Spielberg, July 10 (BUS): Formula 1 leader Max Verstappen beat rivals Ferrari to win Saturday’s Sprint and put Red Bull in the lead in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix at his team track.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will line up with the Dutch driver in the first row after the second half with fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz, the British Grand Prix winner, who finished third.
The victory at the Red Bull Ring increased Verstappen’s championship lead to 38 points over teammate Sergio Perez, who finished fifth after starting in 13th. Leclerc is six points behind, according to Reuters.
Verstappen, who qualified first Friday, said.
“The car is good. Just a few things to tweak but overall we were able to compete again this weekend,” added the 24-year-old, who beat Leclerc by 1.675 seconds.
Verstappen also won the pre-season sprint race at Imola in April, and his army of Dutch fans set off flares to fire clouds of orange smoke billowing from the stands before and after the 23-lap race.
Mercedes’ George Russell finished fourth, while fellow seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton finished eighth by a point.
Esteban Ocon in Alpine finished sixth, the Frenchman stopped on the track after the checkered flag, and Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas.
The sprint sprint marks the top eight, with the winner taking eight.
Ocon’s teammate and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso failed to start the race after his car remained raised on the grid with tire blankets in place.
He was then pushed back into the garage where Alonso was due to start from behind on Sunday with four-time Aston Martin champion Sebastian Vettel retiring.
“We couldn’t get the car on the grid, so we moved into the pit lane and then tried an external battery, but there were no signs of it running and we had to retire,” Alonso said.
Field held a second formation lap after Alfa Romeo’s Chinese rookie Guanyu Zhou stopped, sending him into the pit lane from where he fought back to 14th.
He is expected to start in 13th on Sunday, with teammate Valtteri Bottas set to return to the back of the field due to a power unit change.
Leclerc overtook Sainz on the first lap but the Spaniard stayed on his tail, trying to reclaim position in a fight that would have done little to calm the nerves of the Ferrari leaders on the pit wall.
“Tomorrow we probably can’t stand what we did today,” said Leclerc, who is aware of tire wear.
Hamilton started in ninth but reached out to Pierre Gasly’s Alvatore on the opening lap, dropping to 11th. The Briton then fought but had a tough and lively battle with Mick Schumacher in eighth.
“It was very nice to see Mick advance to the world championship seven times,” said Haas team principal Guenter Steiner. “It was a very good teamwork and I am happy with the result.”
Schumacher, who was moved on the penultimate lap, was called to the stewards after the race for alleged “starting procedure violations” with six others but no further action was taken.
Williams’ Alex Albon was penalized, taking a five-second penalty for keeping McLaren’s Lando Norris off the track on lap four. It also tangled with Vettel.
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