Verstappen triumphs in Austrian sprint after early battle with McLarens

How the sensational Speilberg sprint unfolded 

All 20 drivers started the sprint race on the medium compound tyre. The drivers had to go around the Red Bull Ring once more for an extra formation lap after an aborted start due to photographers standing in an unsafe position at turn one. This knocked a lap off of the already short sprint. Max Verstappen got away well from pole position. Oscar Piastri attempted to overtake Lando Norris at turn two, but his attempt was unsuccessful. Both Alpine's dropped out of the top 10 in the first lap, too. Norris was quickly on Verstappen's tail after lap one, as the McLaren driver set the fastest lap chasing his rival. Norris dived down the inside of Verstappen on lap five. He took the lead momentarily but lost out a few corners later as Verstappen dived down his inside and Piastri swooped round the outside, leaving the Brit in third. Just behind the top three, both Mercedes and Ferrari cars squabbled for fourth place. As they fought, Verstappen managed to extend his gap to Oscar Piastri to over a second, crucially out of DRS range. After this moment, the championship leader didn't look back and finished four seconds ahead of Piastri at Red Bull's home Grand Prix.

As Piastri slowed, Norris immediately began to chase him once again. Norris bided his time behind his teammate but couldn't get past him. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez finished in eighth place after starting from seventh in what was yet another difficult session for the Mexican.

Further down the grid, both Alpines battled for 11th place for several laps. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who sat in ninth, was slower than those behind but managed to keep his position. As the Dane-created field spread, Daniel Ricciardo overtook Logan Sargeant for 16th place in what has been another difficult weekend for VCARB. Ricciardo finished in 15th place after battling Hulkenberg and Alonso. The latter had to take avoiding action at turn two after a fierce fight with Hulkenberg.

The sprint race took place in Austria at noon on Saturday. Qualifying takes place at 16:00 local time later on today. Previously this weekend, teams and drivers had just one 60-minute practice session to prepare their cars for the Red Bull Ring. Max Verstappen topped the sprint shootout on Friday afternoon before his eventual victory, which bodes well for the rest of the weekend.