Lewis Hamilton scoring his first win with Ferrari was a huge deal for all parties involved: Hamilton, Ferrari and also Formula 1 as a sport. But as good as that moment was, it is now in the past, and it is time to focus on the eighth round of the championship.
The circus is now descending on Austria, where we’ll really get to see if there’s a chink in Mercedes’ armor that will have major consequences in the championship battle, or if Canada and Spain’s failures were pure bad luck. Similarly, do Ferrari and Hamilton really have the package to put pressure on the front of the field and compete for victory, or was their victory two weeks ago entirely a result of that?
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli leads the seven-time world champion by 41 points, while George Russell is nine points behind his former teammate. Mercedes still has a driver favorite to win this weekend, while the odds are leaning in Antonelli’s favour, but it would be foolish to rule Russell out. Furthermore, Ferrari’s results at Red Bull tracks have not been the best, with its last win coming in 2022, when Leclerc takes over. Before that, it was 2002, although this was mainly due to the track’s absence from the F1 calendar.
In the last two to three races, we have seen improvement in Red Bull’s performance as well, and not just Max Verstappen. Likewise, the battle for 3rd to 10th place seems to be bringing the most action recently, with multiple drivers and teams competing for the final step on the podium and solid championship points. As things stand, we could see anyone from McLaren to Alpine take third, and then a combination of Racing Bulls, Haas and perhaps Audi intrude on those final points-paying positions.
Who has your money?
