Qualifying yesterday certainly mixed up some of the field with a Ferrari starting out of place and red bulls towards the back of the grid. This will, hopefully, promote lots of overtaking during the race all up the field.
Now, there is A LOT of grid penalties with both McLaren and Red Bull taking hefty engine change penalties. So let's get the grid in the right order first:
Austrian GP Grid
1 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4 Felipe Massa - Williams
5 Nico Hulkenberg - Force India
6 Valtteri Bottas - Williams
7 Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso
8 Felipe Nasr - Sauber
9 Romain Grosjean - Lotus
10 Pastor Maldonado - Lotus
11 Marcus Ericsson - Sauber
12 Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso
13 Sergio Perez - Force India
14 Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
15 Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull *
16 Roberto Merhi - Manor
17 Will Stevens - Manor
18 Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull *
19 Fernando Alonso - McLaren **
20 Jenson Button - McLaren ***
* 10-place engine change penalty Source: planetf1.com
** 20-place engine change and 5-place gearbox penalty
*** 25-place engine change penalty
Mercedes:
Despite both drivers spinning off track in the last minute of qualifying, they still locked out the front row. In the race I don't think we will see the threat from Ferrari that has been hyped recently; Mercedes looked to have stretched the gap between them and Ferrari as seen in qualifying. I think we will see Mercedes stretching the gap to the field in the first half of the race, then a battle (hopefully!) towards the end. Hamilton looks to be not 100% comfortable with the car compared to Rosberg. Let them battle i say!
Ferrari:
With Vettel qualifying in 3rd they are the biggest threat to Mercedes. If Vettel gets a good start, he could split the Mercedes drivers and possibly challenge for the lead. That's if they have the race pace though. On the other hand, Raikkonen starts from 14th on the grid as he was knocked out of Q1 due to miscalculations in the Ferrari garage. We will certainly see Raikkonen pushing hard and overtaking a lot throughout the race.
Williams:
Williams didn't show the true pace in qualifying we thought they had, but their race pace could be better. Massa (starting from 4th) could challenge Vettel during the race for the final podium spot. Valtteri Bottas will be aiming to get past the Force India of Nico Hulkenburg as quickly as possible to gather a few more points for the team.
Force India:
Force India have had a very positive qualifying result with Hulkenburg up in 5th place (the team's best qualifying position this year) and 13th for Perez, which is still good considering the team's grid positions in previous races. Hulkenburg expects to defend a lot as he still has a slower car race pace wise than some of the cars behind him.
Toro Rosso:
Sainz set up his car for a wet race so is hoping for rain but it doesn't look like he will get his way. Max Verstappen qualified in 7th place. He will look to pass Nico Hulkenburg and possibly challenge Bottas. Both Toro Rosso cars have shown great pace this weekend.
Sauber:
Nasr has given Sauber a great 8th place but i think he will have a defensive race, like Hulkenburg, as he has the faster cars ahead of him so won't be able to challenge them. Ericsson qualified in 11th place and has the 2 lotus' ahead of him; he'll surely put up a fight with them and maybe get ahead of them both!
Lotus:
Both Lotus drivers are alongside each other in 10th and 11th place. They are in a Sauber sandwich and will obviously dispatch them as soon as possible. In the later stages of the race, they may be defending against Raikkonen.
Red Bull:
With both drivers changing engine, they take a 10 place grid penalty each, placing them near the back of the grid in their home race. With a good race i expect them to be in 8th and 9th place if they can get through the slower cars in front asap! Kvyat has it easier than Ricciardo as he isn't the one starting behind the two Manor cars. However, this shouldn't pose much of a challenge for Daniel Ricciardo.
Manor:
The cars, who usually start at the back of the grid, are in 16th and 17th. They'll look to capatalise on this but i don't think they will be able to hold on to 16th and 17th for long as they have faster cars behind them. I expect them to finish last.
McLaren:
Stacking up a total of 50 places of grid penalties and two 10-stop-and-go penalties it's hard to imagine either driver finishing further up the grid than ahead of the Manors. It's been an unfortunate weekend for the team but they will gather a lot of information during the race!
Now, there is A LOT of grid penalties with both McLaren and Red Bull taking hefty engine change penalties. So let's get the grid in the right order first:
Austrian GP Grid
1 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4 Felipe Massa - Williams
5 Nico Hulkenberg - Force India
6 Valtteri Bottas - Williams
7 Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso
8 Felipe Nasr - Sauber
9 Romain Grosjean - Lotus
10 Pastor Maldonado - Lotus
11 Marcus Ericsson - Sauber
12 Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso
13 Sergio Perez - Force India
14 Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
15 Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull *
16 Roberto Merhi - Manor
17 Will Stevens - Manor
18 Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull *
19 Fernando Alonso - McLaren **
20 Jenson Button - McLaren ***
* 10-place engine change penalty Source: planetf1.com
** 20-place engine change and 5-place gearbox penalty
*** 25-place engine change penalty
Mercedes:
Despite both drivers spinning off track in the last minute of qualifying, they still locked out the front row. In the race I don't think we will see the threat from Ferrari that has been hyped recently; Mercedes looked to have stretched the gap between them and Ferrari as seen in qualifying. I think we will see Mercedes stretching the gap to the field in the first half of the race, then a battle (hopefully!) towards the end. Hamilton looks to be not 100% comfortable with the car compared to Rosberg. Let them battle i say!
Ferrari:
With Vettel qualifying in 3rd they are the biggest threat to Mercedes. If Vettel gets a good start, he could split the Mercedes drivers and possibly challenge for the lead. That's if they have the race pace though. On the other hand, Raikkonen starts from 14th on the grid as he was knocked out of Q1 due to miscalculations in the Ferrari garage. We will certainly see Raikkonen pushing hard and overtaking a lot throughout the race.
Williams:
Williams didn't show the true pace in qualifying we thought they had, but their race pace could be better. Massa (starting from 4th) could challenge Vettel during the race for the final podium spot. Valtteri Bottas will be aiming to get past the Force India of Nico Hulkenburg as quickly as possible to gather a few more points for the team.
Force India:
Force India have had a very positive qualifying result with Hulkenburg up in 5th place (the team's best qualifying position this year) and 13th for Perez, which is still good considering the team's grid positions in previous races. Hulkenburg expects to defend a lot as he still has a slower car race pace wise than some of the cars behind him.
Toro Rosso:
Sainz set up his car for a wet race so is hoping for rain but it doesn't look like he will get his way. Max Verstappen qualified in 7th place. He will look to pass Nico Hulkenburg and possibly challenge Bottas. Both Toro Rosso cars have shown great pace this weekend.
Sauber:
Nasr has given Sauber a great 8th place but i think he will have a defensive race, like Hulkenburg, as he has the faster cars ahead of him so won't be able to challenge them. Ericsson qualified in 11th place and has the 2 lotus' ahead of him; he'll surely put up a fight with them and maybe get ahead of them both!
Lotus:
Both Lotus drivers are alongside each other in 10th and 11th place. They are in a Sauber sandwich and will obviously dispatch them as soon as possible. In the later stages of the race, they may be defending against Raikkonen.
Red Bull:
With both drivers changing engine, they take a 10 place grid penalty each, placing them near the back of the grid in their home race. With a good race i expect them to be in 8th and 9th place if they can get through the slower cars in front asap! Kvyat has it easier than Ricciardo as he isn't the one starting behind the two Manor cars. However, this shouldn't pose much of a challenge for Daniel Ricciardo.
Manor:
The cars, who usually start at the back of the grid, are in 16th and 17th. They'll look to capatalise on this but i don't think they will be able to hold on to 16th and 17th for long as they have faster cars behind them. I expect them to finish last.
McLaren:
Stacking up a total of 50 places of grid penalties and two 10-stop-and-go penalties it's hard to imagine either driver finishing further up the grid than ahead of the Manors. It's been an unfortunate weekend for the team but they will gather a lot of information during the race!