Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race. Verstappen got away immediately and didn’t look back. Verstappen said, “It was a good day today. I am extremely happy that we got P1 in the Sprint and put it on pole in Qualifying and am really proud of the Team that we were able to be so competitive. We definitely saw some good improvements after the Sprint race, it all connected and the balance of the car felt a lot better, so hopefully we can keep that going. I could really push to the limit and it felt great to be that competitive in qualifying.
The whole session went really well and the car was in a better window; I could push harder, the car was sticking and I am actually quite surprised by the gap! It shows that small changes that you make to the car can really make a difference. I am looking forward to tomorrow. We have had a really good weekend so far but the most important part has to happen tomorrow, so let’s see what the race brings.”
McLaren Continues Points Chase to Red Bull
Despite not winning the race McLaren had an incredible showing in the race finishing P2 and P3 securing 13 points for the team as they encroach on Red Bull’s lead. McLaren has taken advantage of Sergio Perez’s shortcomings as of late and with time red Bull will start asking whether signing Perez for a contract extension was the right move as they continue to lose ground to their competitors. Tomorrow is the grand prix. We will see if McLaren can improve on their result.
Austrian Sprint Race Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 23 | 26:41.389 | 8 |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 23 | +4.616s | 7 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 23 | +5.348s | 6 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 23 | +8.354s | 5 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 23 | +9.989s | 4 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 23 | +11.207s | 3 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 23 | +13.424s | 2 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 23 | +17.409s | 1 |
| 9 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 23 | +24.067s | 0 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 23 | +30.175s | 0 |
| 11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 23 | +30.839s | 0 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 23 | +31.308s | 0 |
| 13 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 23 | +35.452s | 0 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 23 | +39.397s | 0 |
| 15 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 23 | +43.155s | 0 |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 23 | +44.076s | 0 |
| 17 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 23 | +44.673s | 0 |
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 23 | +46.511s | 0 |
| 19 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 23 | +48.423s | 0 |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 23 | +53.143s | 0 |
Note – Hulkenberg received a 10-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track.