Will Red Bull's main man claim yet another win at his side's home venue or can someone stop his dominant run of form? Darry Worthington gives his opinion on that particular question, below.
Austrian Grand Prix
Sunday 2 July
Red Bull Ring
To Win Race Outright
Odds TBA*
Previous Race
Recurring themes have become all so common this year with ran following the teams around for the last couple months and Max Verstappen excelling in it. The Dutch ace claimed his fifth win of the season out in Canada.
The Red Bull man was followed across the line by veteran Fernado Alonso who had a humdinger of a battle with Lewis Hamilton – who would claim third – with the two ‘vets overtaking each other a number of times and almost crashing into each other in the pits.
While Hamilton claimed a podium, his teammate George Russel offered little in the Grand Prix except he was the driver to bring out the safety which caused a pit of pandemonium after he clipped a wall.
The Mercedes man would eventually be forced to retire from the race, which opened the door for the twin Ferraris to claim fourth and fifth place with Charles LeClerc finishing in fourth and Carlos Sainz in fifth. The two Prancing Stag were joined in the ‘top 6’ by the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Alexander Albon produced a good drive as he brought his home in seventh which was his best finish of the season. The Williams man was put under pressure by Lando Norris in the final corner of the race, but it would have counted for little as Norris was subsequently handed a time penalty.
Esteban Ocon would be next across the line, while there was massive drama just behind him as last Stroll stole ninth place off Valterri Bottas in the final straight. Bottas, who had produced a solid race day performance, would be forced to settle for the final points scoring berth.
Track
Once one of the most formidable race tracks in the world – during its heyday as the Osterreichring – Austria’s Red Bull Ring has been somewhat subdued over the years with Red Bull Racing – the company that purchased the track in 2011 – making a number of changes to it.
It’s a decent-sized track measuring in at 4.326 kilometres that stretches over 71 laps, which consists of 10 turns. There’s a rather nice straight that runs from turn one (Niki Lauda Kurcve) and turn 3 (Remos).
From the starting line to the first corner (Niki Lauda Kurve) is a rather short distance and this means we usually get a lot of early drama as drivers go full tilt to get a good jump off the grid.
Last year’s race was won by Charles LeClerc with Max Verstappen taking second and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the podium.
As has been a recurring thing for most of the season, there’s rain forecast for the race weekend with heavy downpours forecast for Friday and Saturday and lighter rain forecast for Sunday.
Value Bet
Sergio Perez – Podium – Yes
Perez didn’t really impress out in Canada but managed to salvage a sixth-place finish. He’s produced some good drives this term and he has a decent recent record at the Red Bull Ring finishing third at the venue last year. I’m backing him to come good at his team’s home circuit.
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen
Not much value here but Verstappen is one of the three joint most successful drivers in Austria with the Dutch Ace winning the 2018, 2019 and 2021 editions of the race. He is enjoying some insanely good form ths term and I’m backing him to make it six wins from eight starts.
