Once more this post has descended further away from the intended schedule but better late than never... Nevertheless it is time for another round of the calendar and now we head to Austria for the second part of the European season following a slightly uninspiring trip across the Atlantic to Montreal. So has everyone arrived back in Europe in a cheery state of relaxation. Frankly no, as this is the Red Bull ring - it is the home team making yet another attack on their berated engine supplier. This time local overlord - Dietrich - has claimed that the team will not fulfill their contract to stay in the sport until at least 2020 if the situation doesn't improve. Complaints that will ultimately be exacerbated by a predictably difficult home race on a track which plays to their weaknesses rather than strengths. However, they are not the only ones in a bit of distress - McLaren have used up all their available engine components on Alonso's car. Components that needed changing again this weekend, and therefore that half of the McLaren Empire garage will be hit with a 20 place grid penalty. Under my distance based application of the rules - Alonso would be starting the race in Salzburg instead. McLaren are still running with the 'it'll get better... eventually' motto rather than firing shots at their engine partners. Ricciardo and Kvyat also have 10 place grid penalties - so even before qualifying we are up to a total of 40 places dropped...things are going so well.
Other news that has been circulated in the past fortnight concerns the fate of the Italian GP. At the moment the continuation of Monza as the home of the race is looking increasingly shaky - generally due to financial difficulties and Bernie's race fees. After the loss of the German GP this season and so many years without a French GP - Italy looks to be next on the list to be replaced by a desert carpak... especially with Qatar looking to host a race. One solution that has been proposed in the interim, if anything to buy Monza time to come up with a permanent plan, is to alternate the Italian GP between Monza and Imola. Now both tracks are tremendous for different reasons - Monza is one of the few truly unique tracks left with a wealth of history and tradition behind it. Of the two venues it generally creates the better races with far more opportunities for overtaking. Imola on the other hadn't - the former home of the San Marino GP, has a history all of it's own and a somewhat darker one after the events of 1994. Imola is a far more fun track to drive in the simulator and is very picturesque - Aqua Minerale is a wonderful corner, but the racing is often dull because the track is narrow with one racing line. Personally I wouldn't mind having either on the calendar... or both...
The Track Formerly Known as the A1 Ring
In a season full of overly complex Tilke designs - the Red Bull ring is refreshingly simple and effective. Why use 25 corners when 9 will do, and it is always a surprise to remember that the same German architect is responsible for this venue as the cacophony of over-used corners that is the Yas Marina circuit. Last year's resurrection of the Austrian GP was a success - even though certain 'upgrades' have taken away some of elements of the circuit that have changed the course of many a race under it's previous guise. Gravel paved over by acres of tarmac - so much so that half the field had lap-times deleted for track limit violations. The final corner has been tweaked slightly since then - but everything else has remained just as we left it all those years ago.
The lap begins with a climb, not quite as significant as the mountainous ascent before turn one in Austin. But one that leads into a far more interesting corner than the American equivalent, it is faster for one and is ever so slightly positively cambered. On the exit of turn one the driver points the car at the mountains and floors it up the hill to the hairpin of turn two. This is the primary overtaking opportunity, and the scene of a few unfortunate collisions - including when Takuma Sato was T-Boned by an out of control Sauber in 2002. A short straight takes the cars into sector two.
Sector two contains over half the corners, while the other two only have two corners each. The first of these is turn three, which features a difficult downhill braking zone hidden on the other side of a crest. The corner itself opens up on the exit before heading into the arena section - well it would have been if there were any grandstands in the area... But I can appreciate the open plan nature of it through turns 4-7. I also like the fact that the track hasn't been widened and the gravel remains - if only they'd left a little bit more of it in turn one.
The final sector is made up of the final two corners, the braking zone hidden once more behind a crest in the road - which is why we saw so many cars running wide... that and the tarmac run-off making it so much easier. This season the organisers have noted that the abuse of track limits was becoming a little farcical - so they placed some astroturf on the other side of the curbing in turn 8. With the proper precautions in place, these final corners are marvellous and conclude one of Herman Tilke's rare successes.
The Form Guide
Because this is once more a Friday, all the practice session results are in, and the scores look very promising. The Austrian GP of 2014 became anomalous as it was the only race where something other than a Mercedes car took pole position as Felipe Massa lead an all Williams front row. In the run up to this weekend, Williams had high hopes of being in the fight with the factory team this year. However, a reincarnation of that success is looking very unlikely - because the Ferrari resurgence is aiming to replace Williams as Mercedes main competition at the front. In FP2, Vettel took the top spot by 0.01s ahead of Nico Rosberg - so a Ferrari pole is possible, if still a little unlikely. On the whole anyone who has a Mercedes or Ferrari engine is looking good for a points scoring weekend.
This means things look bleak for Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren who are not looking forward to a promising Austrian adventure - the Renault powered teams probably won't be scoring many points if any at all. Verstappen creeped into the top ten in second practice - little awkward to see the junior team show the main squad up on home turf... McLaren however are in a more precarious position - Alonso has acquired an entire grid worth of penalties, and Jenson has struggled to achieve any form of continuous running in practice. Will either car reach the finish - it could be seen as doubtful - they didn't in Canada and Austria has several similar characteristics, long straights, heavy braking, less aero dependency etc.
I am going to resist the temptation to over-hype the upcoming race, because that fell flat in both Monaco and Canada. But Austria has the potential to be exciting because the cars are a lot closer on pace than other venues, so we shall have to see, and hope...
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