New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. Photo: MPS AGENCY / PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson expects racing for the mid-field teams to be even closer in this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.
Lawson's Racing Bulls team is currently seventh in the standings with just a few points separating the teams ranked 6th to 9th.
The Austrian circuit is one of the shortest in the championship and Lawson said it was hard to tell how they would fare.
"Here it is always very close and this year in general it has been extremely close so I expect it to be even more so this weekend just because it is a short lap and it has been that kind of season," he told the media.
"Our car has been strong recently, in Barcelona it was fast, we hope it is fast here but honestly it is really really hard to tell."
The cars will complete a lap in just over a minute which means qualifying becomes extremely tight. Lawson was then asked if it would be best to set the car up for qualifying or the race.
"One of those ones for the engineering team."
Meanwhile, present rivalries and past collisions hang over Red Bull's home race as F1 braces for the next round of Max Verstappen versus George Russell.
Russell and reigning champion Verstappen finished first and second in Canada two weeks ago, with Red Bull protesting - in vain - the Mercedes win and accusing the Briton of unsportsmanlike behaviour.
It is safe to say the pair are not friends and they are building up quite a track record, colliding in Spain this month in an incident that left Verstappen blamed and on the brink of a mandatory race ban.
Two of those penalty points expire after Austria but he still has to stay out of trouble through a weekend in the Styrian hills where his orange-shirted fans will be out in numbers.
Verstappen and Norris caused a commotion in Spielberg last year when they collided while scrapping for the lead, with Norris chasing. That gifted victory to Russell.
Norris will return with the memory of that coming together now overtaken by the one between him and Piastri in Canada that left him 22 points adrift of the Australian after 10 of 24 races.
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen battle during the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix. Photo: AFP
Formula 1 statistics for the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg, the 11th round of the 24-race championship.
Lap distance: 4.318km. Total distance: 306.452km (71 laps)
2024 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull, One minute 04.314 seconds.
2024 winner: George Russell (Britain) Mercedes
Race lap record: Carlos Sainz (Spain) Ferrari 1:05.619, 2020
Start time: 1am Monday NZ time
Austria
The Red Bull-owned circuit has the shortest lap, in terms of time, on the calendar with only 10 corners but aggressive kerbs. It takes a little over a minute to complete.
It also has the second biggest difference between its highest and lowest points (69m), after Spa-Francorchamps.
This year will be the 38th Austrian Grand Prix.
The first was held at Zeltweg airfield in 1964 and moved to the Oesterreichring (later renamed A1 Ring and now Red Bull Ring) in 1970.
There have been 10 winners from pole in 20 races on the current configuration. Most overtakes occur into turns three and four. Turns two, five and eight are taken at full throttle.
Verstappen has a record four Austrian wins (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023) and other active winners are Charles Leclerc (2022), Lewis Hamilton (2016) and George Russell (2024).
Mercedes are the most successful team in Austria with seven victories.
Hamilton and Verstappen also won the two Styrian GPs held at the same circuit during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
The last three editions of the race have run as a sprint weekend but this year reverts to its traditional schedule.
Championship
McLaren's Oscar Piastri leads the drivers' championship by 22 points from teammate Lando Norris. Verstappen is 43 points behind Piastri.
Leaders and champions McLaren are 175 points clear of Mercedes, with Ferrari a further 16 adrift.
Race wins
Piastri has won five of 10 races this season, Verstappen and Norris two each and Russell one.
Seven-times world champion Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 366 starts. Verstappen has won 65 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Schumacher on 91.
Piastri has seven career wins to Norris's six and can become the first Australian to win six in a season.
Pole position
Piastri has been on pole four times this season, Verstappen three, Norris twice and Russell once.
Norris has started on the front row in five of 10.
Podium
Both McLaren drivers have finished on the podium eight times in 2025 but Piastri's run of eight in a row ended in Canada two weeks ago.
Charles Leclerc's second place in Monaco was Ferrari's best of the season so far.
Points
Only Piastri and Verstappen have scored in every race this season, with Norris' run ending after a late collision with his teammate in Canada.
Piastri has scored for 36 races in a row.
Two rookies have yet to score - Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine's Franco Colapinto.
-RNZ/Reuters
