F1 – Austrian Grand Prix race: Live build-up ahead of race as Max Verstappen kills off Mercedes hopes by committing future to Red Bull… and Lando Norris looks to bag second win of his career

That’s right, get out your tissues. We could be seeing the last of Ricciardo in F1 in the coming weeks.

The amiable Australian could well be replaced by emerging talent Liam Lawson after Red Bull boss Helmut Marko admitted the seat should go to a junior driver soon.

Verstappen, 34 years old, is not a young man. Given that Perez has signed an extension through 2026 with Red Bull, he will have to head elsewhere or risk leaving the sport entirely.

Yesterday our 20 intrepid sprinters participated in a speed race.

Don’t call it boring just because Verstappen won, because it was the opposite.

Norris had a chance to win when he swooped past Verstappen at Turn Four, but quickly lost the lead as teammate Piastri quickly overtook him, and it was Piastri who finished second ahead of the Briton.

Perez will be disappointed to be relegated to eighth place while Alonso was off the pace, finishing 14th and scoring no points.

This is how we align today.

A solid opportunity for the British, with Norris second, Russell third and Hamilton fifth. Expect plenty of overtaking opportunities on one of the shortest courses on the calendar this afternoon.

Mercedes has improved its performance lately. Could we see Norris or Russell try to take the top spot? It will take a smart strategy to overtake Red Bull: Verstappen qualified almost half a second faster than Norris.

The big news coming out of this race weekend is that Max Verstappen will not be joining Mercedes next season.

The Silver Arrows were hoping to capitalise on the turmoil caused by the Christian Horner scandal, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff open about his affection for the three-time world champion.

But Verstappen has poured cold water on those ambitions and given Red Bull a huge boost ahead of this race.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog of the Austrian F1 GP.

Tens of thousands of Dutch fans have flocked to Spielberg for Red Bull’s home race, as Max Vertsappen seeks his third consecutive victory.

Meanwhile, Lando Norris will start second as he looks to build on his excellent recent form and claim a second career win.