Hami out to scale Styrian Alps

Spielberg ( Austria), June 28: Championship leader Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team will be hoping for more of the same at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.

After dominating last Sunday’s French Grand Prix to claim his 65th career victory, the four- time champion arrives in the Styrian Alps with a 14- point lead in this year’s title chase and a sense of reinvigoration thanks to his updated engine.

On another picturesque circuit with traffic access problems this weekend, where power will again be a major factor, Hamilton and his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas will start as favourites for Sunday’s race, albeit reluctantly.

After a disappointing performance on one of Hamilton’s favourite circuits, at Montreal in Canada, their French triumph came on a day when chief rival and fellow- fourtime champion Sebastian Vettel experienced another of his periodic days to forget.

While Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull ponder their prospects of big points hauls in Austria, it is a very different story for one- time great teams McLaren and Williams.

The two British outfits, once rivals for the championships in the heyday of such stars as Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, are now besieged by crisis stories.

RICCIARDO TO SIGN NEW

DEAL WITH RED BULL In demand Daniel Ricciardo is close to signing a new two- year contract with Red Bull and commit to continuing his partnership with Max Verstappen in a new Honda- powered era for the team.