Max Verstappen wins the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race to take pole position with title rival Charles Leclerc in second – while Lewis Hamilton finishes eighth as Mercedes’s poor weekend continues
- Max Verstappen led from start to finish to win the sprint race on Saturday
- He finished ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Carlos Sainz ended up third
- Lewis Hamilton could only finish eighth to continue his disappointing weekend
- Meanwhile, Sergio Perez stormed through the field to claim fifth place
Max Verstappen won Saturday’s sprint race to claim pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, who started at the front, coasted to victory once he had repelled the threat from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the opening lap.
Charles Leclerc finished the 23-lap dash in second place, though not before he survived some nerve-jangling close encounters with Sainz, who finished third, in the other red car during laps six and seven.
Max Verstappen cruised to a comfortable win in Saturday’s sprint race in Austria
He waved to the travelling Dutch fans after completing his routine victory at the Red Bull Ring
The two Ferraris battled for second place, with Leclerc eventually coming out on top
Sergio Perez, who was demoted to start 13th after exceeding track limits in qualifying, drove very well to secure fifth to fall 38 points behind his Red Bull team-mate Verstappen. Leclerc is 44 points adrift.
George Russell started and finished fourth, while his Mercedes partner Lewis Hamilton finished 8th, one place above where he started.
But Hamilton’s race was more eventful than Russell’s: Lewis caught Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and went down to 11th. He soon clawed himself past Williams’ Alex Albon and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. He then duelled with Haas’ Mick Schumacher lap after lap until he finally forced his way through just before the end.
Sergio Perez bounced back from starting the race in 13th as he moved up into fifth place
Lewis Hamilton was stuck behind Mick Schumacher for most of the race and finished eighth
With points awarded to all of the top eight, the seven-time world champion scored one point.
Hamilton started low down after pranging his car in the tyre barrier during qualifying on Friday. He had to use the spare chassis because the front-right of his car was destroyed on impact.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was sent into the gravel when touched by Albon mid-race. The German reversed out and was running last when he was told to retire with car damage.
Lando Norris finished 11th for McLaren, having started 15th.
Follow Sportsmail’s live blog as the Formula One campaign continues at Saturday’s Sprint Race ahead of Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
