Verstappen starts from pole and wins the Austrian GP in a sprint

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SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — Max Verstappen had no trouble winning the sprint race from pole at the Austrian Grand Prix, his effort facilitated by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., who battled behind him. for a small point.

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They nearly collided, and tensions seemed to continue from last Sunday’s British GP, where Leclerc was unhappy with the team’s decisions and Sainz won.

Sprint positions set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix, so Verstappen starts at the front as he seeks a fifth win at his Formula One team’s home track in Spielberg. Verstappen surprisingly thinks the car is a bit lacking in speed.

“We’re still not amazing in qualifying, we’re still a bit heavy,” he said. “That’s just one limitation that we have, we still need to lose weight with the car.”

Leclerc this week downplayed the divisions within Ferrari after Silverstone, where, after a safety car, he was taken aback by team principal Mattia Binotto’s decision to keep him off the track rather than switch to tyres. faster. He was also leading in Monaco, when Ferrari took him on for new tires and finished fourth.

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Leclerc was asked if he and Sainz could work together on Sunday to catch up with Verstappen.

“I really hope so,” he said bluntly. Later, he added: “I don’t know the rules of engagement, it’s not us who decide. It will be Mattia.

Sainz insists that “the team will solve it” and they can work in tandem.

“Both of us are going to make Max’s life as difficult as possible for the rest of the championship. We need to push hard because he is way ahead,” said Sainz. “We need to make sure that we are closer to the beginning of a season and we are closer to the end.”

Ferrari was also absent on Saturday, with Verstappen at the helm.

He made a clean start and rode more than 23 laps around the 4.3-kilometre Red Bull Ring packed with orange-clad Dutch fans who lit orange flares and cheered on the Formula One champion.

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“It was a decent race,” said Verstappen, who has won six of 10 races so far. “Tomorrow will be an interesting battle. The car is fine.

Verstappen’s second sprint win of the season gave him an additional eight points. Leclerc picked up seven points for second place and Sainz got six for finishing third with the top eight scoring points.

Verstappen improved to 189 points in the overall standings and leads Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez by 38 points and Leclerc by 44.

George Russell collected five in fourth place. Pérez drove superbly from 12th to finish fifth and score four points. Esteban Ocon was sixth for Alpine followed by Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton who scored a point.

Sainz overtook Leclerc at the start, only for Leclerc to quickly overtake him and reclaim second place.

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The Ferraris brushed when Sainz attempted to pass on lap six, with Leclerc stopping him. Sainz tried again on the next lap, going through the inside, but Leclerc dove to the inside as the tension mounted.

“I got off to a good start, a couple of fights early on with Max at Turn 3 and then Charles,” Sainz said. “It was great fun, as it should be…racing.”

Leclerc didn’t get another chance, playing it safe.

“He probably overheated the tires a little bit, running behind Charles,” Sainz said. “I had to go back and finish the race.”

Mick Schumacher aggressively fended off Hamilton until the seven-time F1 champion passed him on lap 21.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was eighth on the grid, but there was a problem with his Alpine car and it wouldn’t start.

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Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu’s engine cut out on the formation lap and forced the Alfa Romeo driver from pit lane a week after surviving a crash at the British GP.

Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel retired when Aston Martin told him to take the car to the garage on lap 22. He was then cited by stewards for storming out of a drivers’ meeting on Friday night and received a suspended fine of 25,000 euros. .

Vettel was “expressing frustration at the meeting” and then left before the end.

“Drivers are not free to leave whenever they want,” F1 said. “Drivers at this level are role models for all drivers in the world and, in the opinion of the stewards, Vettel did not meet that standard.

Vettel subsequently apologized unreservedly to the race director, F1 said.

Several drivers were called in to send radio messages during the slightly delayed formation lap.

Earlier, British GP winner Sainz led second practice ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen. Russell was seventh with Hamilton ninth. Mercedes repaired both cars after they collided in qualifying.

“Thank you to everyone in the garage for prepping the car,” Russell said. “It was a great team effort, so it was good to get points.”