The Austrian Grand Prix hosts the second sprint race of the season this weekend. Therefore, drivers will only take part in two practice sessions. Discover the full free practice program for the eleventh round of the championship below.
This week, there is no time to recover from the emotions of the British Grand Prix! Because from Friday, the drivers will participate in free practice 1 of the Austrian Grand Prix, which corresponds to the eleventh round of a championship with 23 races on the calendar.
As the second sprint race of the season will take place this weekend, in Spielberg, only two free practice sessions will be scheduled.
The first will be held early Friday afternoon, as usual, and will be followed by the classic qualifications. The second will be held on Saturday, also at the start of the afternoon, and will be followed by the famous sprint race.
Wolff keeps his feet firmly on the ground
During the British Grand Prix, which took place from July 1 to 3, Lewis Hamilton came very close to victory. And although he eventually positioned himself behind Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez, the British driver was able to fight against the race leaders and gave us some magnificent battles, especially against his Mexican competitor.
While the W13 are becoming more and more competitive, Toto Wolff is not getting carried away… “In Barcelona we thought we saw the light at the end of the tunnel. But what followed proved us wrong, in particular on the three street circuits that followed, so I don’t want to be too optimistic at the moment”, explained the team principal of the German team.
And knowing that the Red Bull Ring hasn’t been exactly Mercedes-friendly in the past, Toto Wolff is probably right to be cautious. “There are a few corners there that haven’t really suited our car in the past, so that’s something we have to be mindful of. But we’re on a continuous learning curve.
I think it’s going to be very difficult to win this season, so we just have to get into battle order to make sure we extract the maximum performance from the car.”
The Red Bull Ring circuit in a nutshell
- Length: 4,318 km
- Left turns: 3
- Right turns: 7
- DRS areas: 3
- Number of laps to go: 71
- Total distance covered: 306,452 km
- Last winner: Max Verstappen (2021)
- Fastest lap: 1″05’619 – Carlos Sainz (2020)