SPIELBERG, Austria – Max Verstappen comfortably win the sprint from the pole in Austria grand opening while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr almost collided when they rushed behind him on Saturday.
Verstappen had a good start and had no trouble after more than 23 laps of the 4.3 km (2.7 mi) race. Red Bull The circle was packed with Dutch fans wearing orange shirts setting off orange flares and cheering on the Formula One champions.
“It was a good race,” Verstappen said, “Tomorrow will be an interesting battle. Good car.”
Verstappen’s second sprint win of the season gives him eight more points. Leclerc got seven points for second place and Sainz got six points for third place with the top eight.
Verstappen improves to 189 points overall and leads his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez by 38 points and Leclerc by 44 points.
George Russell collected five in fourth place. Perez drove superbly from 12th to fifth and scored four points. Esteban Ocon was sixth for Alpine, followed by Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Lewis Hamiltonwho scored a point the day after crashing in qualifying.
The final positions from the sprint set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. Verstappen will start at striker as he heads towards his team’s fifth home win in Spielberg.
Sainz overtook Leclerc from the start, only for Leclerc to quickly overtake him and reclaim second place.
The Ferraris collided when Sainz tried to overtake his teammate in the sixth round, and Leclerc held him back. Sainz moved on in the next round, going inside but Leclerc backed inside again as tension increased between them.
Sainz said: “I had a good start, a couple of fights in the beginning with Max going into Round 3, and then Charles.
Leclerc did the hard work and Sainz didn’t go any further, cooling his tires instead.
Sainz said: “Maybe the tires were a little hot, running behind Charles,” I had to step back and finish the race. “
Hamilton attacked Mick Schumacher in the final round but Schumacher defended fiercely until Hamilton overtook him in round 21.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso eighth on the grid, but something went wrong with his Alpine car and he failed to start.
“Five minutes before departure, we found the car not starting,” said the Spanish driver.
The engine of Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu cut through the lap and forced Alfa Romeo driver starts from pit road a week later survived a crash at the British GP.
Four times F1 champion Sebastian Vettel retires when Aston Martin asked him to take the car to the garage on his lap 22. He was later summoned to appear before managers for his behavior at a drivers meeting, though the reason was not immediately clear. instantly.
Earlier, British GP Winner Sainz second practice lead ahead of Leclerc with Verstappen in third. Ferrari raced with its original Prancing Horse logo on the 90th anniversary of its first appearance at sports car racingat Spa-Francorchamps in 1932.
Russell was seventh in practice with Hamilton ninth. Mercedes had to repair both cars after they broke down near the end of Friday’s grading session.
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