The Red Bull Ring round will be the second of six sprint weekends scheduled for this year. To make the competition even more attractive, the world federation (FIA) and the series promoter Liberty Media have made fundamental changes to the format. The first sprint of this year at the end of April during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the Baku street circuit was recorded by Perez, who also triumphed in the race.
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On Friday, the second of the traditional practice sessions will replace qualifying for Sunday’s race. On Saturday, however, the sprint will be preceded by separate qualifying which will replace practice. The sprint qualifications will also be divided into three segments, although their duration will be different: Q1 – 12 minutes, Q2 – 10 minutes and Q3 – 8 minutes.
The sprint, as in previous years, will take place over a distance of 100 km. The eight fastest drivers will be rewarded. The winner will receive 8 points, the second driver – 7, the third – 6, etc. For the six sprints of the season, you can collect an additional 48 points.
Sprint results will not affect starting positions in Sunday races. In this situation, during sprint weekends, teams will only have one Friday training session available to them. F1 sporting director Stefano Domenicali has opted for this for some time.
Sprints were first introduced in the 2021 season. This event was also contested three times last year. Already then, the F1 authorities had tried to introduce another on the calendar, but in 2022 there was no agreement. It is only this year that the teams agree on six sprint rounds, after Azerbaijan, they will also take place in Austria, Belgium, Qatar, Austin in the United States and Brazil.
One of the supporters of the sprint is Spanish double world champion Fernando Alonso of the Aston Martin team, who is doing very well this year, he is third overall.
– Sprints make racing more fun, and that’s what we all care about. I can’t wait for Saturday at the Red Bull Ring,” said Alonso.
In 2022, Verstappen won the sprint at the Red Bull Ring, while Monaco’s Charles Leclerc of Ferrari triumphed in the race. This year, Leclerc in the fight for the title does not count, he is currently seventh overall. Verstappen, on the other hand, is in sensational form and is tipped to be the winner of Sunday’s round.
The Dutchman is also ‘believed’ – somewhat surprisingly – by Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who recently admitted that ‘Red Bull can win every race this year’. Hamilton, who is still negotiating a new contract with Mercedes, is currently fourth in the F1 standings but is already 93 points behind leader Verstappen. The Dutchman has already collected 195 points, second Perez – 126 points and third Alonso – 117 points.
The 2022 race has been dramatic. For most of the distance, Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Spaniard Carlos Sainz J were in the lead. And when it looked like both Ferraris would finish in the top positions, on lap 58, Sainz slowed down and stopped. After a while his car started to burn, the driver had serious problems getting out of the cockpit. In addition, the technical services behaved unprofessionally, one of the people approached the burning car with a fire extinguisher, put it on the ground and… walked away.
Fortunately, another kept a cool head, helped the driver out of the burning car. Sainz left the track on his own, after a while he showed with a wave of his hand that everything was fine.
After the race restarted in the garage, Ferrari became nervous when Leclerc indicated something was wrong with his car’s accelerator pedal. He couldn’t go at full speed. Verstappen, knowing the rival’s problems, definitely accelerated. Luckily, Ferrari’s failure wasn’t so bad that Leclerc had to retire. The Monegasque retained the lead, although he only passed the Dutchman by 1.532 seconds.
The weather forecast for the weekend is quite good, the air temperature will fluctuate between 24 and 26 degrees Celsius. C, although Friday afternoon and Saturday showers are expected. The sun will appear on Sunday, the track should be dry.
Klasyfikacja generalna kierowców (po ośmiu wyścigach): 1. Max Verstappen (Holandia/Red Bull) 195 pkt 2. Sergio Perez (Meksyk/Red Bull) 126 3. Fernando Alonso (Hiszpania/Aston Martin) 117 4. Lewis Hamilton (W. Bryrania/Mercedes) 102 5. Carlos Sainz jr (Hiszpania/Ferrari) 68 6. George Russell (W. Brytania/Mercedes) 65 7. Charles Leclerc (Monako/Ferrari) 54 8. Lance Stroll (Kanada/Aston Martin) 37 9. Esteban Ocon (Francja/Alpine) 29 10. Pierre Gasly (Francja/Alpine) 15 Klasyfikacja konstruktorów: 1. Red Bull 321 pkt 2. Mercedes 167 3. Aston Martin 154 4. Ferrari 122 5. Alpine 44 6. McLaren 17 7. Alfa Romeo 9 8. Haas 8 9. Williams 7 10. AlphaTauri 2
RM, PAP
