Antonin Vincent / DPPI
After an exhilarating British Grand Prix, Formula 1 returns to the picturesque hills of Spielberg this weekend.
The Red Bull Ring will also play host to the second sprint race of 2022, promising more on-track action at a circuit where overtaking has been plentiful with three consecutive DRS zones.
Max Verstappen has won three of the last four races at the track and Red Bull will be looking to dominate once again on home ground. But after Silverstone saw Ferrari win and Mercedes resurgent, Red Bull may face a three-way battle for the lead.
Can Ferrari secure back-to-back wins, or will Verstappen claim victory in front of his ‘orange army’?
Here’s when you’ll need to start watching to find out.
Tune in live, stream the action or watch the highlights. Below are all the timings you need to catch the weekend’s action. Times are BST.
Live TV Every session will be broadcast live on the Sky Sports F1 channel, starting with the FP1 coverage and qualifying on Friday afternoon.
Live stream The action can be live-streamed using the Sky Go app if you are a Sky Sports F1 subscriber. A NOW TV membership will also allow full access to Sky’s live coverage.
Highlights Channel 4 is showing highlights of qualifying and the sprint race on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Grand Prix on Sunday evening. For a shorter but faster recap, the official F1 YouTube channel will upload highlight clips after every session over the weekend.
Qualifying |
Sprint race |
Austrian Grand Prix |
|
| Start time | 4pm | 3.30pm | 2pm |
| Live coverage | From 3.30pm, Sky | From 2.30pm, Sky | From 12.30pm, Sky |
| Highlights | Included in Saturday highlights | 5.30pm, Channel 4 | 6.30pm, Channel 4 |
All sessions will be live on Sky Sports F1 with coverage building up to each event, as well as a live reaction.
The whole of Sunday’s coverage will be on Sky Sports F1, while it will also be broadcast on the Sky Sports Main Event channel up until 4pm.
Friday FP1 – 12.00pm | Qualifying – 3.30pm
Saturday FP2 – 11.00am | Sprint race – 2.30pm
Sunday Grand Prix – 1.55pm
Sky’s live coverage of each session is available on NOW TV with a sports membership, and this can be streamed anywhere in the UK, regardless of location.
The app can be downloaded on mobile and tablet devices, as well as a PC, laptop or console. Weekend passes are available which give you access to the coverage across each session.
Existing Sky subscribers can watch the action using the Sky GO app on mobile and tablet devices, as well as a PC, laptop or console.
The Red Bull Ring has proved a successful hunting ground for Max Verstappen and Red Bull, with the Dutch driver winning in 2018, 2019, and twice in 2021 when the circuit hosted both the Austrian GP and Styrian GP.
It’s another fast track like Silverstone, where Verstappen looked in contention for victory before running over debris, so all indications point to the championship leader going into this weekend as the favourite.
Spielberg sits over 650 metres above sea level, so teams are likely to run a medium-high downforce setup to combat the thin mountain air.
As of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a month ago, Sergio Perez was only 4-3 down to Max Verstappen in qualifying, had actually outqualified him in two consecutive races (Monaco and…
The thin air has made cooling a crucial factor in recent years with Mercedes often struggling with overheating as a result. The tightly packaged, sidepod-less concept of the W13 has already shown itself to be vulnerable to cooling issues in Spain, where Lewis Hamilton lost fourth place as a result. The Red Bull Ring will test whether Mercedes has solved the weakness.
If it has, then don’t be surprised to see Hamilton and George Russell closer to the front in the upgraded Mercedes, which has finished in a podium place for the last two races in a row.
Despite falling short of Verstappen in qualifying at Silverstone and complaining that he’s less comfortable with the latest, updated, Red Bull, Sergio Perez showed his steel to fight back to the podium, and will be looking to build on his second place in the title race,
And Carlos Sainz said that he’s keen to follow his British Grand Prix win with another victory, which could provide more sparks within a Ferrari team that continues with questionable strategy calls.
There will be 71 laps around the 2.7-mile Red Bull Ring, leading to a total race distance of 191.7 miles. There will be three DRS zones with the first being along the start-finish straight up to turn 1, followed by another DRS zone up through Turn 2 into the tricky Turn 3 with the final DRS zone stretching from turn 3 down the hill to Turn 4.
As ever, there is a time limit that will come into play in the event that long safety car periods take the race beyond two hours.
The 100km (62 mile) sprint race takes place over 24 laps.
| Friday 8 July | Saturday 9 July | Sunday 10 July | |
| F1 | Free Practice 1 12.30pm Qualifying 4pm |
Free Practice 2 11.30am Sprint race 3.30pm |
Grand Prix 2pm |
