Ferrari aspires to take the Red Bull feud to the sprint

The Austrian event, after Sainz's victory at Silverstone, marks the halfway point of a World Cup that is still open

BARCELONA, 7 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The action does not stop in Formula 1 and this weekend the Austrian Grand Prix arrives, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, as a sprint and after the frenetic British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with a new battle between the launched Ferrari and some Red Bull that will run at 'home' ready to defend their leading binomial in the championship.

Max Verstappen and Sergio 'Checo' Pérez have their RB18 in first and second position in the World Cup, with 181 and 147 points respectively. But at Silverstone Ferrari took a step forward, with the first victory of the Spaniard Carlos Sainz in F1, and both the Madrid native and Charles Leclerc want to get in the way of the pair of wings.

Without a doubt, Carlos Sainz will go all out in an event with more prizes at stake. The victory, the first in his career in Formula 1, takes the pressure off him to achieve that milestone and now, at his rival's home, they hope to continue the superiority shown on the British track. Although, yes, not everything is beautiful in Ferrari.

The third classified is Leclerc, with 138 points and 43 points behind the leader, without the option of taking first place from the Dutchman. In addition, the Monegasque is in a bad streak, with continuous disagreements with the team and his unwise tactics. Sainz, as in Monaco, at Silverstone he fought to follow his path and this one seems to be more successful.

In any case, at Silverstone, 'Checo' Pérez was second, less than 4 seconds behind Sainz despite having to come back in the middle of the race after damaging his front wing. And Max Verstappen, seventh, was in the lead when he had problems in his car and, in fact, he finished the race heroically and with damage to the underside of the car. So Austria, with no surprises for them, could turn the tables.

And waiting to see what happens in a new episode of the double battle between Red Bull and Ferrari is a Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) who was third at home and returned to step on a podium where he was a regular and now is cause for celebration , in a team not at all accustomed to not being at the top. In fact, his partner George Russell, despite not adding up at Silverstone, is still ahead in the World Cup.

After the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Spielberg and the Red Bull Ring will be the second of the three sprint events --in its renewed format-- of this championship. In Monza, the Dutch Verstappen took the two victories - sprint race and Grand Prix - as well as the fastest lap to add the total of 34 points (8 from the Sprint, 25 from Sunday's race and 1 from the fastest lap) .

They will be the same ones that will be at stake this weekend in Austria, at the home of the Red Bull team, but with Ferrari willing to continue taking center stage from them and with Mercedes wanting to continue improving to get into the ointment, even if it is late. The unpredictability of the sprint (24 laps for the 71 of the Grand Prix on Sunday) can give rise to everything.

The truth is that in Austria the entire grid is eagerly awaiting the Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou, who will drive his Alfa Romeo just days after being involved in one of the most spectacular accidents of recent times in Formula 1, when his car ended up trapped between the row of tires and a metal fence after overturning and losing control at more than 250 kilometers per hour after touching George Russell (Mercedes).

-Friday.

13.30-14.30 Free 1.

17.00-18.00 Qualification.

-Saturday.

12.30-13.30 Free 2.

16.30-17.30 Sprint.

-Sunday.

15.00 Race.