The Best Drivers to Watch

The Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix is coming up this Sunday (July 10) at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. The lights go out 9 a.m. (EDT), at which point 20 drivers will hurtle into the circuit’s hard right-hand bender of a first turn, then roar up a steep hill that sets up the rest of the track (and peaks with an even harder right-hand turn at the top).

Austria is a high-speed circuit with three long straights that enable drivers to turn on their high-speed drag reduction systems for passing. The three DRS zones should make for a lot of good racing on a track with plenty of overtaking opportunities. The race is 71 laps, and in dry conditions, a fast lap takes just a little more than a minute.

The racing this weekend is not limited to Sunday, either. F1 is eschewing its standard time trial qualifying session this week for a sprint qualifying race, a format it debuted in 2021. In a sprint, the drivers race each other flat-out for 100 kilometers (which works out to 24 laps in Austria), and the top eight finishers don’t just get the best starting positions for Sunday—they also get points that go toward the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. (There’s a standard qualifying run on Friday that sets the start order for the Saturday sprint, which in turn determines the order for Sunday’s grand prix.)

The sprint is at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday, if you want to get two racing mornings out of your weekend. Below are seven drivers worth paying particular attention to as you watch the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix.

The 7 Best Drivers to Watch at the Austrian Grand Prix 2022

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