MADRID, 29 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Aston Martin and the Spanish driver Fernando Alonso will continue to squeeze their improvements to reap the desired ’33’ and get closer to the overwhelming dominance of Red Bull, with the Dutchman Max Verstappen at the helm, in the Austrian Grand Prix, the ninth round of the calendar to be dispute at the Red Bull Ring, home of the energy drink team, while Mercedes wants to continue its progression and Ferrari seeks its balsamic podium.
After a week off, the excitement of Formula 1 returns, which begins its European tour of four races in five weeks this weekend. The first stop of this ‘poker’ will be the Spielberg track in Austria, and before the summer break the World Cup will travel to Silverstone, the Hungaroring and Spa. In addition, this weekend there will be a ‘Sprint’ race -with the novelty that soft tires used in Q3 can be used-, the second of the six that will be on the calendar, so there will be much more at stake.
This could be one of the ingredients that make the Austrian GP “unpredictable”, according to Verstappen himself, although his dominance has been devastating, based on a powerful initial consistency – he has accumulated 27 GPs without abandoning and has led the last 224 laps of the World Cup, the fifth best record in history.
Six wins in eight races seems to be enough of a guarantee to be confident that the house of Red Bull will enjoy another display of ‘Mad Max’ ‘tyranny’. The Dutchman has won the last three pole positions at Spielberg and if he gets the fourth, Red Bull Ring will be the circuit where he has achieved the most.
The defending champion, who can match his best record of consecutive wins (5) and surpass the 41 victories of Ayrton Senna – the fourth driver with the most wins in history – is the current World Championship leader with 195 points, with an advantage of 69 points over the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) and 78 over the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
The downturn of ‘Checo’ and the weather conditions for this weekend, with the rain as the protagonist, complete the formula that could allow the long-awaited ’33’ of the Asturian. His second place in Canada, without falling too far behind a Verstappen who won by 10 seconds, continues to give him hope, in his best start in Formula 1 in terms of points (14.63 points per race this season).
In addition, Aston Martin will continue on the Austrian track with its implementation of improvements that reduce its gap with Red Bull, and will focus, especially, on getting the most out of its DRS, one of its weak points.
“The improvements that we incorporated into the car seemed to be working well and we will continue to optimize the configuration for Austria,” said Alonso, who recalled that it is a “short” but “fast” track and that “generally it offers good races and overtaking “.
The Spaniard will presumably have the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) as a great rival to follow in the footsteps of the Dutchman. The seven-time world champion was third in Montreal, unable to overtake Alonso, although showing that his performance has grown and is more constant. His best result at Spielberg is a win in 2016, while now he is focused on reaching the podium in the standings, 15 points behind the Spanish rider.
Behind, further than expected, come the Ferraris, still eager to find the oasis in their desert, with only one podium finish, by Charles Leclerc, in eight races. Neither the Monegasque, who prevailed in Austria in 2022, nor Carlos Sainz from Madrid are giving the level required by the Italian team, which continues to wait for its balsamic number 800 drawer in the history of the competition.
The Spanish driver still doesn’t know what it’s like to get on the podium this season, but he arrives in Austria wanting to make the most of the few virtues, so far, of his car, after being the fastest car in Canada on medium and hard tyres. The man from Madrid is fifth, although with a meager 68 points, 14 above his teammate, Leclerc (54).
–AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX SCHEDULE.
-Friday June 30.
Free Practice 1 13.30-14.30.
Qualification 17.00-18.00.
-Saturday, July 1.
Qualification for the ‘Sprint’ 12.00-12:44.
Sprint race 16.30-17.00.
-Domingo 2.
Carrera 15.00-17.00.