bull Boss Dr. Helmut Marko even said that Ferrari had the fastest car in the field in Canada on Sunday. Has the Scuderia really made a breakthrough? Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz first have to confirm this in Spielberg.
Focus 3: McLaren wants to turn the B-model
McLaren already knew last winter that the season opener was going to be tough. The engineers got lost in the wrong direction of development and the traditional team had to change direction. Accordingly, the MCL60 started the season with a considerable development backlog. Only 17 points have been scored so far, last year it was 65 after eight races. The engineers are now waiting for the first results of the new direction of development. Team boss Andrea Stella even speaks of a ‘B model’.
The team will be in Austria with the first part of a major update package to be completed in the two subsequent races at Silverstone and Hungaroring. In Spielberg, the underbody, side boxes and engine cover will be tackled. In England new wings are coming and in Hungary the suspensions are exchanged. McLaren still aim to be in the top four teams by the end of the season. If not in terms of points, then at least in terms of speed. In the snapshot, the task should probably be to break away from the rest of the midfield and establish a connection to Alpine.
Focus 4: Will the next Williams sensation succeed?
In Montreal, Formula 1 once again saw a commanding victory from world champion Max Verstappen, but fans chose another man as their driver of the day: Alex Albon. The Thai had been provided with a major update package by Williams and is exploiting this brilliantly. Already in qualifying he showed the fastest time in Q2. In the race, his team then chose the right strategy and Albon kept faster opponents at bay with the outstanding top speed of the FW45. Seventh place was a sensation. Can Albon repeat this in Austria? Top speed is required again in the first two sectors of the Red Bull Ring.
Focus 5: Second sprint weekend in the new format
What made its debut in Baku is now coming up for the second time: the new sprint format. The weekend is again divided into two parts. Friday and Sunday are the classic Grand Prix. Saturday the sprint day. Therefore there is only one free practice session on Friday to find a setup. After that, qualifying for Sunday’s race begins. On Saturday morning, the starting order of the short race will be determined in the so-called sprint shootout. Saturday qualifying works like normal qualifying, but the sub-segments are shortened in time. Since there was already a sprint in Austria last year, there is a comparison between the old and new format on the same route.
Formula 1 Austria 2023: The schedule
- Freitag:
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.: Training
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.: Qualifying - Saturday:
12:00 p.m. – 12:44 p.m.: Sprint Shootout
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Sprint (24 laps) - Sunday:
8:00 p.m.: Race (71 laps)
All information about the Formula 1 TV schedules from Sky, ORF and Co. is right here within the overview.
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Revealed : 2023-06-28 10:15:00
