Austrian Grand Prix: when’s it on? And what time’s the sprint race?

Set the scene for me.

By some aerodynamic miracle McLaren appears to have closed what was a massive gap to Red Bull, with Mercedes and Ferrari not that far behind. So while Max Verstappen is still winning (a lot), he’s not winning by a lot. Unpredictability, how we have missed you.

Last week’s race in Spain was a gripping spectacle as polesitter Lando Norris chased down the Red Bull driver in a seemingly faster car. But the Dutchman was flawless and took the chequered flag anyway, with just two seconds separating the title rivals.

Yep, title rivals. We’re calling it. The championship fight is back on. Maybe. To be honest, we’re just happy that individual races aren’t a foregone conclusion any more. We’d have settled for that when it looked like F1 ‘24 would be another one-Bull show a couple of months back.

With four teams so close on pace, any one of eight drivers could end up on the top step on Sunday afternoon. Or seven drivers, once you’ve remembered that one of those is Sergio Perez. Harsh? Yes. But the Mexican is having a torrid time of it right now, having only recently signed his contract extension for 2025.

That brings us to the driver market news that’s flooded in this week. Alpine has tied down Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin has (shocker) rehired its owner’s son again. Elsewhere, rumour has it that RB could be lining up another brutal mid-season swap to turf out Daniel Ricciardo in favour of Liam Lawson, and everyone is waiting to see where Carlos Sainz is headed next…

What time does the Austrian Grand Prix start?

Great question. If you’re watching from the UK then the race starts at 2pm sharp on Sunday 30 June. If you’re not watching from the UK… it probably doesn’t. Soz. Qualifying meanwhile is on Saturday 29 June, starting at 3pm and likely to last about an hour. Maybe more if a Sauber ends up in the gravel.

But wait! This is no ordinary race weekend. This is a sprint weekend, therefore the format switches up in Austria. Instead of endless practice sessions, there is instead just the one from 11.30am on Friday 28 June, then we go racing. Sprint qualifying commenceth at 3.30pm on Friday, and the sprint race itself is the opening act for Saturday’s action at 11am. Hope you didn’t have plans.

Is it going to rain?

Well… the current forecast suggests that there’s a high chance of rain on Sunday, but it’s not clear yet if the showers will arrive before, during or after the grand prix. Not very helpful, sorry. But yeah, it might rain. And you know what rain means. Carnage. Glorious carnage.

Gimme some history in 100 words or fewer.

The Austrian GP was first held in the 1960s on what is apparently the main base for the Austrian Air Force. Eventually it moved to the Osterreichring, which became the A1-Ring, which became the Red Bull Ring, which… is what it’s called now. It returned to the F1 calendar in 2014 and highlights since then include Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s last-lap clash in 2016, Verstappen’s eighth-to-first recovery win in 2019, and Norris’s first F1 podium in 2021. Don’t forget in 2020 this track hosted two races, the other dubbed the Styrian Grand Prix. Perhaps they thought no one would notice?

The top three will be…

Oh crumbs, this is actually difficult now. Let’s say Lando wins this one with Verstappen a close second. Mercedes look quick now, so we’re backing Russell for P3; Hamilton doesn't have the best record here for some reason.

Shock of the weekend?

Fernando Alonso will finish out of the points again and thus reluctantly chip in several million dollars into the ‘Hire Adrian Newey Fund’ that Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll is crowdfunding for.

Where can I watch the Spanish GP?

You know the drill by now: UK fans must subscribe to Sky Sports for its dedicated F1 channel, or to Now TV in order to stream Sky Sports online. There is of course a highly illegal third way, which you can access by [sentence redacted]. Failing that, there’s always Channel 4’s free-to-air highlights show: the race recap will be shown at 7.30pm on Sunday, and the quali rerun will also be aired at 7.30pm. But on Saturday. Duh.

In lieu of moving pictures or delayed moving pictures, how about just sounds? Radio coverage will bring you all the action on BBC Radio 5 Live. Otherwise, it’s the YouTube highlights for you.