F1 Austrian Grand Prix preview: Sprint weekend schedule changes Ferrari is expected to break Red Bull domination
This weekend, the 2023 F1 season will see the ninth race – the Austrian Grand Prix. The race will be held at Red Bull Racing's home stadium, the Red Bull Ring circuit, with the second sprint of the season set up this week. Can Red Bull withstand Ferrari and Mercedes to claim their ninth victory of the season?
After eight games this season, Verstappen leads the standings with 195 points, teammate Perez is second with 126 points, and Alonso is only nine points behind Perez and is provisionally third. In the constructors' standings, Red Bull leads with 321 points, while Mercedes and Aston Martin are second and third with 167 and 154 points. Coincidentally, Mercedes has the same points plus as Red Bull with Aston Martin.
This week will be the second sprint of the season, leaving the teams only time to acclimatize to the track on Friday's first free practice session, as after the first free practice session there will be a qualifying session that determines the starting order of the Sunday race. On Saturday, there will be sprint qualifying and sprint races, and the results on Saturday are actually not related to Sunday's main race, so Friday's qualifying is extremely important.
In terms of weather, the Red Bull Circle has a moderate probability of precipitation on Friday and Saturday, and a low probability of precipitation on Sunday.
In terms of tyres, Pirelli brings the softest C3, C4 and C5 tire formulations. The 71-lap race will be completed on the 4.318-kilometre-long track.
In last year's Red Bull Tour Belt, Verstappen suffered a home defeat. Leclerc won the championship and Ferrari have shown tepid competitiveness so far this season. But after the last Canadian Grand Prix, both Hamilton and Red Bull team adviser Marko said Ferrari's competitiveness in dry conditions could threaten Red Bull's lead.
Red Bull Racing's Perez has been in a slump of late, appearing to have withdrawn from the race with Verstappen for this year's drivers' championship, but the Red Bull team principal says Red Bull will support Perez through difficult times. Horner said: "He is currently second in the standings. He is the only driver other than Verstappen to win a race this year. So we need to support him through this time. And I'm sure he'll find his form again soon. ”
Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu said: "I am eager to continue our recent good performance in Austria. There are still a lot of races and if we continue to progress, we still have a chance to score a lot of points. The upgrades we introduced a few races ago are working and I'm going to give my all on the track to reach the full potential of the car. We know that in qualifying, a tenth of a second difference can make a huge difference, and it's even more important during sprint weeks. We have to stay focused and be at our best all weekend to get better. "
This week, Tencent Sports will bring the full live broadcast of the Austrian Grand Prix:
Friday, June 30 19:30-20:30 One practice
Friday, June 30 23:00-00:00 Qualifying
Saturday, July 1 18:00-18:44 Sprint qualifying session
Saturday, July 1 22:30-23:00 Sprint race
Sunday, July 2 21:00-23:00 Main Match