Verstappen wins sprint on Spielberg

Mainly cloudy. Drying job. Air +16…17С, route +21С

The 2023 Austrian Grand Prix was the second round with a sprint on Saturday, further expanding the crowd. All three days the stands were completely filled and the rain on Saturday only added to the intrigue.

In the morning there was a short qualifying – Sprint Shootout, which determined the starting order of the racers in the sprint. Just like in the main qualifier the day before, there were some surprises.

The main factors were the cancellation of the circle due to violation of the route limits (60 times in two qualifiers!) and traffic. Everyone was among the offenders, including potential leaders. In Saturday’s qualifying, Hamilton was already out of contention in the first session. The second Mercedes car had problems with the hydraulics, which were resolved at the start of the sprint.

Leclerc lost three places at the start due to blocking Piastri. Verstappen and Perez started the race from the front row of the grid, Norris and Hulkenberg from second, Sainz and Alonso from third.

Just before the start it started to rain. Bottas set up Medium, the rest started the race on intermediate tyres. On the warm-up lap, Pérez locked up the tires and went off track, but was able to continue. At the end of the circle, Valtteri, assessing the track situation, turned into the pits behind the intermediate rubber.

At the start, Perez was ahead of Verstappen and kept the lead. After a few corners Max retook the lead, Sergio’s car jerked to the side and Hulkenberg moved into second place.

Top ten in round 2: Verstappen – Hulkenberg – Perez – Sainz – Stroll – Alonso – Albon – Ocon – Leclerc – Norris.

On a wet track, the FIA ​​did not allow the use of DRS, overtaking was few and far between.

On lap 3, Magnussen braked ahead of Hamilton and Russell to move up to 11th.

The rain had almost stopped, the intermediate tires were effectively draining the water and traction improved with each lap.

On lap 9, Russell overtook Magnussen for 11th. On the 11th Hamilton in a tense struggle with the change of position for Kevin.

On lap 12 Perez was ahead of Hulkenberg, on lap 13 Sainz.

Top ten in round 14: Verstappen – Perez – Sainz – Hulkenberg – Stroll – Alonso – Elbon – Ocon – Leclerc – Norris.

On lap 16, Leclerc made a mistake coming out of the last corner – and missed Norris. Russell switched to slicks.

On lap 17 DRS was allowed. Piastri also switched to slicks. Stroll was ahead of Hülkenberg.

On lap 18, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Sargent and Zhou switched to slicks. On the 19th – de Vries, Albon, Leclerc and Tsunoda.

Top ten in round 20: Verstappen – Perez – Sainz – Stroll – Alonso – Ocon – Norris – Hulkenberg – Gasly – Russell.

What happened next was fun!

The slicks had a five second lead per lap, but only a few were left before the finish so nothing threatened the top six riders.

On lap 22 Hamilton overtook Elbon, Magnussen overtook Bottas.
On lap 23, Piastri was first ahead of Leclerc, then Elbon. In 24th, Hulkenberg overtook Okon for sixth – and the best result for those finishing on slicks. In the battle for eighth, Russell overtook Norris.

All starting racers were able to finish.

Max Verstappen confidently won the sprint on Spielberg, Sergio Perez finished second – Red Bull Racing had a winning double.

Tomorrow the battle continues in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Racing results

best round: Nico Hülkenberg (Haas F1) – 1:10.180 (lap 24, 221.499 km/h)

Championship position : Individual

Championship Position: Constructors’ Championship

Team		Engine	Glasses
=	1 Oracle Red Bull Racing	Honda RBPT	336
=	2. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team	Mercedes	168
=	3. Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes	163
=	4 Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	128
=	5. BWT Alpine F1 Team	Renault	46
=	6 McLaren F1 team	Mercedes	17
	7. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team	Ferrari	eleven
	8. Alfa Romeo F1 team commitment	Ferrari	9
=	9Williams Racing	Mercedes	7
=	10 Scuderia Alpha Tauri	Honda RBPT	2