Will Red Bull achieve five consecutive F1 victories at the Austrian GP?

Five in a row?

Red Bull goes into its second home race to win a fifth race in a row.

The last time it was in 2013, when Sebastian Vettel ended the season with a record nine wins in a row as a four-time world champion.

Verstappen’s dominance in qualifying and his ability to control the races from the front is certainly a look back at the Vettel dominance era.

Since Verstappen stormed to victory for Styria so easily, a fifth win for the Milton-Keynes team is certainly a formality.

The Dutchman predicts the battle at the top will get closer as everyone will understand better their cars are performing at the Red Bull Ring.

On the subject of matching items

“People are now analyzing everything after the race,” said Verstappen after his Styrian victory. “Of course it will be a bit tighter next weekend because you have a little more understanding of what is going on.

“Of course we used softer blends so it will be interesting to see how you do that. Even with the weather we have to wait and see what happens. We clearly had a good car this weekend and I hope we can continue this shape until next week. “

While Verstappen is downplaying it, it’s hard to look past another Red Bull Ring on home soil.

On the subject of matching items

The setback chances of Mercedes

It’s been a long time since Mercedes was destroyed on a conventional racetrack under normal circumstances.

Even without Hamilton’s late pit stop for fresh rubber to set the fastest lap, he was still more than 15 seconds behind his title rival in Styria.

Unlike in the previous laps, where it made up for the lack of qualifying pace in the race, there was no answer for Verstappen.

What was worrying for the reigning world champion was the tire wear compared to Red Bull.

After the Styrian GP, ​​Mercedes engineering boss Andrew Shovlin revealed that the team had explored a “pretty crazy” setup approach that may have contributed to the lack of race pace and tire wear issues.

Another weekend in the same place will allow Mercedes to fine-tune its setup and perhaps close the gap to the championship leaders.

Will Ferrari benefit from its improved racing pace?

After a disappointing French Grand Prix, Ferrari looked like it was back in racing shape, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc enjoyed some impressive recovery drives.

Sainz went from 12th to sixth and even passed Hamilton on the track when he turned himself off while Leclerc recovered from a collision with Pierre Gasly on the first lap and made his way from 18th to seventh and made his way through the field.

With Norris scoring well, it was important for Ferrari to capitalize on the good racing pace, especially as Daniel Ricciardo continued to struggle.

Given the pace of Ferrari in Styria, it was probably a missed opportunity. If Leclerc hadn’t collided with Gasly or Sainz hadn’t qualified so badly or got stuck behind Hamilton, both drivers Norris could have battled for fifth place.

The battle between Norris and the Ferraris will be watched on Sunday.

Ricciardo’s break-in

It was another puzzling weekend for Daniel Ricciardo in Styria when he was over 0.6 seconds behind team-mate Norris in the second quarter.

While Norris ran comfortably in fifth place, Ricciardo was in the chaotic midfield behind Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Granted, his brief loss of performance during the first stint seriously affected his race, but whether he would have finished ninth or tenth remains unclear.

“As a team we could have finished fifth and sixth again,” said Ricciardo. “If it’s low, it’s really low, the sport. This was one of those days I really didn’t love it.

Ricciardo is 49 points behind his teammate in the drivers’ standings and doesn’t see any closer to the McLaren 2021 challenger.

Norris is in the shape of his life as the Ferrari pair work at a constant level with every race.

McLaren needs his big signing to do well soon and another race in the same place leaves Ricciardo with no excuses.

The softer tire distribution from Pirelli

The main difference between the race this weekend and last weekend is Pirelli’s decision to take a step softer.

As in Monaco and Azerbaijan, F1 teams will have C5, C4 and C3 tires available.

Given the events in Styria, it is likely that this will turn into a two-stop race as Mercedes was marginal in tire wear at the end of the race, especially Bottas.

For Verstappen, who had the feeling that his tires were well under control in his sovereign victory, that won’t be a problem.

“I immediately felt a good balance in the car and it was good to have the tires under control from the start,” added Verstappen. “Right up to the end, I had the feeling that I still had tires left.”

Another tire-related point this weekend is that Pirelli will be testing a new rear tire construction in Friday practice.

As a result of the burst tires in Baku, a more robust rear tire is being tested at the Red Bull Ring. Should the test prove successful, they will be introduced from the British Grand Prix.

Will a tire modification in the mid-season affect the rest of the season like in 2013? Pirelli doesn’t believe in it, but time will tell.