During the opening lap of Saturday’s Austrian Grand Prix Formula One sprint race, Max Verstappen’s rear-view mirror matched the colors filling the grandstands at the Red Bull Ring.
Lots of oranges.
The orange in Verstappen’s rear-view mirror was, of course, the same colour as Oscar Piastri’s MCL38 and the car of Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, who was within striking distance of Verstappen’s rear wing in the first few laps of the race before the British driver overtook him for the lead.
But it was only for a moment, as Verstappen retook the lead and a battle between the two friends prompted an attack on Piastri, and when the dust settled Verstappen was in first place and Piastri in second, ahead of team-mate Norris.
The race ended like this, and in the end Verstappen pulled away from the two McLarens to win the F1 Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen once again handled the challenges the field threw at him, particularly the twin MCL38s of Piastri and Norris, fending them off as he has done so many times before in his legendary F1 career. His performance on Saturday put him two more points ahead of nearest rival Norris and showed that Verstappen still has the upper hand when it comes to the Drivers’ Championship.
But in terms of the Constructors’ Championship, as we’ll explain later, it was a solid session for McLaren. In this battle, Verstappen and Red Bull remain the favourites to win, but the Woking-based team are catching up, and catching up fast. As Norris pointed out when speaking trackside with Alex Wurz, Red Bull could have an even bigger advantage on Sunday. “We’re there, we can definitely take them on tomorrow,” Norris said after the F1 sprint race.
Whether Verstappen and Red Bull can dislodge them in the constructors’ race is even more questionable.
Here are the winners and losers from Saturday’s Austrian Grand Prix F1 sprint race, as well as full results.
Winner: McLaren
Lando Norris briefly led the F1 sprint race on Saturday, but the big points will be awarded on Sunday.
And given where McLaren finished today (Piastri second, Norris next in third), the team is ready for an even bigger Grand Prix after Norris picked up “a fair few points” in the F1 sprint race.
Verstappen’s late charge on Norris will give his friend and rival a lot to think about throughout the night, and there could be even more opportunities if the two collide again in a Grand Prix. But perhaps more important for McLaren is the fact that both Norris and Piastri showed impressive race pace in Saturday’s F1 sprint. With both Piastri and Norris on the podium, McLaren have picked up another 13 points, moving them one step closer to Ferrari and Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
Piastri alluded to the tally while speaking trackside with Alex Wurz after the sprint: “Yes, we have some things to look out for this afternoon and for tomorrow’s race, but we are definitely in the points,” Piastri said. “It’s a really good tally compared to the other teams.”
In the end, McLaren earned 13 points, four behind Red Bull and seven behind second-placed Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. That may not seem like much – and the big points will be awarded on Sunday, but in what looks to be a tougher F1 season than ever before, every point counts.
Loser: Alpine
Both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly advanced to SQ3, and after Charles Leclerc’s misstep in the final minutes of that segment of F1 sprint qualifying, both Alpine drivers qualified ahead of Leclerc, putting Alpine in a position to score points on Saturday.
They watched the session end with no reward for their efforts.
Both Alpine cars dropped down the order, with Ocon finishing 11th and Gasly 12th, which may indicate that Alpine still has some questions to answer when it comes to long distance and race pace.
Furthermore, there were a few close calls between teammates whilst lapping the Red Bull Ring which, given what happened at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix just a few weeks earlier, likely got team principal Bruno Famin’s heart rate up a bit.
These moments made the producers F1TV Cut to Famine watching with Jack Doohan.
How you interpret that is up to you.
Winner: Charles Leclerc
Starting from P10 was not the way Charles Leclerc wanted to start an F1 sprint race.
However, given where he started, finishing within the points in seventh place was an impressive performance.
During the third segment of F1 sprint race qualifying on Friday, Leclerc’s SF-24 experienced an anti-stall condition along the pit lane, wasting valuable time as the seconds ticked down. Leclerc was able to get the car running and onto the circuit, but was unable to complete a lap in time, meaning he will start Saturday outside the points.
Despite this, Leclerc blasted off the starting line after the starting lights went out and worked his way up the order to finish inside the top eight, including one who he was able to pass: Sergio Pérez in the RB20.
That may say a lot about what we’ll see on Sunday.
But what will emerge this afternoon is a seemingly frustrated Leclerc, who hinted at a more aggressive approach for the upcoming qualifying sessions.
h boy…
