2022 F1 Austrian GP Preview: Austrian GP Qualifying

The 11th round of the 2022 F1 World Championship will be held this weekend in Spielberg, Austria, home of the Red Bull Ring.

The circuit is a short 2.688 miles (8.4 km) long, and each lap takes only 68 seconds. With four long straights, each preceded by a low-speed corner, engineers focus on traction and straight-line speed.

The track surface is low-grip, low-wear, and gradually gets faster as the weekend progresses. Even though the asphalt is relatively new, the track is quite bumpy in places, making it difficult to find consistent grip. Pirelli has designated C3 as white hard, C4 as yellow medium, and C5 as red soft.

The Red Bull Ring is also famous for its aggressive curbs and is considered one of the toughest tests for suspension. In particular, the curbs at the exits of Turn 1, Turn 6, and Turn 7 are extremely taxing on the cars due to the height of the curbs and the speed at which the cars are traveling.

Another issue to watch out for in the Austrian round is the weather. Due to the high elevation of the Red Bull Ring (approximately 2,100 feet), temperatures can be a bit cooler. Also, due to its mountainous location, the weather can be a bit unstable. The current forecast calls for mild conditions for Sunday's final, with a chance of rain.

This season's Austrian round will feature a sprint race in qualifying, a concept introduced last season and applied at the Emilia Romagna GP in April of this season. Unlike last year, the winner of the sprint race will receive 8 points instead of 5.

Qualifying for the sprint race will consist of one practice session on Friday, followed by traditional time-based qualifying to determine the starting grid for Saturday's 62-mile sprint race. The results of the sprint race will determine the starting grid for Sunday's final race.

Ahead of Saturday's qualifying race and Sunday's race, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen leads the 2022 drivers' championship with 181 points. Sergio Perez, also of Red Bull, is second with 147 points, followed by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in third with 138 points. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull leads with 328 points, followed by Ferrari with 265 points and Mercedes-Benz AMG with 204 points. Last year's Austrian GP winner was Red Bull's Verstappen.