Championship leader Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race to take pole on Sunday with title rival Charles Leclerc second – while Lewis Hamilton finished eighth as a disappointing weekend for Mercedes continued
- Max Verstappen led from start to finish to win the sprint on Saturday
- He finished ahead of Charles Leclerc while Carlos Sainz finished third
- Lewis Hamilton could only finish eighth to continue his disappointing weekend
- Meanwhile, Sergio Perez stormed through the field to claim fifth place
By Jonathan McEvoy for Mailonine
Posted: 14:32, July 9, 2022 | Updated: 16:48, July 9, 2022
Max Verstappen won the sprint on Saturday to claim pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, who started from the front, cruised to victory after holding off the threat of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the first lap.
Charles Leclerc finished the 23-lap run in second place, but not before surviving some nerve-wracking close encounters with Sainz, who finished third, in the other red car during the sixth and seventh laps.
Max Verstappen took a confident victory in Saturday’s sprint race in Austria
He waved to the traveling Dutch fans after completing his routine victory at the Red Bull Ring
The two Ferraris battled for second place, with Leclerc eventually taking the lead
Sergio Perez, who was demoted to 13th after exceeding the track limit in qualifying, drove very well to secure fifth place, 38 points behind his Red Bull team-mate Verstappen. Leclerc is 44 points behind.
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 dropped to 11th. He soon slipped past Williams’ Alex Alban and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. He then dueled with Haas’ Mick Schumacher lap after lap until he finally broke through just before the end.
Sergio Perez came back from starting the race in 13th, moving up to fifth place
Lewis Hamilton stayed 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 got off to a low start after crashing his car into the tire barrier during qualifying on Friday. He had to use the spare chassis as the front right of his car was destroyed in the impact.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was sent to the gravel when he was touched by Albon midway through the race. The German reversed and was running last when he was told to retire with car damage.
Lando Norris finished 11th for McLaren after starting 15th.
Follow Sportsmail’s live blog as the Formula 1 campaign continues in Saturday’s sprint race ahead of Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
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