Max Verstappen has won the Sprint race of the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
The Sprint had a clean start, with Max Verstappen leading through turn 1 and both McLarens behind fighting for P2, with Lando Norris on top, although Oscar Piastri gave a good fight.
Behind, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz overtook Mercedes’s George Russell for P4, while the British driver continued to be challenged by teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Further back, Charles Leclerc, who had started in P1, had already passed Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for P7.
On lap 6, Norris shortly took the lead from Verstappen, but his dominance over the Red Bull was short-lived, and then teammate Piastri joined the fight and stole P2 from him – a costly outcome for McLaren’s ‘number one.’
Further back, the Alpines have shown and improvement and finished P11 and P12 with Esteban Ocon leading, ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Meanwhile, disaster continues for Sauber, as Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou finished dead last in the standings behind both Williams – a team which is also struggling to find pace and improve after more than three months into the season.
In the end, Verstappen’s dominance, although shortly challenged at periods, was unmatched, and the Dutchman took the victory of the Sprint race.