F1 Austrian GP: Verstappen dominates after first lap tussle with Perez

There, each Red Bull driver appeared to push the other off-track, and that allowed Nico Hulkenberg to play an early starring role for Haas before he had to complete a late charge on slicks as his starting intermediates faded.

At the start, Perez made a slightly better getaway compared to polesitter Verstappen and then shot to the inside alongside the pitwall as the pair raced to Turn 1.

There, Perez forced his way ahead of Verstappen and then cut him off so forcefully on the run up the hill through the Turn 2 kink Verstappen briefly had to put his right-side wheels on the grass.

Then at Turn 3 Verstappen sent his car back up Perez’s inside from a long way back and the Mexican driver had to take to the run off, from where he rejoined behind Verstappen.

Their tangle held up Lando Norris, who fell from third into the final places in the top 10, while Hulkenberg got such a good run he was able to benefit when the Red Bull’s fought again in Turn 4.

Perez was again on the outside and lost momentum as Verstappen saw him off, with Hulkenberg getting such a better run out of the long downhill right-hander and through Turn 5 he was able to surge ahead on the next downhill corner – the fast left of Turn 6.

That left Verstappen clear to ease ahead – taking chunks of time from Hulkenberg over the opening phase of the 24-lap race.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-23, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, the rest of the field at the start of the Sprint

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Hulkenberg initially kept Perez at arms length, with Sainz following the second Red Bull closely as the pack behind fell away, but by half distance and with Verstappen nearly 10s clear Perez was able to mount an attack.

Perez retook second on lap 12 with a better exit compared to Hulkenberg coming out of Turn 4, with Sainz also getting the Haas the next lap with a better exit from Turn 3 as Hulkenberg began to struggle for tyre life left on his intermediates.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton had made good progress from their sprint shootout qualifying to run just outside the top 10, when Russell became the first driver to switch to slicks on lap 15.

His pace on the softs encouraged nine others to switch to slicks – although not the Red Bulls or Sainz, who ran untroubled to the finish in their established order to the finish, with Verstappen winning by 21.0s over Perez.

Sainz was a further 2.0s adrift by the finish, while behind the similarly inters-shod Aston Martins battled to the finish, with Lance Stroll holding off Fernando Alonso in fourth and fifth.

Hulkenberg ended up as the top slicks finisher as Haas opted to pit him for mediums on lap 17 having spotted Russell flying on the softs in the pack behind.

He had to make a last-lap pass on Esteban Ocon at Turn 1, but Hulkenberg was able to recover back to sixth by the finish.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A523, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Russell nearly got Ocon too having shot up the order with his early decision to change tyres paying off, finishing in a near dead-heat with the Alpine as they flashed down the start-finish line.

Norris took ninth ahead of Hamilton – the McLaren driver having engaged in an early race battle with Ocon and Charles Leclerc, who ended up 12th after a late battle with Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri, who were all passed by Hamilton during the second Mercedes driver’s charge on slicks after he had come in two laps after Russell.

F1 Austrian GP sprint race results (24 laps):

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Time	Gap
1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Red Bull	30'26.730
2	Sergio Perez		Red Bull	Red Bull	30'47.778	21.048
3	Carlos Sainz		Ferrari	Ferrari	30'49.818	23.088
4	Lance Stroll		Aston Martin	Mercedes	30'56.433	29.703
5	Fernando Alonso		Aston Martin	Mercedes	30'56.839	30.109
6	Nico Hulkenberg		Haas	Ferrari	30'58.027	31.297
7	Esteban Ocon		Alpine	Renault	31'03.332	36.602
8	George Russell		Mercedes	Mercedes	31'03.341	36.611
9	Lando Norris		McLaren	Mercedes	31'05.338	38.608
10	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	31'13.105	46.375
11	Oscar Piastri		McLaren	Mercedes	31'16.537	49.807
12	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	31'17.519	50.789
13	Alex Albon		Williams	Mercedes	31'19.578	52.848
14	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	Ferrari	31'23.323	56.593
15	Pierre Gasly		Alpine	Renault	31'24.382	57.652
16	Yuki Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	31'31.552	1'04.822
17	Nyck de Vries		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	31'32.347	1'05.617
18	Logan Sargeant		Williams	Mercedes	31'32.789	1'06.059
19	Zhou Guanyu		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	31'37.555	1'10.825
20	Valtteri Bottas		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	31'43.165	1'16.435
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