Preview - Austrian Grand Prix 2003.

This weekend sees what could be the last Grand Prix in Austria, as F1 heads to its sixth race of the year, the Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring.

Austrian au revoir?
This could be the last Grand Prix at the A1 Ring before the Austrian Grand Prix goes up in smoke and disappears from the F1 calendar, so what's in store this weekend in the sixth Grand Prix of 2003?

This weekend sees what could be the last Grand Prix in Austria, as F1 heads to its sixth race of the year, the Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring.

Austrian au revoir?
This could be the last Grand Prix at the A1 Ring before the Austrian Grand Prix goes up in smoke and disappears from the F1 calendar, so what's in store this weekend in the sixth Grand Prix of 2003?

Last year in Austria Ferrari upset many with Rubens Barrichello being issued with team orders to yield to Michael Schumacher and gift the German the race win. The move was met by boos from the crowds and displeasure from the media and rule makers alike. The other drama last year in Austria was Takuma Sato having been torpedoed by an errant Nick Heidfeld after a safety car period.

It's more than a third of the way through the season and Michael Schumacher isn't leading the championship - that's pretty big news when you look at what happened last year, but judging by the form the Ferrari F2003-GA showed in Spain, it won't be long before Herr Schumacher is leading the championship once more.

Team Talk
Minardi are currently the only pointless squad this season with neither Jos Verstappen or Justin Wilson having graced the points yet. At the other end of the field, McLaren sit precariously atop the constructors' points pile, but the battle between Ferrari F2003-GA and McLaren MP4-17 is likely to go the way of the Ferrari squad if performances in Spain are to be taken as a guide; expect the Italian company to leave Austria with a points lead.

Williams have only notched up one podium in 2003, and that can't be good news for Frank or the boys. Juan Pablo Montoya has not threatened the pole position that he so often had in 2002 either, so it hasn't been a great start to the year for the BMW powered machines. Renault impressed in Spain, but the Austrian circuit is unlikely to play to their car's characteristics.

Ferrari
An almost perfect debut for the new car with Schumacher winning and Barrichello coming home in third means everything looks good for the Maranello concern. Reliability was not an issue but pace from the car wasn't quite as much as some expected.

Last year Rubens was on pole and set for the race victory before the team orders come along so this year could be Rubens' chance to redress the result of last year.
McLaren-Mercedes
Still running with last year's car and Adrian Newey is still claiming that the dog has eaten the plans to the 2003 challenger, McLaren head to Austria on top of a not very good race weekend in Spain. Between them Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard managed a mere seventeen race laps in Spain, all of which completed by the Scot.

Expect a slightly subdued Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying, the young Finn will not want to be starting from the back again, that's for sure.

BMW WilliamsF1
Still waiting for a good result in 2003, WilliamsF1 has recently strengthened its engineering division with the return of the well-respected Frank Dernie to the staff. There are mutterings of displeasure allegedly coming from the BMW ranks over this year's car, but Austria is a circuit where the BMW power could well come into play.

Mario Theissen, BMW's Motorsport Director, explains how the BMW push will come in useful for Ralf and Juan. ''For the three straights that allow passing opportunities, we'll be relying on the power of the engine," he explains. "The A1-Ring isn't a high-speed circuit as such, but with engines under full load for 70 per cent of the lap, it has one of the highest ratings of all GP circuits. BMW has always had a special affection for the Austrian GP, not least because of its proximity to Munich. We hope we will be able to say farewell to the circuit with a worthy race result.''
Renault F1
As stunning a performance as produced in Spain is not expected by the French concern in Austria. The A1 Ring is a circuit that favours power and that is an area that that Renault acknowledges that they lack relative to their rivals. It could be a difficult weekend for the sweet handling Renault cars, and it is unlikely that Fernando Alonso will revisit the podium this time round.

Alonso doesn't reckon the circuit presents much of a challenge however. ''In my view, this is the most straightforward F1 circuit there is,'' the Spaniard insists, ''There are only six bends and it is very short compared to the others. I like the circuit, but I wouldn't say that it is my absolute favourite. On this track, the driver's skills are not as essential as they are at Suzuka, for example., but Zeltweg suits my driving style okay, even if the contribution I have to make here is less challenging than usual.''

There are good memories for team-mate Jarno Trulli at the circuit, the Italian having led here in his first year in F1 driving for Prost, but Jarno thus far this year has certainly been overshadowed by the speedy Spaniard in the other Renault.

Sauber-Petronas
What can you say about Sauber? The Swiss team will put on a solid performance in Austria, just as they did in Spain and just as they will undoubtedly do in every other race this year. Frentzen and Heidfeld are both well-rounded drivers, and the car is pretty reliable. You can't help wondering if the car should be quicker than it is, using world championship winning Ferrari cast-offs as it does, but Sauber will be a solid midfield runner once more.

Toyota
Olivier Panis looked strong in Spain, and has done all year, but once more reliability let him down. ''So far I have finished only one race this year [Imola], which is incredibly frustrating, especially as the car doesn't seem to miss a beat in testing. But, to be honest, all you can do as the driver in these situations is look ahead to the next race and hope that your luck changes soon," says the well respected Frenchman.

Austria could well be a good track to highlight the Toyota grunt and both Panis and da Matta are doing sound jobs so the Toyota concern could end up in the top six come the chequered flag, as long as there's no more reliability gremlins.
B.A.R-Honda
All has simmered on the Villeneuve-Button spat of late, mores the pity. Villeneuve has suffered three DNF so far this year and that is hardly making the French-Canadian a happy man; it's not good for his season, and it's not good for his career prospects. Jenson Button has fared better with reliability, but his best race result this year is seventh in Malaysia.

This year Honda decided to focus their efforts behind BAR and so far the evidence of any great improvements relative to when they also powered Jordan have not really been evident. Jordan won in Brazil, so the pressure must be on BAR to perform better. Neither BAR finished the race last time out in Austria, they're sure to be hoping for better things this time round...

Jordan Ford
Last year saw a fine fifth for Fisichella at Austria, this year, despite the lucked race win in Brazil, the Jordan-Ford doesn't look especially good. Fisichella's finishing record other than the win is a 12th in Australia and a 15th at San Marino - not championship challenging.

Ralph Firman had a point in Spain and the Brit will want to carry on in that vein in Austria.
Jaguar-Cosworth
The Jaguar concern scored its first points of the season in Spain at the hands of Mark Webber. Despite showing speed the green cars are displaying not the best reliability, but this the team are working on. Antonio Pizzonia seems in place for the moment after the rumours about a possible replacement by McLaren's Alex Wurz fizzled out.

The impressive Mark Webber is at the squad until end of 2005, or until at least until he has a couple of bad races and the revolving door driver policy kicks back into play. Webber once more should be one to watch in Austria.

Minardi-Cosworth
Justin Wilson is still looking good in the Minardi, and the Brit outqualified Jos Verstappen in Spain, and also finished ahead of him on the track. In his 2001 race season Wilson won the F3000 race in Austria so a good performance could come this time around. Jos Verstappen has also starred at the circuit in the past, back in 2001 driving for Arrows (remember them?) the Dutchman ran as high as second during the race.
Mating time
Team-mate battle-wise all is quiet. Cristiano da Matta holds the dubious honour of being the only driver not to have out-qualified his team-mate, and at the other end of the spectrum, Fernando Alonso has been the most impressive qualifier; Jarno Trulli is supposed to be an acknowledged one lap wonder worker, yet Alonso has outqualified the Italian four to one so far this year.

Rookie round-up
Antonio Pizzonia has been under fire of late, and seemingly with good reason if you look at the stark results presented from his first five Grand Prix. Ralph Firman was the other rookie beginning to come under fire, but a solid run in Spain went some way to allay the rumours of his position, but that said a good run in Austria would be well welcomed for his career prospects.

Cristiano da Matta is working out a solid position for himself over at Toyota and scored points in Spain which adds up with some good performances so far this year relative to the experienced measure that Oliver Panis provides. But still the rookie star is Justin Wilson, whose early lap wonders in the Minardi are becoming something of a regular occurrence. Pretty special when you consider that Minardi apparently don't have traction control...
Tyred out?
Currently Bridgestone heads the tyre battle with three wins to Michelin's two, and Bridgestone proved dominant last time out in Austria. ''As far as tyres are concerned, we don't know the A1-Ring terribly well,'' says Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier, giving the Michelin teams cause for concern ahead of the race. ''It is one of the circuits at which we don't test between races," he continues. "Recent investigations show that the nature of the surface has evolved considerably since last season and that might have a significant influence on performance."

Over at Bridgestone the Japanese concern is eager to retain its win advantage. Hisao Suganuma from the company explains what is needed for the A1 Ring. ''Although very much a stop-go circuit because of the number of tight corners, the A1 Ring also means higher average speeds so we will be chasing not only good grip but also good heat durability," he says. "Understeer can be an issue in Austria and teams will need to take care choosing the best tyre and car set-up combination."
Track time
The 4.3 km circuit makes for the fastest laps of the season and power, traction and braking are the crucial areas for a good car at the track. The circuit is basically a mix of long straights and slow corners and is not especially loved by the drivers.

The high altitude of the circuit means that the engines will be reaching for their inhalers; it's the same story from everyone, but some, like Renault, have less power to concede than others.
Weather
According to Crash.Net's resident forecaster, initial predictions suggest an unsettled weekend weatherwise, as a weather front across Austria on Wednesday will bring outbreaks of heavy rain and showers to the area before clearing away to drier weather on both Thursday and Friday as the temperatures start to rise. Saturday should also see dry weather, with sunny intervals, before showers once again pack into the area ready for race day.

Predictions
A strong Rubens Barrichello in what will be a Ferrari walkover.

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