Tag: Austrian GP

F1 technical updates: 2023 Austrian Grand Prix

Ferrari and McLaren both have significant updates at the Austrian Grand Prix despite it being a sprint weekend. The teams with new parts will only have one practice session on Friday to analyze them before needing to make decisions on setup and …

Ferrari and McLaren both have significant updates at the Austrian Grand Prix despite it being a sprint weekend.

The teams with new parts will only have one practice session on Friday to analyze them before needing to make decisions on setup and their effectiveness. At Ferrari there is an entirely new front wing that features a redesign of all elements, as well as changes to the front floor fences, floor edge, mid floor and diffuser sidewall. Ferrari says that leads to the sidepod undercut being re-designed to suit, with the target of improved car efficiency.

McLaren’s update is more significant but only available on Lando Norris’ car, with the British driver receiving a new sidepod inlet, halo, fully revised floor, reshaped sidepod and engine cover and updated cooling louvers. The floor is designed to provide a clear downforce gain, while the other items improve the airflow conditioning to the floor itself.

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AlphaTauri has updated its rear wing and associated beam wing, as well as making circuit-specific changes to the cooling louvers, and Williams has made further tweaks to the edge of the updated floor it brought to Canada as well as a front brake duct development.

Red Bull has introduced a slight rear suspension tweak, while Haas has a more reliable pitot tube to gather aerodynamic data with.

Perez skips Austrian GP media day due to illness

Sergio Perez was a late arrival to the Austrian Grand Prix after becoming unwell overnight, leading to him missing Thursday’s preparation and media duties. The Mexican is coming into the latest race weekend off the back of a string of disappointing …

Sergio Perez was a late arrival to the Austrian Grand Prix after becoming unwell overnight, leading to him missing Thursday’s preparation and media duties.

The Mexican is coming into the latest race weekend off the back of a string of disappointing results, picking up 21 points from the past three races and failing to finish on the podium since the Miami Grand Prix. Ahead of Red Bull’s home race, the team says he has recently fallen ill and needs time to recuperate ahead of Friday’s track running.

“Checo won’t be at the circuit today,” a Red Bull spokesperson said. “He became unwell last night and is taking the day to rest to ensure he’s in the best possible health for this weekend’s race.”

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Perez will need a quicker recovery than normal given the sprint weekend format in Austria, where qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix takes place on Friday afternoon after a single practice session, and there’s a standalone event with a short qualifying session and the sprint on Saturday. Perez won both races across the first sprint weekend of the season in Azerbaijan.

Red Bull is confident Perez will be fine to drive on Friday, but in the unlikely event that he is unfit to take part in the race weekend, it is understood that Nyck de Vries would most likely be promoted into the Red Bull because Yuki Tsunoda does not have a seat for the constructors’ champions’ car.

Reserve driver Liam Lawson would then be called upon to take over the AlphaTauri from the Dutch driver. Daniel Ricciardo is not scheduled to be at the Austrian Grand Prix, with his reserve duties set to resume at Silverstone.

Racing on TV, June 29-July 2

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted. Thursday, June 29 Mid-Ohio TA2 8:00-9:00pm (D) Mid-Ohio TA 9:00-10:00pm (D) Friday, June 30 Austrian GP practice 1 7:25-8:30am Austrian GP practice 1 7:25-8:30am Austrian GP qualifying 10:55am- …

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted.

Thursday, June 29

Mid-Ohio TA2 8:00-9:00pm
(D)

Mid-Ohio TA 9:00-10:00pm
(D)

Friday, June 30

Austrian GP
practice 1		 7:25-8:30am

Austrian GP
practice 1		 7:25-8:30am

Austrian GP
qualifying		 10:55am-
12:00pm

Austrian GP
qualifying		 10:55am-
12:00pm

Mid-Ohio
practice 1		 3:05-4:20pm

Saturday, July 1

Austrian GP
sprint
shootout		 5:55-7:00am

Austrian GP
sprint
shootout		 5:55-7:00am

Mid-Ohio
practice 2		 9:45-
10:45am

Spa 24
Hours 1		 10:00-1:00pm

Austrian GP
sprint		 10:25-
11:00am

Austrian GP
sprint		 10:25-
11:00am

Chicago
practice/
qualifying		 11:00am-
1:00pm

Redbud 1:00pm

VIR 1:00-3:00pm
(D)

Chicago
practice/
qualifying		 1:30-3:30pm

Mid-Ohio
qualifying		 2:45-4:15pm

VIR 3:00-4:30pm
(D)

Chicago 4:30-5:00pm
pre-race
5:30-7:30pm
race

Sunday, July 2

Austrian
GP		 7:30-
8:55am
pre-race
8:55-11:00am
race

Austrian
GP		 7:30-
8:55am
pre-race
8:55-11:00am
race

Spa 24
Hours 2		 8:00-11:00am

Mid-Ohio
warmup		 10:30-11:00am

Mid-Ohio 11:30am-
12:40pm

Mid-Ohio 1:30-2:00pm
pre-race
2:00-4:00pm
race

VIR 4:30-6:00pm
(D)

Chicago 5:00-5:30pm
pre-race
5:30-9:00pm
race

Key: SDD: Same day delay; D = delayed; R = Repeat/Replay

A variety of motor racing is available for streaming on demand at the following sites:

  • SRO-america.com
  • SCCA.com
  • Ferrari Challenge
  • The Trans Am Series airs in 60-minute highlight shows in primetime on the MAVTV Network. For those wishing to tune in live, the entire lineup of SpeedTour events will stream for free on the SpeedTour TV YouTube page. SpeedTour TV will also air non-stop activity on Saturday and Sunday (SVRA, IGT and Trans Am). You can also watch all Trans Am event activity on the Trans Am YouTube page and Facebook page.
  • All NTT IndyCar Series stream live on Peacock Premium.

McLaren has high hopes for Austria upgrades

McLaren’s season could start to turn around as a result of the upgrades that will be introduced from the Austrian Grand Prix onwards, according to team principal Andrea Stella. This weekend’s race at the Red Bull Ring is a Sprint weekend so there is …

McLaren’s season could start to turn around as a result of the upgrades that will be introduced from the Austrian Grand Prix onwards, according to team principal Andrea Stella.

This weekend’s race at the Red Bull Ring is a Sprint weekend so there is only one free practice session for any teams to get a handle on new parts, but much like in Azerbaijan, McLaren is targeting the introduction of a major package. While the Baku update was designed to put the car where the team felt it should have been at launch specification, the latest developments come with even higher expectations.

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“Austria is a track in which we’ve done well in the past,” Stella said. “There’s six or seven corners, four of them are high-speed which we should be competitive on, and Austria is also our first step of bringing upgrades. I think this can be more important than how suitable the track is to the characteristics of our car.

“Ultimately for us it’s a milestone in terms of possibly turning around the season. Not only thanks to what we bring to Austria but also thanks to what will follow in the next races. So our focus – more than the characteristics of the track – is now on the car itself.

“So even if we only have one session, hopefully we will be able to validate the new package and from there move on to a more competitive situation.”

As the lead driver in the championship, Lando Norris will be receiving the first developments in Austria, and McLaren won’t be bringing the entire update to the Red Bull Ring but instead spreading its introduction out across three consecutive race weekends. Roughly half is expected to be ready for this weekend, then Stella estimating 25% further at Silverstone before the rest in Hungary.

“I’m banking on this package, but across pretty much three races in which we will introduce it. This should be a few tenths of a second, it should be noticeable from a lap time point of view.”

After eight rounds so far this season, McLaren has scored just 17 points and sits sixth in the constructors’ championship, 27 points adrift of Alpine in fifth having failed to pick up a point in each of the last two races.

Alonso unsure if Austrian GP sprint format will help or hinder Aston

Fernando Alonso believes the sprint weekend format at the Austrian Grand Prix could prove troublesome to Aston Martin as it looks to get more performance out of its latest upgrade. Aston brought new parts to the Canadian Grand Prix and Alonso duly …

Fernando Alonso believes the sprint weekend format at the Austrian Grand Prix could prove troublesome to Aston Martin as it looks to get more performance out of its latest upgrade.

Aston brought new parts to the Canadian Grand Prix and Alonso duly secured a spot on the front row in qualifying and finished second to Max Verstappen, with the final gap of less than 10 seconds being the smallest of the season so far. Heading to Austria next weekend, Alonso believes the track layout could suit his car more than Montreal but that a lack of practice is not ideal as the team looks for more data.

“I think the sprint weekend will not be ideal for us,” Alonso said. “We still have more time maybe of free practice with our new upgraded car. We still need to understand and optimize the package a little bit and in Austria, obviously with the sprint, we will have only FP1 to do that. But it is what it is.

“The circuit will be good and maybe better for the package as well. (Montreal) has a strange layout, let’s say. Maybe good for Ferrari, historically with a long straight and short corners, so maybe Austria we have a little bit more pace.”

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Alonso also told Sky Sports that he is not frustrated by the advantage being held by Verstappen so far this season given where he expected Aston Martin to be at this stage, and he’s excited by the potential to close the gap to Red Bull.

“Everything is good. I cannot think of another time in my career that I was this confident with a team and with a project itself because it’s a more medium-, long-term project. I don’t know whether I will be driving. I always have in my mind ‘yes’ because as long as I feel fast and I still enjoy, why would I stop? At the moment I’m enjoying — I think there is more to come.

“I want to win a race this year. I thought maybe it was possible (in Canada) if Max had a mistake, bad pit stop or something. We were a little bit too far away to force that error. The car is going in the right direction, so more opportunities to come.”

Austria to remain on F1 calendar until 2027

The Austrian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2027 after the signing of a four-year contract extension. This season’s event – that will host a Sprint weekend again – was the last of the existing contract at the Red …

The Austrian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2027 after the signing of a four-year contract extension.

This season’s event – that will host a Sprint weekend again – was the last of the existing contract at the Red Bull Ring, with negotiations taking place with the race organizers following the death of Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz late last year. Mateschitz was a major driving force in the regeneration of the circuit and the return of the race in 2014, with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali highlighting his influence on the event.

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“The Austrian Grand Prix brings together the perfect mix of a challenging track, high-speed racing, and a beautiful venue for our fans, so I am delighted that we will be coming back to the Red Bull Ring until at least 2027 under this new agreement,” Domenicali said.

”As we celebrate the 10th year since our return to Spielberg, I would like to thank everyone involved in this renewal, especially the promoter and Red Bull and I want to pay tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz for the love, passion, and vision he brought to Formula 1 that has ensured the continued success of the event and the huge enthusiasm for our sport in Austria and around the world.”

Erich Wolf, general manager of Projekt Spielberg GmbH & Co KG, says it was an easy decision to agree a new deal, after welcoming a crowd of over 300,000 to last year’s event.

“We are proud of the special partnership we have with Formula 1, and we are absolutely delighted to be welcoming the top class of motorsport to the Red Bull Ring for a further four years,” Wolf said. “In signing this contract extension, Formula 1 has made a strong commitment to Austria, Styria and the Murtal region.

“As we enter the tenth year of our partnership with Formula 1, we want to celebrate this milestone with all the great fans of the sport and to thank them for their loyalty and the tremendous atmosphere they help to generate. Everyone is invited to experience another great race weekend at Spielberg in 2023.”