Preview: The Austrian Grand Prix

Fresh off of the French Grand Prix last weekend, where we finally had an entertaining race again, the F1-circus now travels to Austria, where the Red Bull Ring will host the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend. Time for a preview!

Last year, it was Valtteri Bottas who took home the victory in Spielberg. The Fin got pole and managed to retain his position, just about keeping out Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari in P2. The start featured a triple collision, as Daniil Kvyat touched Fernando Alonso's car, who then lost control and took down Max Verstappen with him. Verstappen's teammate Daniel Ricciardo eventually climbed the last step of the podium as he beat Lewis Hamilton to P3.

Mercedes finally introduced us to their power unit upgrade last weekend in France, the 'Spec 2.1'. Lewis Hamilton said that the upgrade didn't make that much difference, but the Brit did dominate all weekend long, eventually grabbing pole position and comfortably seeing out the race. Maybe Mercedes deliberately waited to introduce their new spec for this tripleheader because they wanted to have a fresh engine to prevent technical issues. Either way, they'll likely set the pace again at the Red Bull Ring.

The circuit favours cars with the best downforce, which is a good sign for the home team Red Bull Racing. However, the team has already announced that it won't be using the new MGU-K that Renault has developed for its customers. That's because both Ricciardo and Verstappen would receive a ten-place grid penalty, which is a bad look for Red Bull. They desperately want a good result in their home race.

Sebastian Vettel will have a bit of a chip on his shoulder in Spielberg. The German has been under a lot of fire, especially in the Italian media. He'll be bringing his A-game as well, for sure a force to be reckoned with.

We think that the differences will be a lot smaller in Austria than they were at Paul Ricard last weekend. Mercedes clearly had the best spec there, as the circuit at Le Castellet favoured the W09 heavily.

At the Red Bull Ring, I think we might have one of the closest qualifying rounds of the entire year. Hamilton and Bottas will profit from their excellent straight-line speed, but the excellent Red Bull-chassis will give them an advantage in the meandering parts of the track. Ferrari are strong both in terms of power and downforce, so expect big things from the prancing horse as well this weekend. 

All these factors make it very hard to predict a winner. In the end, we think that the three DRS-zones will favour the Mercedes, and we think they will snatch the victory. Don't be surprised if someone like Max Verstappen has an excellent race though and takes home his first win of the year.

1. Valtteri Bottas

2. Max Verstappen

3. Sebastian Vettel

4. Lewis Hamilton

5. Daniel Ricciardo