F1 | AUSTRIAN GP GIAN CARLO MINARDI: “MERCEDES IS STILL THE BENCHMARK, BUT KEEP AN EYE ON RELIABILITY”

After having filed away Ferrari’s first win of the season with Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona, the Formula 1 World Championship moves to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, one of the most unique circuits of the calendar. It is a short and very fast crack characterized by constant ups and downs, hard braking and sudden acceleration, where every thousandth of a second can make the difference, and the slightest mistake risks costing places on the grid.

Another element to bear in mind is the altitude. The 660m above sea level, together with the high temperatures forecast for the weekend, will put the power units, cooling systems and reliability under pressure. In a season in which several Grands Prix were affected by technical problems, this aspect could prove decisive once again.

In terms of the tyres, Pirelli chose the softest range: C3 as Hard, C 4 as Medium and C5 as Soft. This is a selection designed to widen the strategic options and favour a bigger number of pit stops, even though the new generation tyres have shown good consistency in performance. So, it will be interesting to see which approach the teams will adopt, and which solution will prove to be the most effective.

Furthermore, Spielberg is a track they all know very well and on which many teams will bring further developments, some of which will also involve the power units. Following the updates introduced in Barcelona, we may see the performance gap narrow even further, making the weekend more evenly matched.

Ferrari comes to Austria with enthusiasm and confidence after Lewis Hamilton’s win, a result that confirms the team’s progress and the importance of the experience of the seven times world champion in the development of the car. The men from Maranello are now tasked with building on the form shown in Spain.

Despite this, I still consider Mercedes the benchmark car in the championship. The real question remains reliability which in recent races has prevented the team achieving results that fully reflect the potential shown on the track.

There is also a lot of attention on Max Verstappen.  Red Bull is expected to introduce further upgrades, but the talent of the Dutchman is always an asset.  In Barcelona, he showed once again he knows how to get the most from the car, especially in qualifying, but on such a short track a perfect lap could be enough to find himself immediately in the running for pole position and the win.

The weather could also be another variable. The Red Bull Ring, nestled within the mountains of Styria, is often subject to sudden changes in weather conditions that can quickly alter the strategies and the course of the race.

So, I expect a very closely fought Grand Prix, with minimal gaps, decisive qualifying and a wide-open battle between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. In such a tight championship, the details will make all the difference once again.

Gian Carlo Minardi