Sports Blog 06/07/2017: Formula One Preview – Austrian Grand Prix, Sunday 9th July 2017

Will Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel be able to put aside their Azerbaijani feud to fully focus on this Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix?

Up until last month’s race in Azerbaijan the 2017 Formula One season was progressing without too much drama, Hamilton and Vettel taking turns in 1st and 2nd place with the odd non-podium blip here and there. That all changed on lap 19 at the Baku City Circuit.

The incident happened just as the race was restarting from behind a safety car. Expecting Hamilton – who was in the lead – to pick up the pace Vettel accelerated going around turn 15, ploughing straight into the back of the Brit. The German driver was irate, pulling alongside Hamilton to make his feelings – that the Mercedes man had brake-tested him – clear.



Anger then got the better of Vettel who side-swiped his rival, a rash, dangerous move that, after an investigation, led to a 10 second stop-go penalty. Yet this wasn’t much use to Hamilton, who was forced to take an extra stop to secure a headrest that had come loose in the crash, eventually causing him to end up in 5th to Vettel’s 4th.

That’s the first time this season neither driver has finished on the podium. Instead the honour went to Daniel Ricciardo, winning after a trio of 3rd place races in Spain, Monaco and Canada, Valtteri Bottas, who was previously victorious in Russia, and 18 year old Lance Stroll, completing just his 4th Grand Prix of the year.

The battle of Baku didn’t really disrupt the Championship standing, however. Vettel is still in front, on 153 points to Hamilton’s 139, but the latter remains atop Spreadex’s season-long Outright Index at 47-50 to the German’s 45-48.

The Brit is also odds on favourite to be spraying the champagne on Sunday at 5/6, with a sizeable gap between his 56-60 Race Index spread and Vettel’s 49-53. That’s perhaps because Hamilton won at the Red Bull Ring last season – breaking Nico Rosberg’s grip on the track – whereas Vettel was forced to retire.

Beyond the frontrunners, Bottas, who is currently in 3rd on the Championship table, has a Race Index spread of 43-47, while Azerbaijan victor Ricciardo is only at 29-32, bested by Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen at 32-35 and 30-33 respectively.