The Sprint Returns!
As we return to the Red Bull Ring for another Austrian Grand Prix Weekend, it’s also time for the return of the Sprint Format! This means that Sprint Quali will take place tomorrow, the Sprint Race and normal Qualifying will take place on Saturday, and then the main Grand Prix will obviously take place on Sunday. It’s worth looking out for the two McLaren boys as they tend to go well in the Sprint (as well as Max of course) whilst Fernando Alonso doesn’t exactly have the best track record in them.
Some Positives for Alpine
2024 has been a pretty bad year for Alpine to say the least, they’ve simply been far too slow and are kind of the laughingstock of the whole paddock. However, things have started to turn round for them a little recently as Pierre Gasly is on a 3-Race scoring streak whilst Esteban Ocon has also finished 10th in each of the last two Races. On top of that, Alpine are now up to 7th in the Constructors’ Championship which is at least a little bit better and it was announced today that Pierre will be staying with the team going forward, so maybe, just maybe, the Enstone-based outfit is finally started to make things happen (a little bit anyway).
What Are Aston Martin?
I’m being serious, who/what are Aston Martin? When the Silverstone-based team was known as Force India, they were pretty good, got plenty of Podiums with Sergio Perez. When Lawrence Stroll took over in 2018 and named them Racing Point, they weren’t exactly great before they had one great year in 2020 where they managed to finish 4th in the Constructors’ and pick up both a Win and a Pole Position. Then they became Aston Martin in 2021 and delivered back-to-back 7th place finishes before they looked to have turned it around at the start of 2023 with countless Podiums from Fernando Alonso. However, Aston then collapsed and ultimately finished 5th in the Standings and that’s where they are currently, some 93 points behind the next best team (Mercedes). I guess at the end of the day, Aston Martin need to work out if they are happy to be the definition of mid or if they want to start challenging for wins again!
Can Kick Sauber Finally Score A Point?
The former Alfa Romeo, now named Kick Sauber haven’t exactly gotten off to the best of starts as they are currently last in the Constructors’ Championship without a single point to their name. In fact, Sauber haven’t really ever been close to scoring points this season (Zhou Guanyu’s drive in the Chinese Sprint was their best moment) and they’ve been consistently knocked out in Q1. However, the Swiss team did bring some upgrades to Spain and they seemed to work alright, with both Zhou and Valtteri Bottas getting out of Q1, so maybe, just maybe, they have a chance at scoring a point if things go their way this weekend!
Red Bull’s Homecoming
When we head to the Red Bull Ring, we can’t not talk about Red Bull themselves! Red Bull are having a strong season, they lead both Championships, they’ve won most of the Races, but it’s safe to say that things aren’t going as well for them right now as maybe they would hope. Not only are Red Bull not as dominant as last year (or even the start of this year), but the team isn’t even sure it has the fastest car anymore which hasn’t been the case since arguably Austria two years ago, so Red Bull certainly aren’t where they want to be. However, RBR have always gone well at home so I’m sure they’ll be fine!
My Predictions for Austria Sprint Qualifying
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Lewis Hamilton
😊