All the key details ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, including the full weekend race schedule, start times and TV coverage, a selection of statistics, a track guide, the latest odds and standings plus our big-race betting tips from the 'Pit-lane insider'.
The 2017 Formula One title race heads to the second-highest altitude of the season this weekend when the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg hosts the Austrian Grand Prix on July 9.
Last time out Sebastian Vettel increased his lead at the top of the standings to 14 points following a highly-controversial Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he was accused of deliberately driving into Lewis Hamilton in a race won by Daniel Ricciardo.
So all eyes will be on Hamilton's attempts to avenge the drama of Baku - cleanly of course! - or whether Vettel has managed to strike a telling psychological blow.
Contents
1. Austrian Grand Prix schedule & TV times
2. Pit-lane insider's betting preview
3. Sky Bet odds
4. Red Bull Ring track guide
5. Last five Austrian GP winners
6. 2017 season schedule & results
CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL 2017 FORMULA ONE SEASON GUIDE
Austrian Grand Prix: Weekend Schedule & TV Guide
Friday July 7
Practice 1: 1000-1130 (UK time: 0900-1030)
Practice 2: 1400-1530 (UK time: 1300-1430)
Saturday July 8
Practice 3: 1100-1200 (UK time: 1000-1100)
Qualifying: 1400-1500 (UK time: 1300-1400)
Sunday July 9
Austrian Grand Prix: 1400 (UK time: 1300)
TV Coverage
Sky Sports F1 will broadcast the race and all the other sessions live, with Channel 4 providing race highlights at 1745 BST on Sunday.
Austrian Grand Prix: Betting preview
After the drama of Baku and Daniel Ricciardo’s first victory of the season, our ‘Pit-Lane Insider’ provides his thoughts and best bets for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
All the talk in the build-up to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix has surrounded the FIA’s decision not to punish championship leader Sebastian Vettel for this deliberate collision with title rival Lewis Hamilton in Baku.
The German was handed a 10-second stop-and go penalty for his actions in Azerbaijan’s capital but still managed to finish fourth, one place ahead of Hamilton.
The 31-year-old Briton labelled Vettel a “disgrace” and “disrespectful” for the incident and suggested the stewards’ decision was not firm enough, and I have to agree.
Hamilton was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop when his headrest came loose, a factor that clearly prevented him from finishing ahead of Vettel, so perhaps the German can count himself very fortunate not to face further sanctions.
The two rivals lock horns again this weekend with Ferrari’s Vettel 14 points clear of Hamilton in the race for the title.
Despite the deficit, Hamilton is again installed the bookies’ favourite to win a fourth world title at 8/11 from Vettel 11/8.
Hamilton is also the odds-on favourite to win at the Red Bull Ring with Vettel 11/4 and Valtteri Bottas 9/2. Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Ricciardo 16/1 and 20/1 respectively in the betting.
Mercedes have dominated proceedings since racing returned to the Styrian Mountains in 2013, winning all three races – in fact Hamilton has never finished outside the top two so fully justifies those prices.
In contrast, it’s not been a happy hunting ground for Vettel with a best finish of fourth in his three attempts.
For once, I’m going to leave the result alone and instead back Hamilton to record the fastest lap at 13/8. He’s already set four quickest laps this season so you can expect another rapid race from the Silver Arrows’ driver.
I also think there is value in backing the qualifying margin of over 0.2 seconds at 6/4.
Admittedly, it’s a short lap and qualifying has been closer this year, but such was Mercedes’ dominance 12 months ago in Austria it’s hard to see the opposition getting under 0.2 seconds to the Silver Arrows.
Add in the fact that Hamilton keeps managing to pull out fantastic laps on Saturday; he should have more than enough in hand over his team-mate to ensure that the margin stays over a couple of tenths.
Finally, my final pick features Felipe Massa at 11/8. In the chaos of Baku Massa’s Williams was going well only to suffer a broken damper after the Red Flag restart, which sadly ended his chances.
This weekend, on a track where he qualified on pole for Williams in 2014 and scored a podium a year later, I expect Massa to go well again and secure a top six finish at a decent price.
Suggested bets:
Top six finish: Felipe Massa – 11/8
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton – 13/8
Qualifying margin: Over 0.2 seconds – 6/4
Posted 1215 BST on 04/07/2017
Austrian Grand Prix: Sky Bet Odds
Lewis Hamilton is 5/6 favourite to win the Austrian Grand Prix as he looks to keep the pressure on Sebastian Vettel in the title race while he's 4/6 to take pole position and 1/4 to finish on the podium.
Championship leader Vettel is 11/4 to triumph (7/2 pole, 4/11 podium) ahead of Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who is next in the running at 9/2 (4/1 pole, 4/7 podium).
Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo can be backed at 16/1 and 20/1 respectively to grab glory but they are deemed unlikely to be the fastest qualifiers at 18/1 and 22/1. Verstappen is 9/4 for a podium spot and Ricciardo is 3/1.
Vettel's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen is 20/1 to win the race, 16/1 to take pole and 2/1 to finish on the podium.
CLICK HERE FOR SKY BET'S AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX ODDS
Austrian Grand Prix: Track Guide
Venue: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
Circuit length: 4.318 km
Laps: 71
Race distance: 306.452 km
Number of corners: 20 (12 left/8 right)
In-race lap record: 1:08.337 (Michael Schumacher, 2003)
2016 winner: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2016 pole position: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:07.922
2016 fastest race lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:08.411 on lap 67
Tyre compounds to be used: soft/supersoft/ultrasoft
Overtaking chance: medium (into turns one, two and three)
Engine severity: medium
Brake wear severity: hard
Gearbox severity: low
Austrian Grand Prix Statistics
Hamilton is the only driver on the current grid to have won at the Red Bull Ring, with the race absent from the calendar between 2003 and 2014.
Only three drivers can boast multiple wins on the current track, previously the much longer Osterreichring, with Mika Hakkinen (1998, 2000), Michael Schumacher (2002, 2003) and Nico Rosberg (2014, 2015) the trio to stand on the top step of the podium more than once.
Nine of the 10 previous races on the A1 Ring/Red Bull Ring have been won from the front three places on the grid - David Coulthard's win from seventh in 2001 is the exception.
Two drivers set to line up on the grid this weekend took part in the 2003 Austrian Grand Prix, the last before the 11 year hiatus, with Kimi Raikkonen finishing second as Fernando Alonso retired.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen has retired from four of the last six grands prix, having retired from four out of 29 before this current run.
Lance Stroll took his maiden podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and it was the first for Williams since the Canadian Grand Prix in 2016.
McLaren head to Austria bottom of the constructors' championship but boosted by their first points-scoring finish of the season following Alonso's ninth place in Baku.
The Red Bull Ring has an elevation change of 63.5 metres, unsurprising given its location among the Austrian Alps, with Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium the only other current track providing the drivers with a bigger difference (102.2m).
The circuit has also played host to some of the biggest music acts in the world with AC/DC, Bon Jovi and the Rolling Stones having performed at the venue, with the latter due to return in September 2017.
Latest Formula One Driver Standings 2017
After Azerbaijan Grand Prix
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 153pts
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 139
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 111
4 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 92
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 73
6 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 45
7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 44
8 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 35
9 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 29
10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 20
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 18
12 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 17
13 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 11
14 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 10
15 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 5
16 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 4
17 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 2
18 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 0
19 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 0
20 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Sauber-Ferrari 0
21 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 0
22 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 0
Formula One Constructors Standings 2017
1 Mercedes GP 250pts
2 Ferrari 226
3 Red Bull 137
4 Force India 79
5 Williams 37
6 Scuderia Toro Rosso 33
7 Haas F1 21
8 Renault 18
9 Sauber-Ferrari 5
10 McLaren 2
Formula One 2017: Grand Prix schedule & results
March 26: Australia (Melbourne)
1st Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari
2nd Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP
3rd Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP
Click here for full report & times
April 9: China (Shanghai)
1st Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP
2nd Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari
3rd Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull
Click here for full report & times
April 16: Bahrain (Sakhir)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP
Click here for full report & times
April 30: Russia (Sochi)
1 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
Click here for full report & times
May 14: Spain (Barcelona)
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull
Click here for full report & times
May 28: Monaco (Monte Carlo)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari
2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull
Click here for full report & times
June 11: Canada (Montreal)
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP
2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull
Click here for full report & times
June 25: Azerbaijan (Baku)
1 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull
2 Valteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes
3 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams
Click here for full report & times
July 9: Austria (Spielberg)
July 16: Britain (Silverstone)
July 30: Hungary (Budapest)
August 27: Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
September 3: Italy (Monza)
September 17: Singapore (Marina Bay)
October 1: Malaysia (Sepang)
October 8: Japan (Suzuka)
October 22: USA (Austin)
October 29: Mexico (Mexico City)
November 12: Brazil (Sao Paulo)
November 26: United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi)
