Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Gabriel Bortoleto has been very impressive in qualifying this year, it's the races where he's been falling short. He will be looking to deliver on that eighth place on the grid but I don't know if it will be that easy for him.

Andrew Priestley: A nice mix of McLaren and Ferrari at the sharp end of the grid. Lawson will also feel rightfully nervous starting between the feisty pair of Russell and Verstappen.

Nulla Pax: If Lando gets a clean start, I expect him to make this a dull day at the front. Plenty to watch further back though

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Air temperature is 29.3C and the track is 49.9C. Light wind from the east. Dry and fine.

Official risk of rain is 0%.

George Russell's win and Kimi Antonelli's podium in Canada helped Mercedes reclaim second place behind leaders McLaren, after they dropped below Ferrari following the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month. The gap between the two teams is 16 points, while McLaren are comfortably ahead of the Silver Arrows by 175 points.

Image source, Getty Images

There was no McLaren on the podium in Canada last time out but Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are still the top two drivers after 10 rounds of racing. Piastri is 22 points clear of Norris, who walked away from Montreal empty handed.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner spoke to BBC 5 Live's Rosanna Tennant: "Tyres are crucial and they're very sensitive to temperature and this is the hottest it has been all weekend.

"We know the McLarens are good in the heat, Ferrari can be good, so let's see.

"We were all right yesterday on the long runs so let's see what happens today."

On the discussions between Max Verstappen and Mercedes: "We know where we stand with Max, we've got a contract until 2028, everything else is just rumours and subjective.

"You've always got to perform in this business, that's normal and we want to make sure we're back close to the front as quickly as possible."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Pirelli 2025

The strategy models are predicting a two-stop to be the favoured strategy, using two sets of mediums and one of hard. But a one-stop does look possible, on the medium and hard tyres, and might be appealing, especially for the midfield runners.

The likelihood of a safety car is relatively high. Pit loss is 21 seconds under green-flag conditions, 11 under safety car. The DRS is very effective - the so-called ‘delta’, the advantage it gives the car behind, is 0.7 seconds. This effectively negates the loss caused by running in dirty air, so cars can run together for long periods.

In addition, the length of the straights in Austria, in combination with the DRS, are sufficient for cars to get in position to get alongside and try an overtake, but not quite long enough to complete it comfortably - which is how drivers get into the sort of situation in which Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collided when battling for the lead last year.

Max Verstappen on Sky Sports: "We just will do our race to see where we end up, I don't know how fast or slow we are. [On the weather] probably not ideal.

Image source, Getty Images

Lando Norris said a tussle between himself and Oscar Piastri was bound to happen at some point - and then it did, only a couple of days later in Montreal.

If Oscar Piastri can clear the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in P2 then a battle for the top spot is on. However, McLaren will not want to see a repeat of last year's Austrian Grand Prix.

George Russell was minding his own business 12 months ago when the race win fell into his cockpit, after Norris and Max Verstappen collided while they were fighting for the lead.

Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for causing the contact with Norris (who had to retire) as the pair complained about the other's driving over several laps of scrappy racing.

Ah lovely. A bit of choreography to go with the Austrian national anthem. The Vienna Girls' and Boys' Choirs are taking us through this one, with some lovely contemporary moves performed by the dancers. It's hot there and it's hot here. Almost time to go racing.

Image source, Getty Images

Gabriel Bortoleto was a new face in the pole shootout yesterday, the rookie claiming a spot in the top 10 for the first time in his career. The Sauber driver said claiming a starting position of eighth was special, as he has "always loved" the Red Bull Ring.

The 20-year-old Brazilian, who is looking to secure his first points, knows what it takes to succeed around the dinky circuit, as he's been a winner here during his Formula 2 days. "Making it to Q3 at this track is a very special thing for me," Bortoleto said.

Rosanna Tennant
5 Live F1 reporter at Red Bull Ring

It's roasting, it's nearly 30 degrees and track is 48 degrees. That is going to propose a few challenges to the drivers, but the atmosphere here is incredible.

It's a beautiful day and the fans have turned out in their thousands. There's a lot of orange, both papaya orange and orange supporting Max Verstappen.

Image source, Getty Images

Another driver with a heavy workload in Austria is Carlos Sainz, who suffered his third consecutive Q1 elimination. The Williams driver highlighted how damage to his floor and brake issues added to his qualifying woes, saying these two factors meant he couldn't fully push on a "high-confidence track" like the Red Bull Ring.

On what Sainz called a "very weird weekend, he'll line up at the back of the field in P19, with only the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg behind him. Team-mate Alex Albon is further up the order, but he just missed out on a Q3 appearance and will start in 12th after damaging the floor in Q1.

Image source, Getty Images

It was a positive Saturday for Ferrari as the upgraded floor put Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton second and fourth - the same positions as in Monaco - on today's grid.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton said it was a "fantastic" result for the Italian team, who have found it difficult this year to match their rivals' performances. Hamilton was also closer to Leclerc in this qualifying session, the gap between the pair just 0.09 seconds.

Leclerc, who was claimed all three of the Scuderia's podiums this season, said the entirely new floor "definitely" helped, but by how much, he added: "We need to see it in different characteristics of tracks."

Stephen Taylor: Hoping Lando can can put it together today. He could do with winning today and a Ferrari or two ahead of Piastri.

Image source, Getty Images

There was a beaming smile across Liam Lawson's face after Saturday's top 10 shootout, as Racing Bulls celebrated the New Zealander's best qualifying position of the season.

After his early drop from senior team Red Bull, Lawson is today starting one place higher than former team-mate Max Verstappen in sixth place. He said it was "really cool to have a good quali".

Can he pick some points to add to the four he claimed in Monaco? Lawson hopes so. But he also said Racing Bulls having good long run pace in practice doesn't always translate to race day when you're stuck in traffic and surrounded by a mix of strategies.

Image source, Getty Images

The Dutch fans who flock to the Red Bull Ring have been used to seeing Max Verstappen dominate at this circuit - he's won here five times in his career - but yesterday didn't go to plan, and now the defending world champion is in recovery mode from seventh on the grid.

While Pierre Gasly's moment in Q3 scuppered his final run, Verstappen said "there was not one single corner" where he felt Red Bull "had a nice balance". He added: "We were not McLaren level but we were still OK but in qualifying it just disappeared."

His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, had another rotten qualfying weekend. The Japanese driver, who was knocked out in Q1, agreed with Verstappen that the balance of his car "was completely off". It was Tsunoda's third straight elimination in Q1 and he starts his race in Spielberg down in P18.

Image source, Getty Images

The Austrian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar until 2041.

The Red Bull Ring already had a deal until 2030, but will now join Miami as a long-term race venue.

Austria has hosted an F1 race 37 times, the first in 1964.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

This is the sort of track where it's possible to overtake but it's not easy.

McLaren will not be giving team orders, they've made that very clear. They are free to fight all year unless one of them gets a massive advantage in the championship.

I suspect that Lando Norris is the favourite going into this race, Oscar Piastri will be keen to take him on though.

It's then a question of if Max Verstappen can come through and challenge them? He can never be ruled out.

Image source, Getty Images

Oscar Piastri acknowledged in his post-qualifying interview team-mate Lando Norris has been the man in form in Austria. But the championship leader also brought out some of the old fighting talk, stating: "I'm not planning on finishing third, that's for sure."

Piastri has been a regular on the podium this year - five wins and three third places - and he came away unscathed from his contact with Norris in Canada to scoop up 12 points to add to his leading tally.

With plenty of decent overtaking spots in Spielberg, Piastri added the pace of the McLaren has looked "very strong" so far this weekend, so what will be his strategy from lights out, with Charles Leclerc ahead of him?