Feature Race 40 lapsSprint Race 28 lapsPirelli compounds: Medium // Soft
The action resumes this weekend for the GP2 Series field. The fourth round of the 2014 season will take place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. It is a new venue for the organisers and the teams which should make this week’s results even harder to predict.
Last round in Monte Carlo, it was all yellow with both DAMS cars snatching pole position, reverse pole and the two wins. Series leader Jolyon Palmer has extended his already impressive lead to 46 points on Felipe Nasr. The Briton is the only driver this season to have scored points in every single race leaving only crumbs to his rivals. Nasr on the other hand has managed to recover superbly from a bad qualifying to take third in the feature race and salvage what could have been a disastrous weekend for the title contender.
And now comes Spielberg and its challenges: although the drivers and the teams have had four weeks to prepare for this event, working on simulators and trying to find the perfect setup, only the reality of the track will reveal if they’ve made the right decisions. Pirelli have selected the Medium tyres for the primes and the soft tyres for the options.
WARM UPRene Binder // Arden International“I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Austria was on the GP2 calendar this season. It will be my home race and I’m really looking forward to driving here this weekend. I’ve only raced once at the Red Bull Ring before, but it’s not a very difficult track to learn: it is quite short, but there are a few technical corners. There are three fast corners and then some slower ones. The asphalt is smooth so this will most likely help with tyre management.
“Regarding overtaking opportunities, I’m sure we will see a few. The main straight is not very long, but following turns 1 and 2, there is a much longer straight. It will be the perfect place to try a manoeuvre there. I’m sure we’ll see two very interesting races this weekend!”
THE TIMETABLEFriday 20th JuneFree Practice 12.00 - 12.45Qualifying 15.55 – 16.25Saturday 21st JuneFeature Race start 15.40Sunday22nd JuneSprint Race start 10.35
