Formula 1: Everything Irish viewers need to know about…

Formula 1: Everything Irish viewers need to know about the Austrian GP with a twist

The Sprint race format returns to Formula 1 this weekend as teams and drivers touch down in Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

For the second time this season, drivers have been enduring a schedule shake-up with qualifying taking place yesterday afternoon in order to determine the starting order for the Sprint on Saturday - the results of which will set the grid for the Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole in qualifying as both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell dramatically crashed out in the Q3 final shootout.

Verstappen was leading the pack heading into the final laps but Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both went faster than the Red Bull on their flying laps, landing temporary Ferrari one-two.

However, Verstappen managed to post a 1:04.9, just .029s ahead of Leclerc in the crucial last moments.

Sprint

Today at 3:30 pm, every driver will race across 100km with the results deciding the pecking order for Sunday’s main event.

After a rule change for the 2022 season, the driver who sets the fastest time in Q3 of qualifying on Friday night will now still be credited with pole position status regardless of their finishing position in the sprint race on Saturday.

Formula 1: Everything Irish viewers need to know about the Austrian GP with a twist (HIGH TWO/ PA Images)

The top eight finishers during Sprint Qualifying will now receive points, which marks an increase on what was allocated in 2021.

The winner will now pick up eight points, rather than three, meanwhile, points will trickle down to eighth place and will apply to both the F1 world drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

They will be awarded as follows: 1st will get 8 points, 2nd 7 points, 3rd 6 points, 4th 5 points, 5th 4 points, 6th 3 points, 7th 2 points, 8th 1 point.

Parc Fermé conditions will apply from the start of Qualifying on Friday, to stop the construction of special Qualifying cars, limit the number of hours required for preparing the car for the following day, and allow enough reconfiguration of the cars to make Saturday morning Free Practice a useful session.

It looks as if Red Bull will continue to dominate at their home race with the long straight and a limited number of corners giving them quite the advantage over their main rival this season, Ferrari.

Pirelli will bring the three softest tyre compounds from its range to the Spielberg circuit, which are the C3 hard, C4 medium, and C5 soft.

The schedule for the rest of the weekend is as follows in Irish time:

Saturday 9th July 2022