Formula 1: Key Things to Look Out for Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix

• Formula 1 returns to the Styrian mountains for the ninth round of the 2023 season
• The 2023 season has seen Red Bull racing win every Grand Prix so far
• Ferrari and Williams will look to improve on their results recorded at the Canadian GP

Formula 1’s hectic July begins this weekend as the Austrian Grand Prix kicks off a summer run of four races in the space of five weeks.

Between now and the summer break, the sport will visit some of the most iconic and recognisable tracks in motorsport, from the Red Bull Ring to Silverstone, and the Hungaroring to Spa-Francorchamps.

It's set to be a busy time, especially with Austria and Belgium hosting Sprint weekends too, but also an exciting one, as seeing F1 cars return to these old circuits is as good as it gets for fans, and the drivers enjoy the locations too.

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As we look ahead to Austria, Sports Brief takes a look at key talking points with the potential to grab the majority of the headlines this weekend.

F1 Sprint returns

After hosting the F1 Sprint format for the first time last year, the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix will once again be a sprint weekend. This will be the second of six F1 Sprint weekends in 2023. The revised format for this year, which made its first outing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, will be in action again at the Red Bull Ring.

After a single hour of practice on Friday, the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix will be decided on Friday evening with the traditional hour of qualifying.

On Saturday morning, however, the drivers will compete in the Sprint Shootout – a 45-minute qualifying session that sets the grid for Saturday afternoon’s Sprint. The 30-minute sprint race is scheduled for 16:30 on Saturday. Grands Prix at the Red Bull Ring usually feature lots of overtaking – so there should be plenty of action on Saturday afternoon.

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Racing in the mountains

The Red Bull Ring has been Austria’s sole Formula 1 venue since 1970 and as reported by Autosport.com, will continue to host the Austrian Grand Prix until 2027 under a new deal signed with Formula 1 earlier this year. There is always a nostalgic spark at the Spielberg track. Surrounded by mountains, the area around the circuit is particularly picturesque at this time of the year.

Improvement from Ferrari

Ferrari managed to salvage good points last time out in Canada after a difficult qualifying session for both cars, and that was down to two factors.

A good race pace, and an improvement on their tyre deg issues, combined with the right strategy calls with both cars to make use of that, meant that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth respectively come the chequered flag.

There is hope that this is a sign of things to come for the upcoming races, but with high-speed corners in Austria, time will tell just how this circuit suits their car.

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Williams to continue impressive run

Alex Albon earned P7 last time out for Williams with a fabulous drive and it was a superb way to finish off a strong weekend.

The Williams upgrades were working well on his car, and the hope that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve would suit the FW45 came to pass, even if Albon had to defend well in the final stages to keep the position.

The Red Bull Ring is a different track in terms of characteristics and so it remains to be seen what the Williams can do around there, but they will be keen to see that the upgrades they have started to bring will help them at venues where they are perhaps expected to not fare as well.

Struggling newcomer, Logan Sargeant will, alongside the upgrades, be banking on some happy summer memories from last season after he celebrated F2 Feature Race victories in both Spielberg and Silverstone in 2022.

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Rain to have its say

Over the last few rounds, we've seen rain hit to varying degrees.

In Canada, qualifying was a damp affair, whilst we also had rain in the air both in Spain and Monaco before then.

According to F1.com, there is a rain forecast for the Sprint weekend too in Austria, and that could well add an extra dynamic, particularly with so much on-track action that 'matters' from Friday onwards.

Even if the weekend ends up being fully dry, though, we should still get an entertaining race as Austria regularly provides the goods.

F1 to make gridwalk change

Sports Brief earlier reported the FIA is considering placing restrictions on grid access after an incident at the Spanish Grand Prix where Neymar and several other guests were still on the edge of the main straight when the formation lap got underway.

Celebrities and other invited guests are granted access to the grid at the start of races on Sunday, with reporters often grabbing a quick word with some of them.