F1 NATION: Red Bull at home, rivals on the move and building the ‘ultimate champion’ – it’s our Austrian GP preview

Formula 1 heads back to Europe as Austria and the Red Bull Ring host the ninth race weekend of the season, with Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari all looking to take the fight to Red Bull. As the track action approaches, the F1 Nation gang assemble to ponder the key talking points...

Red Bull arrive on home soil in a celebratory mood, having taken their 100th Grand Prix win last time out, with Max Verstappen controlling the action once more to put the team in an exclusive constructors’ club.

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But the updated Aston Martin and Mercedes machines were closer to the front at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, while Ferrari bounced back from a tricky qualifying session to show promising race-day pace – so could one of this trio challenge for victory in the Spielberg hills?

Tom Clarkson is joined by 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill to reflect on the last few races, which have also seen Verstappen’s advantage over Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez grow to 69 points, and discuss what’s in store during the second Sprint weekend of the season.

And, after that “iconic” podium in Canada, where Verstappen was joined by Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, Clarkson and Hill discuss which traits they would take from each driver to build the ultimate champion – inspired by the driver rating categories of the EA SPORTS F1 23 video game.

There is also time for McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella to drop by and talk about the squad’s upgrades for the next few rounds, while your latest batch of questions are answered in Ask The Nation.

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Tune into the Austrian Grand Prix preview episode of F1 Nation by hitting go on the audio player above – or by clicking here to listen via your preferred podcasting provider.

Want to get your question answered by the F1 Nation crew on a future episode? Simply record it as a voice note and email it to F1Nation@F1.com.