TV channels, how to stream, weekend schedule, news, best bets, weather and more

The 2023 F1 season resumes this weekend at the home track of the team that has topped the series for the past two-plus seasons. The Austrian Grand Prix emanates from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria and will feature the second sprint weekend of the season.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen enters in imperious form, having won the past four races on the trot and sporting a massive 69-point lead in the world drivers’ standings over teammate Sergio Perez. That’s nearly a full three-race lead. Verstappen has won four times in 10 starts at the Red Bull Ring.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Austrian Grand Prix weekend:

Austrian Grand Prix TV/streaming schedule

All times Eastern

Friday
7:25 – 8:30 a.m.: Free practice 1 (ESPN2, ESPN+)
10:55 – 11 a.m.: Qualifying (ESPN2, ESPN+)

Saturday
6:25 – 7:30 a.m.: Sprint shootout (ESPN2, ESPN+)
10:25 – 11:30 a.m.: Sprint (ESPN, ESPN+)

Sunday
7:30 – 8:55 a.m.: Pre-race show (ESPN)
8:55 – 11 a.m.: Austrian Grand Prix (ESPN, ESPN+)

Austrian Grand Prix details

Track: Red Bull Ring (Spielberg, Austria), 2.683-mile, 10-turn permanent racing facility
Race length: 71 laps for 190 miles
Lap record: 1:05.619 (Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 2020)
Tire compounds: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft)
Last year’s winner: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Sprint weekend format returns

In 2021, F1 introduced the Sprint weekend format, which moved traditional qualifying to Friday and put in its place a shortened race that would award minimal points and set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. A few nominal tweaks later, we have our current format for the 2023 season, which effectively makes Saturday more like an exhibition.

The new format ditches the lame-duck Saturday morning practice session in favor of a quicker version of the traditional three-stage knockout qualifying format to set the grid for the sprint race later in the day. The top eight finishers of the sprint will be awarded points in descending order (eight for P1, seven for P2, six for P3, etc.).

McLaren, Ferrari, Aston Martin bringing upgrades

After being overtaken for second place in the world constructors’ standings by Mercedes at the Canadian Grand Prix, Aston Martin is bringing an upgrade package they hope will enable them to “attack” the Silver Arrows. Fourth-place Ferrari will debut new front-wing elements, a new floor and a new rear wing it hopes will make its race performance more predictable. McLaren, mired in sixth in the constructors’ standings, will begin a series of significant changes to the car beginning in Austria.

“I look forward to anything that’s new,” McLaren driver Lando Norris told Australia’s Speedcafe.

Norris currently sits in 11th in the drivers’ standings after a sixth-place showing in 2022.

Top drivers and best bets for the Austrian Grand Prix

Barring an unforeseen catastrophe, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be the favorite entering every race weekend for the rest of the season as he charges toward his inevitable third-straight world drivers’ championship. He’s -275 to win in Austria at his team’s home track according to BetMGM and the next-best moneyline is Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at +700.

Best odds to win
• Max Verstappen -275
• Fernando Alonso +700
• Lewis Hamilton +800
• Sergio Perez +900

Yahoo Sports’ Nick Bromberg wrote earlier in the week on some props worthy of consideration, including Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to finish on the podium (-225). He also likes Fernando Alonso to finish on the podium in the sprint (-110), pointing to the strength of the car two weeks ago in Montreal.

Austrian Grand Prix entry list

Max Verstappen (1), Red Bull-Honda RBPT
Sergio Perez (11), Red Bull-Honda RBPT
Charles Leclerc (16), Ferrari
Carlos Sainz (55), Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton (44), Mercedes
George Russell (63), Mercedes
Pierre Gasly (10), Alpine-Renault
Esteban Ocon (31), Alpine-Renault
Lando Norris (4), McLaren-Mercedes
Oscar Piastri (81), McLaren-Mercedes
Zhou Guanyu (24), Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
Valtteri Bottas (77), Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
Fernando Alonso (14), Aston Martin-Mercedes
Lance Stroll (18), Aston Martin-Mercedes
Kevin Magnussen (20), Haas-Ferrari
Nico Hulkenberg, (27), Haas-Ferrari
Nyck De Vries (21), AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
Yuki Tsunoda (22), AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
Logan Sargeant (2), Williams-Mercedes
Alexander Albon (23), Williams-Mercedes

Weather for the Austrian Grand Prix

Thunderstorms are expected to impact Friday afternoon’s qualifying session as well as the sprint shootout qualifying session Saturday morning before conditions potentially improve. Race day is only forecast to have a 20% chance of rain, which means even if the grid is mixed up by variable conditions Friday, the stronger cars like Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes should be able to carve their way up the field by the end of the grand prix.