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Verstappen wins Austria sprint to extend title lead

Phenomenal
Phenomenal

Mueez Ajao

– Max Verstappen easily beat the squabbling Ferraris to victory in sprint qualifying at the Red Bull Ring to ensure he starts Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix from the front of the grid. 

– Verstappen led off the line from pole position and held off Charles Leclerc at Turn 1 and Carlos Sainz at Turn 3, before the Ferraris slipped backwards into a fight of their own for second position. 

– Leclerc and Sainz appeared to cost each other time in that fight and almost collided at one stage at Turn 4. 

Also Read: Carlos Sainz wins British Grand Prix

– The result meant championship leader Verstappen claimed the full eight points on offer for winning the 23-lap sprint race, with a maximum of 26 available on Sunday. 

– Verstappen now leads Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez by 38 points and Leclerc by 45.  

– Verstappen’s strong pace suggests Ferrari’s best chance of winning is to be ahead by the end of the first lap of the race. 

– “We are quick, we can get them tomorrow,” a bullish Leclerc told Ferrari on the radio after the sprint finished. 

– George Russell finished a comfortable fourth for Mercedes as Perez fought back from 13th to fifth position in the other Red Bull.

– Perez had started down the order after one of his lap times from Q2 and all of his lap times from Q3 were retrospectively deleted after qualifying. 

– Esteban Ocon finished a solid sixth for Alpine ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. 

– Lewis Hamilton grabbed the final point on offer for the sprint after being stuck behind Mick Schumacher in the other Haas for seven laps. 

– Hamilton was unable to get by Schumacher’s impressive defensive moves for a while and at one point radioed Mercedes to say the Haas driver had gone off the track several times to keep position. He eventually got by to ensure he will start eighth. 

– Pierre Gasly might well have been fighting for a place in the top eight were it not for a tangle with Hamilton at Turn 1, which spun the AlphaTauri driver around and saw him drop down the order. 

– Sebastian Vettel did not finish the race after contact with Alex Albon on lap eight that spun him into the gravel, with Aston Martin later calling him into the pits to retire the car. 

– In a bizarre turn of events, Fernando Alonso did not start at all. When the formation lap started the tire blankets were still on his Alpine car, suggesting the team was still working on a problem on the grid.

– Alonso’s car was eventually wheeled into the garage and he did not start the race, meaning he will be at the back of the grid on Sunday. 

– Alpine will have concerns with both cars going into the race, with Ocon’s car slowing to a stop on the in-lap after the finish. 

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