Although the weather was hot and sunny on race day morning, clouds and thunderstorms are expected to bubble up ahead of the start of the Austrian Grand Prix. There is an 80 per cent chance of rain during the race, which would throw all strategy planning out the window, but if it's dry the following strategies are expected to be the quickest.
Small performance gaps between the compounds means the soft tyre (the hardest of the three on offer) has come into play this weekend and is the safest option for the long second stint. The soft is also a high-working range tyre, so if the weather remains hot and sunny it is likely to be easier to keep that compound in the right operating window than the super-soft and ultra-soft, which may be prone to overheating.
The performance difference between ultra-soft and super-soft on low fuel was as little as 0.3s, so those starting the race on the super-soft (including Lewis Hamilton in eighth) should not have a huge performance disadvantage in the opening stages of the race. However, the more durable super-soft compound will go longer into the race and, if kept in tact, could be a useful weapon for an overcut should rival drivers make an earlier switch to the slightly slower softs.
Rear overheating is one of the biggest concerns around the Red Bull Ring, but some teams also experienced blistering of the front tyres through the high-speed corners in the middle sector.