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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where I’m so sorry – I forgot to ask you all to rate the race on Monday. Head over here to leave your Spanish GP race ratings, and we’ll review them next week.
Anyway, FP1 and sprint qualifying are done at the Austrian Grand Prix – Max Verstappen is on sprint pole, but again close to Lando Norris on single-lap pace. Follow our live coverage all weekend right here. In the meantime, I’m Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly from Spielberg. Let’s dive in.
The state of the F1 driver market
Two more 2025 seats are filled: Pierre Gasly re-upped with Alpine, and Lance Stroll is back with Aston Martin. For those keeping track at home, seven seats have yet to be filled:
- Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton’s seat)
- Alpine (Esteban Ocon’s seat)
- RB (Daniel Ricciardo’s seat)
- Haas (both seats)
- Sauber (Nico Hülkenberg’s 2025 teammate)
- Williams (Logan Sargeant’s seat)
And now, a conversation with myself.
Let’s get the news out of the way first. Pierre Gasly re-signed with Alpine on a multiyear contract. Could you explain to me why, in French?
Parlez-vous français? Porque I do not.
OK, English then.
Considering the team’s recent struggles, it’s a surprise that Gasly chose to re-sign with Alpine. But Alpine has improved on and off the track in the past month. This progress may have convinced Gasly, 28, that his best years will be well-spent helping the team transition into its next phase. As for why Alpine chose Gasly over Ocon, it’s down to his consistent results. In 33 races as teammates, Gasly has out-qualified Ocon 18-14 and has only failed to finish one race with Alpine, while Ocon has had seven DNFs and multiple penalties.
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Oh, and Stroll re-signed with Aston Martin. Did you know his father owns the team?
Yep.
Is Daniel Ricciardo’s RB seat really under threat?
The Athletic’s Luke Smith wrote on this yesterday from Austria. Since joining RB last season, Ricciardo has been outperformed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who re-signed for 2025. This week, Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko said that Red Bull, which owns RB, “have to put a young driver in there soon” – alluding to Liam Lawson, who filled in admirably for an injured Ricciardo in 2023. This suggests that Ricciardo’s seat might be under threat – perhaps soon.
Look, who knows. Marko loves Lawson. Red Bull, as a racing company, loves Ricciardo. I could see this going either way. But there’s truth to what Marko said – Ricciardo was signed to RB as a tryout for the second seat at Red Bull. With Sergio Pérez signed there long-term, it makes more sense for Red Bull’s future to give both RB seats to young drivers. I don’t know. Watch this space, I guess?
And what about Carlos Sainz?
Still unsigned, still the proverbial cork in F1’s driver market bottle. Sauber, Williams, Alpine … Every time scuttlebutt starts that Sainz is about to sign with a team, it gets quiet and another team pops up the following weekend as the favorite. That smells like a driver using his leverage.
How the Austrian GP is battling track limits
When you think of the Austrian GP, what do you think of? The giant bull sculpture? The lush, picturesque backdrop full of forests and the Styrian mountains? The eons-long run down to Turn 3? All fair.
Unfortunately, I think of the five-hour wait after the grand prix last season as race control reviewed more than 1,200 moments when a driver potentially exceeded track limits. (i.e., crossing the white lines on the edge of the racing surface.) 1,200! “Track limits seem simple: Stay within the white lines, and you’re golden,” The Athletic‘s Madeline Coleman explained this week. “But at some tracks, this can be trickier — and so is policing and enforcing penalties on the missteps.”
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The final two turns at the Red Bull Ring require carrying a lot of speed, which often causes cars to swing wide on exit. To address this, the track made some changes. They added a blue line as a visual aid (which serves as a clear boundary for the track limits) and gravel traps as a further deterrent (which can slow down a car that ventures off the track.)
On Thursday, drivers were hopeful but skeptical. “I don’t think it’ll completely solve it, to be honest,” Lewis Hamilton said. “I managed to do track limits in Imola in Turn 9, which is almost impossible. So if I can do it there, I think it’s still possible to do it here.”
So far, so good—only a few laps were deleted for exceeding track limits on Friday. Wait. Hang on. Computer, enhance!
Agh! He’s everywhere!
Inside the paddock with Luke Smith
Given the level of Red Bull’s domination, it’s been a rarity in F1 over the past three years to have any questions or doubts over which team (or driver) is the quickest on the grid. But arriving in Austria after such a close race in Spain last weekend, there’s been a serious debate in the paddock over who has the quickest car right now: McLaren or Red Bull?
The margins have been so, so fine that even the smallest update, such as the new front wing on the McLaren this weekend, can make the difference. The even greater factor right now at the front is the man behind the wheel of the Red Bull: Verstappen.
Sprint qualifying in Austria was proof of that as Verstappen topped all three sessions, eventually taking pole by 0.093 seconds ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Sergio Pérez in the sister Red Bull was way back in seventh, continuing the recent trend. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said Verstappen had been “absolutely outstanding” of late. But does he have the best car in F1? “I think I’ve still got the best team in Formula One,” Horner said. “The car has to form part of that. The drivers have to form part of that.”
Put together, the Red Bull package remains the one to beat in Verstappen’s hands. It’ll take a huge effort again from Norris and Oscar Piastri from second and third to beat him at what has effectively become Verstappen’s second home grand prix.
Austrian Grand Prix schedule
Saturday
- Sprint: 6 a.m. ET / 11 a.m. BST
- GP Qualifying: 10 a.m. ET / 3 p.m. BST
Sunday
- Canadian Grand Prix: 9 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. BST
Remembering a random race
This post kindly reminded me of the 2021 Styrian GP at the Red Bull Ring, when Verstappen won by 35 seconds and then did this.
Still think about that time Max was so dominant and far ahead in the lead that he slowed down and did a burnout as he crossed the finish line pic.twitter.com/wqKr5Ta51P
— Matt³³⁺¹⁶ (@FM1_3316) June 26, 2024
Outside the Points
Max Verstappen confirmed this week that he’ll stay at Red Bull in 2025 – no big surprise despite the Mercedes speculation. Tensions have resurfaced between his father, Jos, and Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
Williams has continued its recruitment push, announcing five new technical hires this week. The big get is Matt Harman as Design Director. He made his name as part of Mercedes’ powertrains division during that team’s halcyon days in the 2010s.
The Las Vegas GP detailed its plans for year two after a debut that went better than anyone could’ve hoped.
And, finally, read Luke’s profile on George Russell if you missed it this week. Good stuff!
Top photo: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images, Clive Rose/Getty Images
