The fourth for Max?
Next weekend Red Bull will receive Formula 1 at its home circuit; the Red Bull Ring in Austria. It will probably also be a party for Red Bull, which has already celebrated several times with Max Verstappen.
Times GP Austria
Another special weekend awaits the Formula 1 viewer, because for the second time this season it is a sprint race weekend according to the new format. This means that on Friday there will be qualifying for the Grand Prix, on Saturday there will be a separate sprint qualification and then there will be the sprint race. The outcome of the sprint race no longer determines the starting grid for the GP, unless, for example, a driver is subject to a grid penalty as a result of what happened in the sprint race.
| Date | Session | Time (NL) |
| Friday June 30 | First free practice | 13.30 – 14.30 |
| Friday June 30 | Qualification (GP) | 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm |
| Saturday July 1 | Sprint Qualification | 12.00 – 12.44 |
| Saturday July 1 | Sprint race | 4.30 pm – 5 pm |
| Sunday July 2 | Race | 3:00 pm |
Championship standings
We don’t really need to talk about Max Verstappen anymore in the standings of the championship. Beyond that, however, things are still tense when it comes to second place, especially between Sergio Pérez and Fernando Alonso. One race could be enough for Alonso to move Pérez into third place. Lewis Hamilton also keeps an eye on second place and he is further ahead of teammate George Russell.
| driver | Pt. |
| 1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull | 195 |
| 2. Sergio Perez – Red Bull | 128 |
| 3. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin | 117 |
| 4.Lewis Hamilton-Mercedes | 102 |
| 5. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari | 68 |
| 6.George Russell-Mercedes | 65 |
| 7.Charles Leclerc-Ferrari | 54 |
| 8. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin | 37 |
| 9. Esteban Ocon – Alpine | 29 |
| 10. Pierre Gasly – Alpine | 15 |
The battle for second place in the constructors’ championship is also very exciting. Mercedes took second place from Aston Martin in Spain, but in Canada Aston Martin came out much stronger than in Barcelona. With a promising update, the British racing stable even hopes to close the gap to Red Bull, so who knows, Mercedes’ second place may only be short-lived. There is still a lot of work to be done for Ferrari to be able to join the fight for second place.
| Constructor | Pt. |
| Red Bull | 321 |
| Mercedes | 167 |
| Aston Martin | 154 |
| Ferrari | 122 |
| Alpine | 44 |
| McLaren | 17 |
| Alfa Romeo | 9 |
| Hare | 8 |
| Williams | 7 |
| AlphaTauri | 2 |
Circuit
The Red Bull Ring has a rich history in Formula 1. Not just under that name. Formula 1 was already a guest here from 1970 to 1987, but then it was still the longer Österreichring. From 1997 to 2003, the Austrian Grand Prix was held on the shortened and renamed A1-Ring circuit in the Spielberg region. After this it disappeared from the calendar and the A1-Ring was barely saved from demolition by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz. He turned it into the Red Bull Ring, with almost the same layout as the A1-Ring, and Formula 1 returned in 2014.
Coming Sunday, the drivers will drive 71 laps on the Red Bull Ring, covering a distance of almost 306.5 kilometers. The fastest race lap is in the name of Carlos Sainz, who lapped it in 1:05.619 in 2020. The name on the Red Bull Ring is currently Max Verstappen. He won two races there in 2021 (GP of Austria and the GP of Styria) and in 2019 and 2018 he also won the Grand Prix of Austria. Last year it was Charles Leclerc who came out on top and in 2020 Valtteri Bottas won.
Weather forecast
For the time being, it looks a bit mixed in Spielberg next weekend. Saturday in particular seems to be a pretty wet and cool day, so that could be something with the sprint race … On Sunday it looks a bit better, although the weather in the mountains can of course change quickly. The rain tires may in any case be ready.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl