Following a thrilling grand prix in Baku a fortnight ago, what does Formula One have in store for us this time out in Austria? Tune into The Roar from 10pm AEST for live blog coverage of what should be another exciting grand prix in Austria.
Much has been made of the controversial clash between title protagonists in Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, however it is time to resume the racing at the Red Bull Racing.
The 4.3km circuit boasts a short, fast and undulating layout, yielding some of the quickest lap times to be seen all season in the new generation cars.
71 laps will be contested during the race, with the cars being subject to the unforgiving kerbs – which have bitten drivers across the weekend.
Since the return of the Austrian Grand Prix in 2014, no other team than Mercedes AMG have won in Spielberg. Hamilton himself only has the one win to his credit, claiming it after a last-lap coming together with Nico Rosberg in 2016.
Ferrari must look back to 2003 and the final race at the erstwhile A1 Ring, for their last victory in Austria – in the hands of none other than Michael Schumacher.
The ball appears to be in the court of Ferrari, with Vettel qualifying second along with his teammate Kimi Räikkönen in third.
Clinching his second career pole, was Valtteri Bottas, who faultlessly took the top spot to continue a good run of form in Austria.
Hamilton originally claimed third, however has been subjected to a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled change of gearbox coming into the weekend.
Being 14 points arrear of Vettel in the championship, the Briton will start eighth and on the supersoft tyres with an alternative strategy.
Previous race winner Daniel Ricciardo will start fourth for Red Bull, at their namesake circuit, because of the Hamilton penalty.
The long straights haven’t proved a major deterrent to the power-deficient RB13, thus the Aussie being a contender as well as Max Verstappen.
With such a jumbled mid-field, it will be an interesting race to see whether some of the buried runners in the Williams cars and Renaults can make their way up to join Force India and Haas.
What’ll the race deliver then, with Hamilton charging from eighth? Can Bottas hold off the Ferrari assault for his second win? Or will either of the red cars or a Red Bull spoil the silver party?
Tune into The Roar from 10pm AEST for live blog coverage of what should be another exciting grand prix in Austria.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That about wraps this live blog up then. Thanks again for tuning into our coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix. The Roar will return in seven days time for the all-important British Grand Prix. Until then, that's goodnight from me.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 171 - Sebastian Vettel 151 - Lewis Hamilton 136 - Valtteri Bottas 107 - Daniel Ricciardo 83 -- Kimi Räikkönen 50 -- Sergio Perez 45 -- Max Verstappen 39 -- Esteban Ocon 29 -- Carlos Sainz 22 -- Felipe Massa 18 -- Lance Stroll 18 -- Nico Hulkenberg 18 -- Romain Grosjean 11 -- Kevin Magnussen 5 --- Pascal Wehrlein 4 --- Daniil Kvyat 2 --- Fernando Alonso 0 --- Jolyon Palmer 0 --- Marcus Ericsson 0 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 0 --- Jenson Button
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Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 287 - Mercedes AMG 254 - Scuderia Ferrari 152 - Red Bull Racing 89 -- Force India Mercedes 40 -- Williams Mercedes 33 -- Scuderia Toro Rosso 29 -- Haas Ferrari 18 -- Renault Sport 5 --- Sauber Ferrari 2 --- McLaren Honda
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Valtteri Bottas takes the chequered flag in a thrilling conclusion to the Austrian Grand Prix, narrowly edging out Sebastian Vettel to claim his second career victory. The Finn escaped sanction, following what appeared to be a jump start from pole position, to lead the race from start to finish and put himself into championship contention. Vettel extended his lead in the standings by 20-points over the second placed Lewis Hamilton, who from eighth on the grid missed out on a podium finish, with Daniel Ricciardo denying the Briton for a fifth consecutive podium. Once again, a decisive overtake for the Aussie resulted in the early assumption of a top three position, barging his way past Kimi Räikkönen on the first lap for third. From there, he admirably defended against a late charge from Hamilton. Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen’s rotten luck continued, with a fifth retirement in seven races, following a first lap incident with Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso – which saw the former penalised and the latter out of the race. Räikkönen ended up being hung out to dry by Ferrari once again, being made to stay out following the first round of pits for the leaders, to back Bottas up into Vettel. The Iceman netted fifth in the end. A lightening first lap for the Williams duo saw Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll catapult from the second-last row of the grid, up into ninth and tenth – which is where the pair finished the race. Massa spent the latter part of the race in pursuit of Esteban Ocon’s eighth, however was made to keep ninth. The Force Indias in the end claimed a solid seventh with Sergio Perez along with the eighth of Ocon, behind the Haas of Romain Grosjean. With only a seven day turnaround to the next race at Silverstone, Bottas’ win reaffirms his position as a title contender – being 15-points in deficit to his Mercedes AMG teammate in second place.
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Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT AND UPDATED STANDINGS
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Roar Guru
PODIUM INTERVIEWS - Hosted By Martin Brundle BOTTAS - "A bit of a deja vu at the end, like Russia." "Massive thank you to team." "That was the start of my life." VETTEL - "I felt much happier in the second stint." "Perez cost me a bit of time." "I needed one more lap!" RICCIARDO - "It was a fun race with some decisive moments." "It's nice to get the home podium in Austria for Red Bull."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 71-LAP AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX 1 V. Bottas 2 S. Vettel 3 D. Ricciardo 4 L. Hamilton 5 K. Räikkönen 6 R. Grosjean 7 S. Perez 8 E. Ocon 9 F. Massa 10 L. Stroll 11 J. Palmer 12 S. Vandoorne 13 N. Hulkenberg 14 P. Wehrlein 15 M. Ericsson 16 D. Kvyat RET C. Sainz RET K. Magnussen RET F. Alonso RET M. Verstappen
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Roar Guru
VALTTERI BOTTAS WINS THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX! A thrilling conclusion sees the Finn, narrowly edge out the Ferrari of SEBASTIAN VETTEL. And DANIEL RICCIARDO extends his streak of podiums to five, holding off a late charge from Lewis Hamilton at the end.
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Roar Guru
Lap 71/71: FINAL LAP
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Roar Guru
Lap 70/71: Bottas is ahead by 0.6 seconds over Vettel. Ricciardo DEFENDS at Turn 4 against Hamilton! Great stuff from Dan, despite the faster Mercedes AMG on him.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 69/71: Intense stuff!
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Roar Guru
Lap 68/71: Ouch, getting caught up behind the lapped Force India of Perez has hurt the Ferrari of Vettel.
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Roar Guru
Lap 68/71: 4 LAPS TO GO Vettel coming into DRS range now of Bottas. Time for a late charge!
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Roar Guru
Lap 67/71: Massa still unable to make any moves on Ocon. Palmer in a similar predicament in his fight for tenth with Stroll.
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Roar Guru
Lap 66/71: Fastest lap of the race for Hamilton with a 1:07.424.
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Roar Guru
Lap 65/71: Perez from P7 is reporting a few drops of rain on track. One final twist in the tale?
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Roar Guru
Lap 65/71: Vettel has closed the gap to Bottas' lead to just 2 seconds now. Not many laps to go now!
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Roar Guru
Lap 64/71: Hamilton continues to state his concern over the tyres that he is on. 1.1 seconds between Ricciardo and Hamilton.
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Roar Guru
Lap 63/71: Traffic to negotiate for Ricciardo, in the forms of Massa and Ocon.
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Roar Guru
Lap 62/71: Hamilton complains about his tyres, despite the fact that he is the fastest driver on the track at the moment and has cut the gap to Dan down to 1.3 seconds. 2.5 seconds between Bottas and Vettel.