Saturday was a good day in the office for Oracle Red Bull Racing, where reigning champion, Max Verstappen, took victory in the second sprint race of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Sergio Pérez also had a great performance, ending the day in fifth place following his penalty to thirteenth after the FIA found him guilty of exceeding track limits in Qualifying Two on Friday. The Mexican charged his way through the field in what was a pleasure to watch.
For Verstappen, things were a little more simple. In front of his ‘Orange Army’ fans, the Dutchman was able to pull away following an early-race squabble between the two Scuderia Ferrari cars. Verstappen was able to remain consistent and take victory by over a second and a half, giving him eight additional points to extend his lead in the drivers championship.
Charles Leclerc was able to fend off his now-race-winner team-mate, Carlos Sainz to take second place on the grid for Sunday’s race. The Spaniard looked strong at the start of the sprint, making overtake attempts on the number sixteen driver at Turn Three and Turn Four. Ultimately, Sainz remained in position to take the third spot on the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix.
What about the rest?
George Russell has redeemed himself after crashing out of Qualifying Three on Friday, where he had, luckily, already set a lap time good enough for fourth place. The Briton was able to pull away from the cars behind and maintain his fourth place position, putting him alongside Sainz on row two of the grid for the main event.
Esteban Ocon has done a great job to put his BWT Alpine car in sixth place on the grid for the race, only losing a place to a charging Sergio Pérez. Fernando Alonso had a terrible day, with car issues moving him to the pitlane before the start of the race. The Spaniard was unable to get his car moving, and retired from the event, meaning he will start from the back on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton will be left somewhat frustrated with the sprint after not gaining as many places as he possibly would have liked. The Briton also crashed out of Qualifying Three on Friday after losing the rear of the car at Turn Seven caused an over-correction that sent him into the wall – putting him in ninth place for the sprint. The drama continued, however, when Hamilton lost two places at the start due to contact with Pierre Gasly.
After overtaking his way back to his starting position, the seven-time world champion, once again, found himself stuck in a ‘DRS train’ – with Mick Schumacher successfully defending from the Mercedes driver as a result of gaining DRS from his team-mate. Hamilton was able to make his way past the German after a good exit at Turn Three, but may be wondering what could have been if it weren’t for contact at the start of the race.
Image: Steve Etherington/Mercedes F1 Media Site.
Haas F1 Team look strong this weekend, with their driving pairing of Kevin Magnussen and Schumacher finishing seventh and ninth, separated by Hamilton. Magnussen spent the majority of the race giving his team-mate DRS, but will be happy to take home two vital points for Haas in the constructors championship. Schumacher also put in a superb effort to defend from Hamilton, placing his car perfectly to give the Briton a hard time. Despite dropping out of the points, Haas can be happy with their positions to start the race.
Valtteri Bottas was in the mix with Hamilton and the Haas drivers during the sprint, although he will start the main race from the back of the grid following engine change penalties. Meanwhile, Guanyu Zhou put in a good performance to recover to fourteenth place, having started from the pitlane when his engine cut out at the end of the formation lap. A second formation lap was forced when the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN driver came to a halt at the start of the pit straight, but was able to get going and return to the pitlane at the end of the second formation lap.
Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo were able to finish eleventh and twelfth after frustratingly finishing fifteenth and sixteenth respectively in the Friday afternoon qualifying shootout. Norris had been struggling with his brakes on Friday, while Ricciardo was narrowly knocked out of Qualifying One on a disappointing day for McLaren F1 Team. Thankfully for them, the papaya duo will start the race in a more competitive position, and will hope to replicate their performance to score some points on Sunday.
Lance Stroll will start in thirteenth for the race, while Sebastian Vettel will have to join fellow world champion, Alonso, at the back of the grid as a result of retiring from the sprint. The German was hit at Turn Six by Alexander Albon, sending the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team driver into a spin through the gravel. Vettel tried to recover, but was in last place, ultimately retiring due to damage on his car.
It was a tough day for Scuderia AlphaTauri with Gasly having to settle with fifteenth place after his early race spin. The FIA deemed no investigation necessary after the Turn one contact with Hamilton, as the Frenchman turned into the front-right wheel of the Briton. Yuki Tsunoda also had a bad day, having started the sprint in fourteenth, but finishing seventeenth. The Japanese driver was forced off track by Albon (who was penalised for the incident) and lost places as a result.
Finally, the Williams F1 Team pairing of Albon and Nicolas Latifi would finish sixteenth and eighteenth respectively, in what was a rather clumsy performance by the former after being involved in two incidents. The Williams team will be hoping to score more points on Sunday, as they are currently at the bottom of the constructors table with just three points.
Red Bull Ring Sprint Race Result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | GAP |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 26:30.059 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | +1.675s |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | +5.644s |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | +13.429s |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | MEX | Oracle Red Bull Racing | +18.302s |
| 6 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | +31.032s |
| 7 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | DEN | Haas F1 Team | +34.539s |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | +35.447s |
| 9 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Haas F1 Team | +37.163s |
| 10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | +37.557s |
| 11 | 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | +38.580s |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | +39.738s |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | +48.241s |
| 14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | CHN | Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | +50.753s |
| 15 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri | +52.125s |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | THA | Williams F1 Team | +52.412s |
| 17 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | JAP | Scuderia AlphaTauri | +54.556s |
| 18 | 6 | Nicolas Latifi | CAN | Williams F1 Team | +68.694s |
| 19/RET | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | Retired |
| DNS | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | BWT Alpine F1 Team | Did Not Start |