Marko not worried about gap to McLaren? Why he should worry about everyone else too

Andrea Kimi Antonelli emerged as the quickest driver during the long runs averaging a 1:09.693, ahead of Oscar Piastri with a 1:09.702 and Max Verstappen averaging a 1:09.718. However, the rest are not far behind either. GPblog dives into the data.

Barring domination by one team, the Red Bull Ring has ever delivered exciting and proper racingm and this year could very well be the case as well.

Antonelli completed 15 laps in his race simulation and was able to maintain consistency in terms of speed and of course, the fact his loss of pace was gradual also shows that he was capable of managing the abrassive nature of the Red Bull Ring's tarmac.

Oscar Piastri completed his run with a tally of 10 measurable laps under his belt. Five less than Antonelli, but vastly more impressive. In his long run, Piastri's pace doesn't range further than by a 5 tenths margin, with his final four laps all within the 1:09.7's, shwoing metronome-like precision.

Lando Norris, should he not continue to throw away qualifying result after qualifying result is a definite candidate for the win. Completing one lap less than Antonelli during his race simulation he was able to average a 1:09.712, making him a sterling favorite to take the P1 trophy on Sunday.

Verstappen was able to clock in the second quickest time of all the long run simulations. Yet his laps ranged in a 1 second window from the 1:09.1's to the 1:10.2's. Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko stated he was not worried about the gap to McLaren, but he did say that the RB21's balance needed to improve and judging by Verstappen's times, he is right.

Lewis Hamilton and former teammate George Russell seem poised to deliver a strong Russell in Austria. Both British drivers were separated by less than a tenth from each other with the former world champion clocking in a 1:09.859, and the Mercedes driver averaging a 1:09.949.

However Russell put in the fastest lap of all the race simulations with a 1:09.117 and having completed 17 laps overall, it is safe to say that Mercedes could indeed be in contention. Hamilton completed only 9 laps on his run and despite going over into the 10:10's on three ocassions, he was able to maintain a level of consistency that does make on believe he could even be in contention for a top 5 result, or perhaps even a podium. 

The other Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, was the quickest of the three on average, with a 1:09.798. Should Ferrari be able to replicate this pace on Sunday, and provided that they finally overcome their qualifying woes, they could be the dark horse that 'prances' to victory on Sunday.