The Formula 1 circus is ready for the second back-to-back race on the calendar: after just 7 days, another Grand Prix is going to happen, this time in Spielberg, Austria, at the Red Bull Ring. 

As the name suggest, the track is property of the F1 team, and was previously known as Österreichring or A1 Ring; it is one of the shortest on the calendar. It is 4.3 kms long, and it took just 1.03.103s to clock the fastest time last year. 

This season Pirelli, the italian tyres manufacturer, has selected for the Austrian track the C2 as the white hard tyre, C3 as the yellow medium, and C4 as the red soft choice.

Traffic can be an important issue on this track, which is fast in the first two sectors and more technical in the last one. Last year Max Verstappen won his team home GP with a one pit- stop strategy, followed by Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. 

“Like last year, we have exactly the same nomination for Austria as we had for France, with the races again separated by only one week, at the same time of year." Said Mario Isola, Pirelli's Head of Car Racing. "The difference is that the 2019 compounds are more evenly spaced, which should encourage more varied pit stop strategies and better racing. Austria is an unusual track, with lots of blind corners and unpredictable elements such as weather and traffic. This means that plenty of confidence, as well as exactly the right set-up, is needed to get the best out of the tyres on this short track and maximise all the different opportunities that present themselves; also in terms of strategy. Spielberg is a circuit where we have always had some blisters in the past; we are confident that we will see a difference this weekend with the 2019-specification tyre”.

Right after the Grand Prix, a private test will take place, with Alfa Romeo running one car to test prototype 2020 Formula 1 slick tyres on Tuesday and Wednesday after the race.

The six drivers from the three top teams have all made different tyre choices from each other: a relatively unusual occurrence, which could lead to some interesting battles and tactics. Here are all the sets selected per driver.