F1 Austrian Grand Prix qualifying betting preview, free tip & TV details

Free F1 tips, best bets and analysis for the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Lewis Hamilton fastest qualifier
2pts 10-11 general

Preview

In a world in which not much feels familiar recently Mercedes did their bit for restoring normality by ­dominating the opening day of practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The team who are bidding for a record seventh consecutive constructors championship made an almost perfect start to the new season.

Reigning drivers champion Lewis Hamilton topped both sessions with his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas second and a healthy cushion back to the chasing pack.

A gearbox issue confined Bottas to the garage for the final ten minutes of the day but the message had been sent that the German machines are the cars to catch once again.

While Mercedes will have been happy with their day Racing Point will be over the moon with their performance.

Pre-season testing suggested the pink cars, whose design is based on last year’s Mercedes, would be quick. And Friday’s action bore that out as Sergio Perez ended the day third.

Ferrari had anticipated a difficult weekend and although Sebastian Vettel managed the fourth-fastest time, six-tenths of a second is a yawning gap to Hamilton on the shortest circuit of the year in terms of laptime.

Both Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon, suffered spins at the circuit where Verstappen has won for the last two seasons. There could well be more to come from the home team at the Red Bull Ring.

But Mercedes look to have a significant advantage and the 10-11 on offer for Hamilton to claim pole position makes plenty of appeal.

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