At 4pm the qualifying session for the usual Sunday race starts. See you then! Thanks for joining us!
We leave you with all the details of what the Austrian GP Sprint race has given.
It is clear that the Dutchman feels like a fish in water at the Red Bull Ring. He has won all the races held since 2021 and it seemed that the McLaren had better pace today. However, when push comes to shove he has led the way alone.
Sainz finished the Sprint in fifth position, withstanding pressure from Lewis Hamilton. There wasn’t much more that could be done with the Ferrari.
On the other hand, Fernando Alonso suffered much more. The Spaniard had a small excursion after a mistake by Hulkenberg at Turn 3 during the last laps and finally finished 16th. I knew I was going to suffer but the Aston Martin really has nothing to do with what it was last year.
The Dutchman has no rival in Austria. The Red Bull driver wins the Sprint at the Red Bull Ring by four seconds over Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris
While Russell consolidates his position in fourth position, Carlos is currently holding his own against Lewis Hamilton, who is still seven tenths behind but without being able to overtake the Mercedes driver from the Spanish Ferrari driver.
Lando is still less than a second behind his teammate but there are no team orders at the moment. While ahead Verstappen continues to put ground in the lead
Norris, third, is faster than Piastri. Should McLaren let Lando pass because he is faster in order to go after Verstappen? That should be the case, but for now they are not doing it… It is not understandable. The McLarens are committing ‘Harakiri’ against Verstappen, who continues to lead without any mistakes. For the third consecutive GP, he can take another prize thanks to the mistakes of his opponents and his perfect execution of things at the decisive moments.
Norris is now within DRS distance of Piastri, with more pace. He can try to pass Piastri after setting the fastest lap. Lando is going all out. But Piastri is already 2 seconds behind Max and if Norris passes Oscar… he might be too late to go after Max. Or not. We’ll see…
ATTENTION TO THE DRS TRAIN OF RUSSELL, SAINZ, HAMILTON AND LECLERC. He is fighting for Russell’s fourth position. Sainz is 0″8 behind, close, and can try: but be careful, he has Hamilton close behind, who in turn has Leclerc there. And Perez is 8th, 2″2 behind Leclerc, but in this last lap Checo was two tenths worse than Leclerc.
Piastri loses DRS with Verstappen and Max can try to leave now. We’ll see if the McLarens have something else in store for the end when the tires start to suffer more. Piastri is now 1.5 behind Max and Norris is 1.5 behind Piastri, but it seems that Lando has more pace now.
Norris seems to be pulling away from Piastri. He might have damaged his tyres too much in his battle with Verstappen, or perhaps he is charging his batteries and saving an attack for the end. Max is still in first place with Piastri 0.5″ behind and Norris 1.9″ behind.
Russell passes Carlos Sainz with the DRS. Sainz is now 5th, with Russell 4th and Hamilton in sixth place.
Norris went all out, attacking, which is what you have to do in a sprint race, and Max’s subsequent attack gave wings to Piastri, who, patient as a lion, took advantage of his moment to place second, showing his claws when he should.
Norris dives from his home at the 3rd braking point on the inside! He goes a bit wide… but manages to keep the lead. And watch out, Max gets alongside, still with DRs for Lando. And at the 4th braking point Max dives on the inside. Norris runs wide and Piastri can pass him. The two McLarens are parallel and Lando can’t defend his second place and now it’s Piastri who is going to go for Verstappen from second place. WHAT CRAZY! And Piastri is very close, 0″3 behind Max with DRS.
Norris tries again on the outside of Turn 4 but Max Verstappen defends well on the inside. Good defense of the current champion. Norris continues at 0.7, with DRS available. In the fast zone, Max escapes but the straight ace with DRS Norris approaches again during the braking of 1 and, above all, in 2.
Norris tries the DRS on Max! Verstappen defends himself. The two McLarens can’t make the mistake of getting into a fight because Max is going to walk away if that happens. Norris will try again with DRS on lap 4.
At the start of the sprint race of the 2024 F1 Austrian GP, Carlos Sainz has gained a place on Russell with a great overtake on the outside at Turn 4 to place 4th behind Verstappen (1st), Norris (2nd) and Piastri (3rd). And here DRS is important and overtaking is possible. Remember that there are 3 DRS zones. Carlos will go for it. And Alonso is 14th after losing a place to Tsunoda at the start.
Verstappen comes out very well and defends position with Norris! And be careful, Piastri starts better than Lando and arrives parallel to his teammate in the first corner! OMG PIASTRI TRYING TO PASS NORRIS WHEN THE BRAKING OF 3RD! Lando defends himself well. And Carlos Sainz attacks Russell on the outside of turn 4 and goes over the limit to place fourth!
NOW, THE F1 AUSTRIAN GP SPRINT RACE STARTS after the technical failure in the previous procedure!
START ABORTED! Either the traffic lights have failed or something has gone wrong with the start system… and the start of the 2024 F1 Austrian GP sprint race has been aborted. Another formation lap is run… and the sprint race was scheduled for 24 laps and will now be 23 laps.
The 2024 F1 Austrian GP sprint race begins!
Everything is ready for the 2024 F1 Austrian GP sprint race to start!
