Rohan Brahmbhatt
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Narratives to look ahead of the Qualifiers of the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix and predictions for podium finish ahead of the GP
After finishing 35 seconds behind his arch-rival Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton is under intense pressure to lead Mercedes to their eighth consecutive World Championship title. English-born Mercedes driver has never been in this position where he has failed to win 4-races in a row.
It was a big upset in Baku where he lost in the final lap of the race to Sergio Perez. More disappointment took place in the French Grand Prix where Max Verstappen edged past him in the final lap of the race, and Styrian Grand Prix where Verstappen led in all the 71 laps to make it two wins in a row for the Dutchman.
Ahead of the Saturday qualifier, Hamilton and Bottas were fast in the FP2 Friday as Mercedes put in a strong performance to secure a one-two ahead of Max Verstappen who was cruising in the FP1. It will be interesting to see who will secure the pole position and will lead the race.
Lewis Hamilton fought back in FP2 after a disastrous FP1 in which he finished the seventh with a relatively slower Mercedes car. In FP2 both he and Bottas were on a roll as they pushed Red Bull to the third place in FP2. He will be looking to close the deficit between him and Max Verstappen who is having a wonderful season in his Red Bull.
Valterri Bottas has always been under rated because of his teammate Lewis Hamilton who is the main face of Mercedes but possesses a lot of talent. He has always been the most competitive of both drivers and has performed whenever required for Mercedes. He won the last year’s Austrian Grand Prix pretty comfortably and will be hoping to replicate his strong performance from last year. He finished the FP2 in second place behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton and will surely challenge for P1 in the final race on Sunday.
The young Dutchman is enjoying his time with the Red Bull as the car is performing absolutely brilliantly and they now have enough pace to challenge the Mercedes as we have witnessed in the previous races. A solid performance at the Red Bull Ring will surely boost his confidence.
He led the race from the beginning and was never bothered by the cars behind him. He ran away from the traffic at one of the shortest Formula 1 tracks and never looked back to secure a 35-second margin between him and second place Lewis Hamilton.
This week’s Austrian Grand Prix will be the conclusion of the triple-header which was crucial in deciding the Championship title. Despite his wonderful performance in the Styrian Grand Prix, Verstappen will finish third after Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas in this week’s Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
