Formula One Austrian Grand Prix preview

The three-time F1 champion won this race a year ago and should be the vehicle to beat as he can't afford to keep falling further out of first place.

"He's great under pressure, I mean there was a huge amount of pressure and he's driving qualifying laps at the end there", said Horner.

The British driver lost points there, finishing fifth, while Vettel took fourth to move 14 points ahead.

In a race that continued the two Red Bull driver's recent form, Ricciardo held off a late challenge from Lewis Hamilton to take his latest top 3 finish.

"It's massively tough for him", said Horner, "but he will come through it as a stronger character". The Dutchman made a poor start from fifth on the grid, sending him back into the pack, but he would be the innocent by-stander in a crash by former Red Bull racer Daniil Kvyat and McLaren's Fernando Alonso, collecting Verstappen and eliminating him before he could even get to the grandstand packed with his fans. "The last laps were very close - I think I needed one more lap because he was struggling to get up the hill".

"I had a bit of deja vu in the end to what happened in Russian Federation when he was right behind me", said Bottas, who is now 19 points behind Hamilton in third.

Not only are the 2017 regulations placing more focus on aerodynamics - one of the team's strengths despite its painfully slow start to the year - but Renault is making small and confidant steps forward with its power unit, including a 0.2-second per lap upgrade at last round's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, won by RBR's Daniel Ricciardo.

Formula One Austrian Grand Prix preview

"I got a big hit", Grosjean said.

Lewis Hamilton's pole time in Baku was more than one second faster than the quickest Ferrari - by far the largest gap of the season to date - signalling that Mercedes has finally come to terms with the tyre warm-up issues that had plagued its auto for much of the season.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has repeatedly insisted Verstappen's contract with the team is "100 per cent" watertight, and Jos has now guaranteed his son will not be moving. The change was made Tuesday and came after Baku.

Vettel soon followed but Bottas stayed out for a further seven laps when he came in, re-joining second behind Raikkonen, who had yet to stop.

Vettel, second, began trading fastest laps with Bottas, who responded.

The surface at the Red Bull Ring is low in grip and abrasion, with the track getting progressively quicker as the weekend goes on.