Staff Writer
The Austrian Grand Prix sprint was won by reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen on Saturday, extending his championship advantage over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to 70 points.
When the last four Grand Prix races are taken into account, Verstappen has now won five straight races. On Sunday, Verstappen will begin the entire race from the lead and attempt to win his 42nd Grand Prix.
Verstappen earned eight points for winning the sprint, something he also did in this location last year, while Perez received seven for coming in second. Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari earned six points for finishing third in the 24-lap race. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin finished in fourth place with five points, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and teammate Fernando Alonso with four points.
Perez started ahead of Verstappen on the Spielberg track in the wet and rainy conditions.
Verstappen admitted, “The start wasn’t ideal.” “A little bit of wheel spin.”
Verstappen and Perez nearly collided, which caused Perez to fall to third, behind Hulkenberg, allowing Verstappen to retake the lead.
Verstappen expressed his concern over the potential consequences of the close call with Perez over the team radio. “We could have had a really big shunt,” he remarked. “We need to talk about that,” someone said.
Just seconds after getting out of their cars, they cleared the area. Verstappen claimed that after talking about the issue “like human beings” for a few minutes, it was not a major deal.
Verstappen stated, “We discussed everything, and everything is good. “We don’t require
Russell was the first driver to swap out his slow-moving wet weather tires for faster ones on lap 16, followed by teammate Lewis Hamilton and Hulkenberg.
Leclerc finished 12th after switching to medium tires late in the race after receiving a three-place grid penalty.
Verstappen finished top in qualifying for the sprint as well.
After being eliminated from the first round of qualifying, Hamilton started the sprint race from position 18 on the grid thanks to the abbreviated qualifying format, sometimes known as the “sprint shootout” in Formula 1. As he made his way back into the paddock to his Mercedes garage, Hamilton had a thoughtful expression.
In the sprint, he came in 10th. The Austrian Grand Prix is the second of six F1 races with a Saturday sprint race in its schedule. The sprint race in Azerbaijan was won by Perez.
Verstappen and other competitors were not pleased with the race officials’ excessive rigor in enforcing track regulations during qualifying for the race on Sunday, where Verstappen will start on the pole ahead of Leclerc and Sainz.
Stefano Domenicali, the president of Formula One, has paid respect to Bob Fernley, the late Force India deputy team principal who passed away at the age of 70. F1 announced his passing on Friday night. No more information was provided.
He played such a crucial role in Formula 1, and his devotion to and enthusiasm.
Until Fernando Alonso failed to qualify in 2019, Fernley served as McLaren’s president of the Indianapolis 500 return project for a brief period of time. From 2020 to 2022, he took Domenicali’s place as the single-seater Commission’s chairman.
Esteban Ocon, an Alpine driver who switched to Force India in 2017, referred to Fernley as “a great person and leader” on Twitter.
Fernley departed the group in August 2018 after it was acquired by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll. Stroll first called the group Racing Point, then Aston Martin.
