Verstappen not only won his third sprint of the current season after China and Miami, he also remains undefeated in short formats at the company’s own Red Bull Ring. The 26-year-old also left the track as the winner in Spielberg in 2022 and 2023. Qualifying for the Grand Prix on Sunday (3 p.m.) is scheduled for Saturday afternoon (4 p.m.) in Spielberg.
“We had to work a bit for it in this race. It was a good start, but when the DRS works, it’s very difficult to get away. But I was able to drive my own race,” said Verstappen, satisfied after his hat trick in the sprint races. “It was very, very sharp in the first few laps, but a very, very good pace,” said “Bulls” team boss Christian Horner, confirming his superstar.
However, the Red Bull star did not want to think about the race as a walk in the park: “There are still things we have to think about until tomorrow. It will be a longer race and therefore a different challenge for the tires.” With his third victory in the third sprint, Verstappen temporarily extended his lead in the World Championship standings to 71 points.
Two start attempts necessary
The biggest excitement at the first of two highlights on Saturday happened at the start, which only worked the second time. A photographer who had positioned himself in an unsafe place forced the organizers to abort the first start. This shortened the race distance by one lap to 23 laps. Everything went smoothly on the second attempt, with Verstappen fending off the first attacks from the McLarens in his slipstream.
In the sixth lap, however, Norris, who was second after qualifying, came dangerously close to the Dutchman, but was unable to get past. Piastri was the third-placed driver, overtaking his English teammate and holding on to second place until the finish. However, the McLarens were no longer able to endanger Verstappen’s victory.
TV note
F1-Motorhome on Sunday, 9 p.m., live on ORF1
McLaren close
Piastri was semi-satisfied with the result. “I moved up one place and I thought Max would get away from me, but that wasn’t the case. I saw that they were fighting hard at the front and I saw that I had a chance. I actually wanted to overtake both of them,” said the Australian, referring to the interim battle for the lead, “we still have some work to do until tomorrow.”
Norris also mourned an even better result, i.e. a possible victory. “It was a good race between us and also with Max at the beginning, it was a good fight. There are a few situations where I could have behaved better. But the pace was good, it was good points for our team,” said the Englishman, “it will be difficult to overtake Max tomorrow, but we will do our best again.” A side note: Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez (MEX) only finished in eighth place.
Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg
Final result in the sprint race after 23 laps: 1. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull 26:41.38 2. Oscar Piastri AUS McLaren + 4.616 3. Lando Norris GBR McLaren 5.348 4. George Russell GBR Mercedes 8.345 5. Carlos Sainz ESP Ferrari 9.989 6. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes 11.207 7. Charles Leclerc MON Ferrari 13.424 8. Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull 17.409 9. Kevin Magnussen DEN Haas 24.067 10. Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin 30.175 11. Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine 30.839 12. Pierre Gasly FRA Alpine 31.308 13. Yuki Tsunoda JPN RB 35.452 14. Nico Hülkenberg GER Haas 38.423 15. Daniel Ricciardo AUS RB 39.397 16. Fernando Alonso ESP Aston Martin 43.155 17. Logan Sargeant USA Williams 44.076 18. Alexander Albon THA Williams 44.673 19. Valtteri Bottas FIN Kick Sauber 46.511 20. Zhou Guanyu CHN Kick Sauber 53.143
Fastest lap: Norris (1:08.935 minutes)
2024-06-29 10:07:53
#Formula #Verstappen #races #sprint #hattrick
