INDIA in F1

Tag: Red Bull Ring

  • George Russell wins Austrian GP; Verstappen, Norris collide

    George Russell wins Austrian GP; Verstappen, Norris collide

    Spielberg, 30 June 2024: George Russell took a surprise Austrian Grand Prix victory after a dramatic late-race clash between long-time race leader Max Verstappen and arch-rival Lando Norris dumped the McLaren driver out of the race and dropped championship leader Verstappen to fifth at the flag. 

    After seizing the lead from pole at the start, Verstappen looked comfortable for the bulk of the race as he built an eight-second gap back to Norris, with Russell in third. However, the gap narrowed in the closing stages as Verstappen suffered with tyre degradation and when the champion suffered a slow final pit stop, Norris closed in. 

    Verstappen repelled several assault into Turn 3 on the inside but on lap 64 Norris went for broke around the outside and when Verstappen reacted there was contact. Both suffered punctures and while the Red Bull driver was able to pit for Soft tyres and shrug off a 10-second penalty for causing the collision to eventually finish fifth, Norris’ damage was too severe and he had to retire. 

    The incident handed the lead to Russell and the Mercedes driver seized the opportunity with both hands to take his second career win. In the final laps Piastri managed to get past Sainz to take second and the Spaniard was left with the final podium place. 

    At the start, Verstappen powered into the lead ahead of Norris who was forced to defend against a challenge from Russell and Sainz. 

    Sainz then became embroiled in a tussle with Lewis Hamilton and on the run up to Turn 3 the Mercedes driver managed to get ahead to steal P4. Further back, there was contact in Turn 1 between Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and as both went wide, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez swept past both to claim sixth. 

    At the front, Verstappen began to eke out a gap to Norris. Russell and Hamilton were battling however and on lap three Hamilton powered past, only to be passed once again by Russell in Turn 4. Hamilton, though, was under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his pass of Sainz and the seven-time champion was forced to hand back the place won at the start. Pérez and Piastri were also battling, and on lap 7 the Australian pounced in Turn 6 to muscle his way around the outside to drop Checo back to seventh. Verstappen, meanwhile, was drawing away and on lap 14 he had built up a five-second gap to Norris, who was a little under four seconds clear of Russell.

    On lap 22 Hamilton and Pérez were the first of the frontrunners to pit and both moved to Hard tyres. Russell and Sainz made their way in at the end of the following tour and then on lap 24 Verstappen made his first stop, for Hard tyres. Norris came in on the same lap and when Piastri finally made his first tyre switch on lap 26, Verstappen returned to lead with 6.7s in hand over Norris with Russell two seconds further back in third. Sainz held fourth ahead of Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver was quickly handed a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry. Piastri emerged from his pit stop in sixth place. 

    Midway through his second stint, Verstappen looked comfortable, eight seconds clear of over Norris. However on lap 40 the Dutchman reported that his Hard tyres suddenly felt “really bad”. Over the following laps Norris began to chip away at the gap and by lap 46 the Red Bull driver’s advantage had shrunk to a little over 6.5s. 

    Russell then sparked the second round of stop on lap 47 but when Verstappen made his stop an issue with the rear right kept him stationary for over six seconds and when he and Norris rejoined, the McLaren driver was just 1.7s behind. 

    Norris was able to haul his way into DRS range of the Red Bull driver, and on lap 55 the McLaren driver attacked into Turn 3. Verstappen defended well to hold the lead but with three DRS zones available to Norris the attacks kept coming. And on lap 64 the McLaren driver made his fateful move. 

    The clash left Vestappen with a punctured rear left and though Norris got past Verstappen’s stricken RB20 his own right rear tyre let go and the pair limped back to the pits. Verstappen was fitted a set of Soft tyres and released again, into P5, but Norris damage was too severe and the Briton was forced to retire.

    The dramatic incident handed the lead the Russell, ahead of Piastri who had managed to pass Sainz, with Hamilton in fourth and moment after a flurry of final laps, the Mercedes driver took his second career grand prix win. 

    Further back, Max held on to fifth behind Hamilton, despite being handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Norris Hülkenberg took Haas’ best finish of the season so far after passing Pérez  on the final tour and the Mexican was left with seventh place ahead of the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who took the final point. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 George Russell Mercedes 71 – 
    2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 71 1.906
    3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 4.533
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 23.142
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 37.253
    6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 54.088
    7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 54.672
    8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1’00.355
    9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 71 1’01.169
    10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 1’01.766
    11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1’07.056
    12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1’08.325
    13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
    14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 – 1 lap
    15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
    16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
    17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
    18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
    19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 69 – 2 laps
         Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 64 – Retirement

  • Max Verstappen takes pole, less than half a second ahead of Lando Norris: F1

    Max Verstappen takes pole, less than half a second ahead of Lando Norris: F1

    Spielberg, 29 June 2024: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen powered to an emphatic eighth pole position of the season four tenths of a second clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris. George Russell qualified third for Mercedes after Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren had his final lap of Q3 deleted for a track limits violation. 

    Verstappen was first out on track at the start of Q1 and with used Soft tyres on board he set the pace at 1:06.054, with team-mate Sergio Pérez in P2. Both were shuffled back as better times came in and Verstappen dropped to sixth. 

    However, a second run on used tyres again jumped Verstappen to the top of the order with a lap of 1:05.336. Once again though better times began to come in and this time the Red Bull driver dropped to third behind new P1 man Carlos Sainz and second-placed Piastri. 

    Comfortable with their efforts, the top three chose to stay in the garage for the final runs, and though there were a slew of improvements the order at the top stayed the same. However, at the bottom of the order there was no place in Q2 for Williams’ Alex Albon who went out in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu who were split by the second Williams of Logan Sargeant. 

    In the first runs of Q2, Verstappen, now with new tyres onboard, gave a first indication of the pace in the RB20 and he powered clear of the field with a time of 1:04.577, almost a full second clear of Leclerc whose opener had been completed on used rubber. Russell jumped ahead of the Ferrari driver but the gap only closed to 0.491. Sainz then jumped to second on fresh tyres, six hundredths of a second quicker than Russell, but there was still a yawning gap to the championship leader to overcome. 

    And it widened in the final runs of Q2. Verstappen improved once more, closing out the middle session with a P1 time of 1:04.469. Sainz, with only two fresh sets of Softs in reserve, chose to sit out the final runs, but when none of the Spaniard’s rivals was able to eclipse his run one time, the Ferrari driver went through in P2 ahead of Russell, Hamilton and Piastri. 

    Eliminated at the end of Q2 were RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the 11th-placed Australian missing out on the top-10 shootout by just 0.015s, along with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

    In the first runs of Q3, Verstappen shaved four hundredths of a second off his Q2 best to take provisional pole, 0.351s ahead of Norris who slotted into second ahead of Russell and Leclerc who was on used tyres. In the final runs Verstappen was untouchable and once again he improved, this time by over a tenth of a second to take his 40th career pole position with a lap of 1:04.314, 0.404 clear of Norris, with Russell in third place. The Mercedes man might have been beaten by Piastri but the Australian’s final flyer was deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 6 and he slid back behind Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc, who went off at the final corner, and qualified in P7 just ahead of Pérez, Hülkenberg and Ocon. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’04.314 – –
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’04.718 0.404 
    3 George Russell Mercedes 1’04.840 0.526 
    4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’04.851 0.537 
    5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’04.903 0.589 
    6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’05.044 0.730 
    7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’05.048 0.734 
    8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’05.202 0.888 
    9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’05.385 1.071 
    10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’05.883 1.569 
    11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.289 0.975 
    12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’05.347 1.033 
    13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’05.359 1.045 
    14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.412 1.098 
    15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.639 1.325 
    16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’05.736 1.422 
    17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.819 1.505 
    18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’05.847 1.533 
    19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’05.856 1.542 
    20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’06.061 1.747 

  • Max Verstappen to start Sprint race on pole ahead of Lando Norris: F1 Austrian GP

    Max Verstappen to start Sprint race on pole ahead of Lando Norris: F1 Austrian GP

    Spielberg, 28 June 2024: Max Verstappen will start the Sprint at the Red Bull Ring from the front of the grid after the championship leader beat McLaren’s Lando Norris to top spot in Sprint Qualifying but less than a tenth of a second. 

    At the start of SQ1, after Lewis Hamilton had his first lap of 1:06.416 deleted for track limits at Turn 6, it was George Russell who set the early pace with a lap of 1:06.765. 

    Verstappen soon beat that, however, and the Dutchman stole top spot with a lap of 1:05.690, 0.074 ahead of the Mercedes driver. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz sat in third place, ahead of Norris, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in fifth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. 

    The order at the top remained static in the final runs, but at the other end of the timesheet there was no place in the second session for RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who was bumped from P15 into the drop zone by a good final lap from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who jumped to P11, two places ahead of the fortunate Lewis Hamilton who managed to recover to P13 thanks to a lap of 1:06.504. 

    Ricciardo was edged out just over two hundredths of a second behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who had a lurid off on his final flying lap when he put a wheel into the new gravel strip at the exit of Turn 9 and spun through the run-off at the final corner. The Japanese driver was able to recover, however, and progressed in P15. 

    Eliminated along with Ricciardo were Haas’ 17th-placed Nico Hülkenberg, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Alex Albon in P19 and the last placed second Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu. 

    Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez were first on track at the start of SQ2 and Verstappen set the pace at 1:05.186, with Pérez crossing the line more than half a second behind. 

    That left the door open for Russell to take second place with a lap of 1:05.325 and he was followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who took third ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris, who shuffled Pérez, down to eighth place. With the first runs completed, the Mexican was the last man to have posted a time, with the remaining drivers targeting a single run in the session. 

    The top four drivers elected to stay in the pit lane for the final runs and with Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris and Pérez all failing to improve or backing out of their final runs it became a battle for the final two SQ3 spots.

    And it was Alpine that made the best of the final laps. Esteban Ocon went through in eighth place with a lap of 1:05.686, just over three hundredths of a second behind Pérez. Gasly took the final SQ3 spot 0.071s behind team-mate Ocon. 

    Behind them, out went Haas’ Kevein Magnussen in P11 along with the Astons of Stroll and Alonso in P12 and P13 respectively, while Tsunoda exited in 14th ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant. 

    Brinkmanship in SQ3 saw all 10 drivers hold station in their garages until the last possible moment and with drivers seeking a gap to the car in front, it meant that the last in the queue were in danger of not having enough time to make it round to start a final flyer. 

    That was the case for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari was one of the last in line and when his car went into anti-stall in the pit lane he was halted long enough to then take the chequered flag first as he tried to start his final flying lap. 

    Ahead, it was Norris who looked to have enough pace to take top spot with the McLaren driver jumping to P1 three tenths clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri. All day long, though, Verstappen had just enough in the tank to edge ahead of the Briton and it was the case once again as the championship leader to P1, 0.093 clear of his chief rival. 

    Behind the top three Russell was fourth ahead of Sainz, with Hamilton in sixth. Pérez finished seventh in the second Red Bull, with Ocon in P8 ahead of Gasly and the unfortunate Leclerc. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying 
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:04.686 – –
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.779 0.093 0.144
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.987 0.301 0.465
    4 George Russell Mercedes 1:05.054 0.368 0.569
    5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:05.126 0.440 0.680
    6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:05.270 0.584 0.903
    7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:06.008 1.322 2.044
    8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:06.101 1.415 2.187
    9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:06.624 1.938 2.996
    10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari – – –
    11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:05.806 1.120 1.731
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.847 1.161 1.795
    13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.878 1.192 1.843
    14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:05.960 1.274 1.970
    15 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes – – –
    16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:06.581 1.895 2.930
    17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:06.583 1.897 2.933
    18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:06.725 2.039 3.152
    19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:06.754 2.068 3.197
    20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:07.197 2.511 3.882

  • Riders get ready to face the Red Bull Ring: MotoGP

    Riders get ready to face the Red Bull Ring: MotoGP

    The pre-event Press Conference gets us in gear for the first of two race weekends in Spielberg

    Spielberg, 13 August 2020: It’s that time of the week again: Press Conference time. As the paddock sets up in Styria for the myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich at the Red Bull Ring, a few familiar faces gathered to debrief recent track action and look ahead to the weekend.

    Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was joined by premier class podium finisher Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), rookie Brno winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Czech GP poleman Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing), nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Portugal’s Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), with Quartararo kicking things off.

    FABIO QUARTARARO: “(In Brno) I was surprised because on Friday we had a difficult moment with the bike but in FP4 I had a really great feeling with the medium tyre. With 10 laps, I had a great feeling even more. As soon as we started the race, I had a small moment at Turn 3 and then I was pushing in a different way to make a lap time. At the end everything was so difficult to manage. I forced everything on the front and the rear tyre was destroyed from the start; I couldn’t do anything. The most important thing was to finish the race, because it was already difficult to ride in these conditions. We can say that P7 in this kind of race, one of the toughest I’ve ever had, was a great result.

    “I arrived here on Monday and when we looked at the forecast, it says it’s raining everyday. But really it’s for about an hour, today it was predicted much earlier. Looks like it’ll rain on Friday and Saturday, sun on Sunday, we will do our best in every condition. But it’s true that it’s not easy to have a GP in these conditions.  

    FRANCO MORBIDELLI: “I enjoyed it a lot in Brno. I enjoyed it a lot all weekend. I was able to be as fast as I’d always like to be. And I was able to get my first podium. It’s a nice feeling – a good injection – to jump into this weekend, which on paper looks more difficult because historically this track isn’t Yamaha’s best one. But, looking at Yamaha’s pace right now they are fast in every condition and every situation so far, so why not keep believing in achieving top results, including at this track.  

    “I like this track. I finished 2nd in 2016 and 1st in 2017 and it’s a track that is a little bit special, so finally I like it. This is positive, and as I said, I have a great injection of self-trust and I’m really looking forward to jumping into this weekend.”

    BRAD BINDER: “When I last spoke to you I think it was safe to say I was in shock like everyone else. Its been a super cool week, I got to do things I’ve never done before. It’s a day I’ve always dreamt about and to finally get a victory was fantastic. It was really amazing for my whole team, Red Bull KTM and everyone that supports me. All in all it was a great weekend and a day I’ll never be forgetting.

    “I did a couple of laps around Jerez at the end of last year but at that stage I was still not sure how things go on a MotoGP bike. It will be super cool to try out the rain conditions again, I’m looking forward to it strangely enough. It’s a really important weekend for Red Bull and KTM, their home Grand Prix, it’ll be fantastic to have a good weekend for them but it’s important to keep my feet on the ground, reset, I want to carry on exactly how I’ve done in the previous weekends and just try and have a clean weekend overall.

    “After my first season in 2012 I was at the Valencia GP and I thought I was on my way home. I never had a contract for next year and I was really fortunate that Ambrogio Racing picked me up and gave me a ride for the following season. If it wasn’t for that I’d probably be at home sitting behind a desk, so hats off to them, thank you so much and I look forward to this weekend to see how we get on.”

    JOHANN ZARCO: “It’s given me a lot of motivation after the podium in Czech Republic. This podium gives me confidence, plus I know the Ducati is strong on this track which gives me some hope, high hopes, but as Brad says, keep your feet on the ground, because I’m still learning the bike and trying to control it so I can be faster, focusing on doing the right things step by step, because it seems here on the Ducati that if you ride it correctly the bike goes fast! Let’s see what is possible. 

    “I’ve got no idea why the other (Ducatis) have been struggling over the weekend. I don’t want to know too much. Things are working for me, even the pole position, the way I did the lap, everything went well and then I got the surprise of the lap time and pole position. So, from the Saturday afternoon then all went well and also the race was good for me because I started at the front and when you do the first 10 laps with the top group the second half gets better, not easier, but with the used tyre you can control it better and I think all of this from Saturday afternoon went well and this made the difference in comparison with the others.”

    VALENTINO ROSSI: “In the end the race (in Brno) was positive for me. Unfortunately, I did some mistakes in qualifying and I had to start from the fourth row, and then it’s difficult to recover. I had good pace and I felt good with the bike, also in the second half of the race I could push. We recovered position by position, tried to ride clever and make clear overtakes. We stayed a lot with Rins, we did the race together from the bottom to arrive to Johann in the last laps but it wasn’t enough for the podium. On one side it’s a positive feeling because I enjoyed the race, I can ride in a good way and also in difficult conditions, and it was not so bad. From the other side we need to improve something, especially on Saturday, to try and start in a better position.

    “On paper this race is not good for the M1 because the top speed is not very strong for us, but like in 2019, the bike was good to ride and we did a good race with the M1. We were a bit too far from Ducati and Honda but we fought for the podium. We have to try to be strong and try to fight for the podium and after, the forecast will be very important. It looks like it can change from the morning to the afternoon, it’s not clear what’s going to happen. So we need to be strong and ready in all conditions.”

    MIGUEL OLIVEIRA: “The weekend in Brno was going quite well on Friday. It was already a positive day for us being inside the top 3 but then I made a mistake in FP3 and crashed on my fast lap and that lap could have been very good, maybe 7th or 8th. Going through Q1 I almost got it by a little bit, but then I had to start on the fifth row. It’s already quite tricky when you have to overtake some riders, to make clever overtakes and not go backwards. It’s not easy. Looking at the race on paper we had the pace to challenge for the podium which is positive so, at the end of the day, I don’t need to take it as a frustrating point, I can be happy about the position and my riding.

    “You know every rider wants to give the factory a win, especially the first win. I don’t compare myself with Brad or Pol because I think Pol in this case would have been the rider that would have loved to give KTM their first race win because he’s been there since day one. So, for me, I don’t need to take it as a frustrating point. I’m happy for Brad that he won because he rode well. I don’t feel less of a rider for not having won the first race to be honest, we need to focus on the next opportunities.”

    It was also important, of course, to get a reaction to the news that MotoGP™ will race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the season finale…

    “It’s exciting news, of course! For me, as a Portuguese rider I would like to have a home race and it’s happening at the end of the season. I couldn’t be happier that we’re going to race at Portimao. It’s a super technical track, very demanding, so I think it will be fun to race in MotoGP there.”

    First, though, it’s time to attack the Red Bull Ring. MotoGP head out for FP1 at14:10 IST (GMT +2) on Friday and the race starts on Sunday at 17:30 IST. TUNE IN

  • `Every race is different’…but will that prove true at the Red Bull Ring?

    `Every race is different’…but will that prove true at the Red Bull Ring?

    Riders pose for a photo during the Press Conference ahead of the MotoGP race on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring. A MotoGP image

    Spielberg, 9 Aug 2018: Ahead of the eyetime Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, the 11th round of the MotoGP World Motorcycle Racing Championship, it was pre-event Press Conference time after a quick turnaround from the Czech GP and Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was joined by Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Brno winner Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Moto2 Championship leader Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) as they geared up for another weekend of action.

    Lorenzo

    Marquez was the first to talk, and the weekend began to take shape as another possible Ducati vs Marquez showdown: “One of the main goals in Brno we achieved: try to increase the lead in the Championship and we did it. I was happy, right after the race I was a bit bitter because of both Ducatis but then I analysed the race in the motorhome. It was a great race and a great result for us, then the Monday test was very busy with a lot of things to try. Some of them we will introduce here step by step because we found some interesting things. Both Ducati riders, like we saw in Brno, are on a really high level so we’ll try and find the best way to fight with them until the end. It will be tough, but you have to start the weekend positively, we’ll try to be there and find the step. The main aim is to be on the podium. If we can fight for victory we’ll try but you don’t know before you try the tyres and asphalt and everything.”

    Rossi, meanwhile, will be wringing the neck of the weekend to get the most out of what could be a tougher track. “It’s always a difficult track, especially last year I didn’t enjoy it a lot because it was one of the most difficult races for me. I’ve never been on the podium here although in 2016 it wasn’t bad, me and Jorge were strong and not so far from the podium but it wasn’t enough. We have to try to do everything at the maximum and look after the details to be as strong as possible. On paper maybe it’s not the best track for us so we’ll have to suffer a bit. I wanted to be on the podium in Brno but the other three were faster, but then it wasn’t a bad race because I wasn’t so far. On Monday we worked a lot but didn’t find anything better so I think our level will be like in Brno. And the weather forecast isn’t fantastic, we’ll have to be ready for all conditions!”

    Andrea Dovizioso

    Then the man on the roll, however, is Dovizioso: the 2017 Austrian GP winner after the stunning duel with Marquez and the winner last time out as we arrive back at the venue. “After the victory in Brno, you arrive at the next round with good confidence and even more to this track because on paper our bike works well here. But last year it wasn’t easy! We struggled but then in the race, our speed was really good and I was able to fight with Marc. But I expect this season our competitors will be stronger because they’ve increased their power and aero – maybe they will be closer. Marc last year already arrived at the end with me. So I don’t think it will be easy but Brno was important for us. The victory comes from hard work, we changed a few things from me and the bike and I think we have a small margin to improve so let’s see how this weekend will go – and the weather.”

    The weather – as also pointed out by Marquez and Rossi – could be an interesting factor. And so could a Lorenzo so close to being back on top in Brno.

    “The improvement compared to the first races has been huge,” said five-time World Champion Lorenzo. “We were a bit unlucky in Qatar, even if I would probably have finished fifth or fourth but I had to crash. It was difficult for me, then new pieces arrived and at Mugello, I got my first victory and from then on we could see a different Jorge riding, especially over race distance. It was a great race last time out and in the test we improved some more details, I’ve been more competitive especially on older tyres so I think we arrive in the best way possible to Austria.”

    Best way possible? The number 99 says he hopes to fight for the win.

    “Every race is different and in every race, you have to see how the performance of each rider is. But obviously, this track is where you are on the throttle the most, for our bike it should be good. We have great acceleration, great top speed, power, stability in braking so it should be a good track. But like Andrea said Honda improved the power of their engine and it should be close. But I think we’ll have a chance to fight for the win.”

    Next, the spotlight was turned on KTM, the home manufacturer. After a bad run of luck of late that sees Pol Espargaro and Mika Kallio side-lined, Bradley Smith faces down the weekend alone in the premier class.

    “It’s a big disappointment not to have my other team members here and I wish a speedy recovery to Pol and Mika. In another way, it’s a positive for me in that everyone in the garage is focused on me, and I’m all ok after the crash, fortunately. Lucky to walk away uninjured and ready for this weekend, and the expectation of all the KTM fans and our bosses.”

    In terms of development, for Smith, it’s feeling positive in terms of input and they’re just missing another step to break into the top ten. “I feel like I’m steering the bike in a good direction at the moment and the factory is working very hard to bridge the gap. We seem to be stuck in around P12 or 13 and we want to be more inside the top ten and we want to see better results later in the year.”

    Although Smith is the sole Austrian machine on the MotoGP™ grid, there are plenty KTMs throughout the field for the fans to cheer – and that includes Miguel Oliveira, the points leader and Brno winner in the intermediate class. He’s exactly where he wants to be.

    “The race in Brno was quite exciting, a lot of overtaking…and I feel good to be coming to the home GP of the team in the lead. It means we’re going in a good direction. Usually, my second halves of seasons are quite strong so I hope I can stay in the lead until the end of the year.”

    In terms of improvements? Qualifying. Which was something they managed at Brno. “Qualifying is one of the biggest points we need to improve at the moment. We know our bike is competitive overall race distance but qualifying is kind of an issue for us. In Brno it went well so I hope now we’ve changed strategy and we can qualify a bit more in front so I don’t have to pass 10 riders in half a lap! That would make my life easier for sure.”

    It was a spectacular weekend of action in Czechia and now Austria steps up to try and repeat the feat. Watch track action from Friday morning as FP1s begin from 9:00 (GMT +2), before the lights go out at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday.