2024 Austrian Grand Prix: Verstappens Wins Sprint, Piastri beats Norris

Max Verstappen took victory in the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix Sprint, with Oscar Piastri beating his teammate to finish second for McLaren F1 Team on Saturday.

Verstappen kept the lead initially, after securing pole position in Sprint Qualifying, but a daring move from Lando Norris at Turn Three saw him snatch the lead of the race. However, the world champion retook the lead with a similar move at the end of the second DRS straight. The tussle between Norris and Verstappen allowed Piastri to capitalise and slip past his McLaren teammate into second place.

George Russell, who started fourth on the grid, lost a position to Carlos Sainz Jr. on the first lap but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver managed to repass the Spaniard after a thrilling battle between the pair that lasted a number of laps. Despite being overtaken by one Mercedes driver, Sainz managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton to remain fifth, while Charles Leclerc’s disastrous SQ3 session meant he could only get a seventh place finish.

It was another disappointing day for Sergio Pérez. While his teammate won his tenth Sprint race, Pérez was down in eighth, unable to catch the train involved the Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari’s ahead. Since securing a new contract in Montreal, he has scored just five points.

Daniel Ricciardo races during Austrian Sprint – Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

Kevin Magnussen drove an excellent race for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team and was the best of the rest driver in ninth, and missed out on points by just one position. He finished ahead of Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team’s Lance Stroll, as their disappointing form continues.

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished eleventh and twelfth despite starting the race in the top ten. BWT Alpine F1 Team have been on a good run of point scoring finishes, so they’ll be attempting to get another good qualifying result later on but with understanding of how they can maximise that during a race scenario.

Yuki Tsunoda moved up two places, as Visa Cash App RB continue to struggle, only managing a thirteenth with Tsunoda and a fourteenth with Daniel Ricciardo. Nico Hulkenberg took the chequered flag in fourteenth but he received a penalty after the race for forcing Fernando Alonso off track.

Alonso finished fifteenth, with Logan Sargeant the lead Williams Racing driver in sixteenth. Alex Albon was six tenths behind Sargeant in seventeenth, while it was another difficult event for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, with Valtteri Bottas finishing eighteenth and Zhou Guanyu in last. Hülkenberg’s post-race penalty moved him down to nineteenth, between the Saubers.