Max Verstappen took the victory in the sprint race of the Austrian Grand Prix while barely smooth. The Red Bull driver achieved a dominant pole-to-flag victory in his team’s home race in the Red Bull Ring, while behind him Ferrari’s challenge once again became a scrap within the team that the Escuderia must resolve if they want to have any chance of doing so. bringing the fight to the Dutch on Sunday.
Verstappen defeated Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari in second and third place during the 24-lap race that decides the grid for Sunday’s main event. In doing so, it has further expanded its leadership in the driver classification. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and eighth for Mercedes, for whom this was a rescue race after a disastrous qualifying session on Friday and made a Herculean effort to make sure their drivers had a chance. Sunday.
They are unlikely to challenge the three strikers, where Ferrari have to make a concerted effort against Verstappen. The Dutchman led from the pole, but behind him Leclerc and Sainz faced off from the start.
The pair swapped places in the first round when Sainz overtook Leclerc to take second place. However, the Monegasque quickly returned to regain ground inside the fourth corner. Sainz seemed faster when the two exchanged positions again, but Leclerc just kept his place. His duel allowed Verstappen to open a three-second gap at any given time, a comfortable advantage he did not give up while achieving victory.
“We can’t afford what we did today,” Leclerc said. “It simply came to our notice then [fighting] but Max managed his pace, so we’ll never know if we could have caught him. I really do not know.”
Ferrari did not impose any team order, so it should be praised, but with Leclerc their only realistic driver in a position to chase Verstappen in the title race, they may have to be more ruthless on Sunday.
Hamilton and Russell were left out of the standings on Friday and Mercedes had had to make major repairs. The team worked furiously to make sure he made the run. Hamilton changed its chassis for the spare one due to the damage suffered and both cars had new gearboxes while the floors and wings were also repaired. The mechanics had been working on Hamilton’s car for most of the third training session and he came out with just 15 minutes to go.
“Thank you so much to my team for assembling my car,” Hamilton said. “They’ve worked hard overnight and this morning to keep us in the race, so I hope tomorrow is a good day.”
Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was repaired for the speed race after falling on Friday, but could only finish eighth. Photography: Guenther Iby / Getty Images
But Hamilton was less pleased with Verstappen’s fans, saying it’s “amazing” that they applauded after he ended up on the tire wall when he lost control at 140 mph in the standings. “I don’t agree with any of that, come what may,” Hamilton said. “A driver could have been in the hospital, and will you cheer him on? It’s amazing that people do it, knowing how dangerous our sport is. I was grateful I didn’t end up in the hospital and I wasn’t. seriously injured “.
The sprint, a format that F1 is totally in love with and intends to use in six meetings next season, was once again a disappointing affair, as it has been largely in its previous outings. Hamilton at least had a lively career. He started from the ninth and suffered damage to the steering when he cut Pierre Gasly on the first turn. In a fight, he caught Haas’ Mick Schumacher and the pair dueled in a sequence of laps. Schumacher has defended himself forcefully, well enough to deny the seven-time champion an obvious chance until Hamilton finally got stuck on lap 22 on lap four.
The battle at the head of the championship remains between Verstappen, Perez and Leclerc. With eight points to go, Verstappen now leads teammate Perez, who was fifth, by 38 points and Leclerc by 44.
Esteban Ocon was sixth for Alpine, Kevin Magnussen seventh for Haas, Schumacher ninth and Valtteri Bottas 10th for Alfa Romeo.
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Off the track, Sebastian Vettel endured a private battle with the FIA, which summoned the four-time champion to the commissioners for “his behavior at the drivers’ meeting.” The sports code cited in the call referred to “Words, facts or writings that have caused moral damage or loss to the FIA.”
In what was understood to be a long and lively drivers ’briefing on Friday with the race director, Vettel had expressed his frustration and left. Commissioners saw him after the speed race and found that he had breached the rule that required him to attend and did not meet the standards required as a model for the other drivers. He received a suspended fine of € 25,000 (£ 21,200).