The Red Bull driver had to defend himself in corners 1 and 3 in the face of an initially strong Ferrari threat, but as Leclerc and Carlos Sainz went wheel to wheel, the defending champion was able to march towards a relatively successful victory. soft.
The start was delayed and an additional training lap was requested when Zhou Guanyu momentarily lost the ball to get out of the final corner on his way to the grid when the engine of his Alfa Romeo was briefly shut down.
He was able to find the drive and walk away, but not before he had turned around on the 24th.
This came after Fernando Alonso, due to the eighth lineup, required a pitlane exit when his Alpine would not shoot on the grid due to a technical problem that the team is yet to identify.
The regulations that allowed the car not to be touched when there were three minutes to go made Alonso stay in the car and with the tire blankets on.
Despite the possibility of a pitlane start, the two-time champion would not participate in the speed race at all.
After the interruption, it was Leclerc who enjoyed the slightly better pitch to force Verstappen to pull towards the inside line and squeeze the Ferrari closer to the pit wall.
Red Bull’s defensive work bore fruit when Verstappen dragged to the right of turn 1 at the head, but a compromised line allowed Sainz, the third starter, to threaten.
With Leclerc facing Verstappen, Sainz had room to get ahead on the first corner and a strong start allowed the Spaniard to move his Ferrari outside and try a pass.
He put his nose in front of Verstappen in the braking zone of turn 3, but on the outside and off the race line, he ran a lot and then the subsequent oversteer on the less adherent asphalt allowed Leclerc to accelerate further. fast and regain second position with a run on lap 4.
Ferrari’s dispute allowed Verstappen to initially separate by half a second, an advantage that the reigning champion doubled at the end of the initial tour.
The Ferraris continued to roll dice, with Sainz apparently with an early pace advantage to try to jump Leclerc outside of turn 3 to 4, with the red car seeming to rub.
With the Ferrari pair allowed to fight, this left Sainz, who had locked up, practically stopping as he squeezed into the gravel trap, giving Verstappen a two-second breath in turn.
Verstappen was able to stretch his Red Bull’s legs to increase the difference by three seconds, but in the final laps, Leclerc was able to do a ten or two laps faster to gradually reduce the margin.
Verstappen would complain about his struggles with the middle tires, but the change of pace was not enough to offer a threat, as the Dutch runner finally crossed the line with 1.6 seconds to extend his championship lead to 44 points: Leclerc took the bonus point as the fastest. back.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the rest of the field at the start of the Sprint race
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Sainz completed the podium 3.9 seconds more than his teammate when George Russell became fourth on the grid on a lonely afternoon, his Mercedes W13 had received major repairs after his derivation on the last corner at the end of Q3.
Sister Sergio Bull of Red Bull, who had started 13th after his Q3 times were eliminated due to a track boundary breach at the end of Q2 that was not initially detected, recovered in fifth place.
His impressive climb was aided by a collision at the first corner that involved Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri rising into the air and turning.
The French runner, who was starting 10th, had gradually shifted to the left as he lined up the first right-hander, but in doing so left Lewis Hamilton pinched with Albon’s Williams.
The lack of space caused Hamilton’s right front to touch Gasly’s left rear, causing his car to jump into the air and turn to an eventual 15th.
Perez had also made quick moves to the two Haas cars before downgrading Esteban Ocon, the only Alpine to remain securing sixth ahead of Kevin Magnussen.
Magnussen had the measure of Haas teammate Mick Schumacher, who left the German to ask his team for the Dane to control his pace and offer assistance to the DRS.
This occurred when Hamilton welded himself to the back of Schumacher’s car and stuck his nose next to turn 3 repeatedly, at a similar time touching the rear right wheel of the Haas, as he struggled to claim the eighth place.
Mercedes still couldn’t get past DRS assistance due to the Haas ’straight-line credentials, but eventually Hamilton passed with a good ball out of turn 3.
Schumacher has just left enough space on the turf for the W13 to take up position on turn 3.
Valtteri Bottas used the dice to close, but was not really in the fight and placed in tenth place.
Although Daniel Ricciardo asked to be allowed to pass, Lando Norris led a McLaren 11-12.
Lance Stroll (best soft tire racer), Zhou and Gasly completed the top 15 ahead of Alex Albon, who was downgraded to 16th with a 5-second penalty to get Lando Norris out of space at the start of the curve 3.
Behind Yuki Tsunoda and Nicholas Latifi, Sebastian Vettel joined Alonso as a retiree.
The Aston Martin was pitted on the final lap with damage, Vettel had turned when he collided while fighting on the outside of turn 7.
Austrian F1 GP: Complete speed race results