Just one week after a thrilling British Grand Prix, F1 was back in action at the Red Bull Ring for the FORMULA 1 ROLEX GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH 2022, the second sprint race weekend of the season.
There was drama for Fernando Alonso on the starting grid, as his team worked to fix a mechanical issue before the start of the sprint race. The team was not able to get the work completed before they were required to leave the grid, forcing Alpine to leave Alonso abandoned in his grid slot with the car still jacked up and the tyre blankets still on. After the cars left the grid for the formation lap, the team was able to wheel the car to the garage, but did not start the race.
The first start was aborted when the engine in Guanyu Zhou’s Alfa Romeo switched off at the end of the formation lap. He was able to get the car started again, but was forced to start from the pit lane.
The race started after a second formation lap. Charles Leclerc had a quicker reaction time, but Max Verstappen was able to accelerate faster, moving over to the right side of the straight to block Leclerc. This compromised Leclerc’s performance in the first corner, allowing Carlos Sainz to take P2 from his teammate.
Further back, Pierre Gasly was spun in the first corner in a three-wide battle on the main straight with Alex Albon and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton was the meat in an F1 car sandwich. Gasly was able to rejoin the race with no major damage.
Back at the front, Carlos Sainz tried an overtaking move around the outside of Max Verstappen in the the tight third corner, but couldn’t get by. Leclerc attacked his teammate on the inside of that corner, but couldn’t get the move done in that corner. Instead, he managed to retake P2 on the inside of turn four.
On lap 7, Sainz attempted to get around his teammate once more in the tight turn three, but locked up and had to run wide. He also had a good chance to attack around the outside of the following corner, but he was forced to back out by his teammate. While the two Ferrari drivers battled, this allowed Verstappen to build a strong lead out front, virtually securing victory and the front spot on the grid for the race on Sunday.
The two Haas drivers were battling on lap 9. Mick Schumacher tried to get around his Kevin Magnussen in turn three, but ended up losing a position to Sergio Perez, who was making a fantastic recovery from his P13 start.
Alex Albon, who had already received a five-second time penalty earlier in the race for forcing Lando Norris off the track, was involved in an incident with Sebastian Vettel on lap 11. The two drivers were side-by-side in turn six, but Albon understeered into Vettel, spinning the German driver into the gravel. Vettel was able to reverse out of the gravel, but retired late in the race due to damage.
Fans were treated to a spectacular battle in the closing half of the race between Lewis Hamilton and Mick Schumacher. Schumacher, who had scored his first F1 points last weekend, was doing a great job of holding off Hamilton. He was helped greatly by the DRS from his teammate in front.
However, with only three laps remaining in the race, Magnussen got too far ahead of Schumacher and the German lost the DRS. He was a sitting duck for Hamilton, who eventually got the move done with DRS on the straight before turn 4.
It was Max Verstappen who won the sprint race, leading from start to finish. He earned the first grid slot and an extra 8 points towards his championship battle. He will start alongside Charles Leclerc.
