Ferrari’s floor, Hamilton’s contract, and more F1 storylines for the Austrian Grand Prix

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F1 heads to Red Bull Ring this week, and here’s what to watch for

Formula 1 heads to Red Bull Ring this week, for the Austrian Grand Prix. When you consider their current for and the fact that this is their home grand prix, it is a safe assumption that Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and company will be in top form this week.

But will they win again, and again, and again?

That is one of many storylines as we look ahead to the Austrian Grand Prix.

Can Red Bull sweep the season?

If you have found yourself bored by the F1 season this year fear not, you are not alone. With Red Bull having won every race this year, and Verstappen seeking his fifth-straight victory, it has been rather dull at the front of the field each week. Over the past week alone, voices around the sport have shared their frustrations, from former F1 owner and current analyst Eddie Jordan, to Verstappen himself.

But while we wait for someone — anyone — to challenge Red Bull at the front of the field, perhaps a fall-back plan could be this: Finding excitement in Red Bull’s chase of history. After all, no team has swept the season in all of F1 history, and if Red Bull rattles off 14 more victories, they would be the first team to accomplish that feat.

It might not be much, but it’s something.

Pérez under pressure, redux

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Given what we just discussed, you would think everything was coming up roses over at Red Bull right now.

However, that is not exactly the case.

The past few grands prix have not been kind to Sergio Pérez, which has opened the door to speculation about his future with the team. Such speculation is part of life in F1, and something that Pérez is certainly no stranger to. But with the gap between him and Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings increasing — and the gap between him and Fernando Alonso in those same standings shrinking — many have begun to wonder just how secure his position is with the team.

At the moment, thinking that anyone besides Pérez will be in this season next season seems far-fetched. While he has admittedly struggled in recent weeks, he is under contract with the team through 2024. Let’s not forget, while Verstappen has won six races this year, it is Pérez who has won the other two, something Team Principal Christian Horner pointed out last week. Verstappen is the dominant force in the sport right now, but Pérez is perhaps the ideal teammate for him, and the ideal second driver for Red Bull.

Until he regains the form he showed earlier this year, however, that speculation will only continue.

And if he struggles even more? That speculation will only grow louder.

That’s just part of life in F1.

Time for Mercedes to start winning?

Ever since the Silver Arrows brought their long-awaited upgrades to the Monaco Grand Prix, things have been looking up for Mercedes. They notched a P4 and P5 in Monaco with Lewis Hamilton finishing just ahead of George Russell, secured their first double podium of the year in the Spanish Grand Prix, and while Russell was forced to retire in Montreal, Hamilton secured another podium in the Canadian Grand Prix.

However, fighting for podiums is not where Mercedes truly wants to be, after all. They would much rather be fighting for victories.

But does Red Bull Ring give them their first true chance at a win?

That was the word out of Brackley last week, in the team’s video debrief of the Canadian Grand Prix. Mike Elliott, the team’s Chief Technical Officer, pointed to both the Austrian Grand Prix, and their home race at Silverstone, as opportunities for the team to push towards the front.

The reason? The configurations of both tracks. While the W14 has, in Hamilton’s words, “sucked” in low-speed corners, higher-speed corners have seen better performance from the W14. Both Red Bull Ring and Silverstone look to be better tracks for the W14.

Could this be the week Mercedes finally breaks through?

Is this the week we see a Hamilton contract extension?

When the wins come is not the only question facing Mercedes. The other looming issue? A next contract for Hamilton. The seven-time champion sees his current deal with the Silver Arrows come to an end at the end of this season, but both the driver and the team have hinted in recent weeks that a new contract is close.

Some believe that this is all building to an announcement at the British Grand Prix, one of the home races for Mercedes, set for July 9. That certainly does make a degree of sense, and one can only imagine the scene at Silverstone all weekend long if such an announcement is made.

However, there is precedent to the team and Hamilton announcing a new deal at Red Bull Ring. After all, the contract which runs out at the end of the season? Mercedes announced that deal ahead of the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.

Does history repeat itself this week, or will we see the announcement come at home for Mercedes?

Has Ferrari figured things out?

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We talked about Mercedes potentially securing their first win of the season this week, but could this be the week where Ferrari breaks through?

You might not have thought that possible after qualifying in Montreal. Charles Leclerc failed to advance to Q3 and was admittedly “frustrated” with the team after some tyre decisions made during Q2. Carlos Sainz Jr. did advance to Q3, but received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Pierre Gasly during Q1, and ended up starting 11th.

Yet on Sunday in the Canadian Grand Prix, the duo found their way to the front and finished in the top five, with Leclerc in P4 and Sainz in P5. Not only did Ferrari make a smart strategic decision to keep both drivers out during the early safety car — a decision made while reportedly listening to their drivers’ advice — Ferrari saw much better pace and tyre management.

Following the Canadian GP, many pointed to Ferrari as being much faster than expected, including Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko. “It certainly wasn’t easy. We had problems getting our tyres up to temperature, especially with the hard,” he told the media in Canada. “The race was more difficult than we anticipated. I have to say, thank God Ferrari had to start so far back because they were actually the fastest on both compounds.”

The Scuderia are also set to unveil a new floor for the SF-23 during a filming/testing session on Tuesday, which could make their pace even better. It remain unclear whether the team will also bring that to Red Bull Ring, or wait until a later race.

Still, there is renewed hope that Ferrari could have brighter days ahead.

McLaren upgrades?

Upgrades are to the F1 world what the offseason is to the NFL world.

Hope.

Every offseason, fans of all 32 teams begin to talk themselves into next year being “the year.” How? Through free agency and the NFL draft. With just the right additions during both events, a losing team can become a playoff contender in a matter of weeks.

The same can be said for upgrades in the F1 world. With the right tweaks, a team running at the back of the field can shave off some much-needed time, and start pushing towards the front. As a matter of fact, we just ended the Ferrari section talking about hope.

That leads us to McLaren, who have been talking about upgrades to the MCL60 since pre-season testing. They brought some tweaks to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as Lando Norris described to me ahead of that race, but following a heart-breaking finish in Montreal — where Norris finished in the points but was given a five-second penalty for “unsportsmanlike conduct” which dropped him from P8 to P13 — Team Principal Andrea Stella teased some soon-to-be-revealed upgrades.

And made some promises as well:

We will see if the incoming upgrades allow the team to “gain that considerable amount of lap time” that Stella promises.

But for now, the Papaya Army can, well, hope.

Can Haas duplicate their Saturday pace on Sunday?

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At nearly each Grand Prix this year, it has been a tale of two weekends for Haas.

Strong on Saturday, sliding back on Sunday.

The Canadian Grand Prix was perhaps the strongest example. Nico Hülkenberg caught a little bit of luck in Q3 in Montreal, and qualified on the front row alongside Max Verstappen.

A three-place penalty for failing to properly slow down under a red flag dropped Hülkenberg down to fifth, but he still began Sunday in position to secure some much-needed points for the team.

Instead he slid back through the field, and out of the points.

Haas has strong one-lap pace this year, which has served them fairly well on Saturdays. But they cannot seem to find the race pace they need to consistently challenge for points.

“It was a one-way street in the wrong direction today. It was to some extent expected, but we obviously always hope for the best so that it’s better than what you had in the previous event,” said Hülkenberg after the Canadian Grand Prix. “It just once again confirms that we have a lot of work to do on the long run pace and entire consistency because that’s really hurting our Sunday.”

“It’s pretty clear now, obviously the result is not what we should be doing and it’s very disappointing. I think we know where to look, the issue is as soon as we get into traffic and behind cars, our degradation is immense, we cannot get the tire performance back and we just slip back,” added Team Principal Guenther Steiner.

“We can clearly see it, as soon as we get away from free air and start to fight, we just degrade,” added the Haas boss. “We know really what we need to look for, and we’ll be looking for it. We need to put our heads together and try to find a solution to this and not hide behind good qualifying results.”

The team needs to find a solution, and fast. Can they do it in time to challenge for points at Red Bull Ring?