The ninth round of the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship will take place this weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. The thirty-second running of the Austrian Grand Prix will take place at the foothills of the picturesque Styrian mountains.
The 4.318 km Red Bull Ring has ten corners, the fewest on an Formula 1 circuit. The circuit consists of four long straights which end in tight corners. This is a medium downforce circuit and puts a premium on straight line speed. The cars are on full throttle 65% of the lap and it is a high brake-wear circuit. The engines are stressed out more at this track as it is 680 meters above sea level. This is one of the fastest circuits on the Formula 1 calendar with the shortest lap time of the year.
After a mixed Canadian Grand Prix for Mercedes despite another win, it was business as usual in France for the defending champions with their sixth one-two of the season. Despite Ferrari bringing more upgrades to the race at the Red Bull Ring, they face an uphill battle to beat Mercedes with the leaders having a better all-around package than the Scuderia.
Mercedes had won four in a row until last season’s disaster and the 2017 winner, Bottas is normally strong in Austria. On pole in 2018 and winner a year earlier, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him on top again. One of the more fun tracks on the calendar the Red Bull Ring features a long straight out of turn one before sector two and three feature a big uphill section followed by a series of quick downhill corners. These track characteristics should help Ferrari be somewhat closer to Mercedes.
The Maranello team’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc looks ahead to the next round of the 2019 Formula One season: “I look forward to returning to Spielberg. The atmosphere is great and there are many activities taking place around the track, which gives fans as well as ourselves a great experience. The circuit is an interesting one. It’s quite a short lap, so you really have to put it all together to secure a good position in qualifying. We made some progress during the last race weekend, especially in qualifying, improving my performance from Q1 to Q3. The target will be to build on that and find further ways to improve overall.” – Charles Leclerc explained, as reported by the Italian side’s official website earlier today.
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