Red Bull’s Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship after winning today’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman withstood early pressure from McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to cruise home and increase his lead over Norris to 71 points.
Piastri came second after overtaking Norris on lap five.
George Russell in the Mercedes finished fourth.
He was asked a few questions at the start but Max had the answers 👊
An #F1Sprint masterclass from Verstappen 👏#F1 #AustrianGP @redbullracing pic.twitter.com/EMVDwCddvB
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 29, 2024
Verstappen, for whom it was a 10th sprint victory, said: “It was a good first lap but once the DRS opens it is very hard to get out of it, took a few laps. Few exciting battles as well but once we cleared the DRS I could do my own race. We have two cars pushing flat out making things difficult for me.
“We had to work for it. A few things to think about what we can do better for tomorrow especially, like longer races, harder on the tyres and we’ll have to see how that can evolve.”
Piastri said: “I finished one spot higher than I started but didn’t quite have the pace in the second part of the lap. Thought Max and Lando were going to pave the way for me to come through at one point but not quite!
“Some things to look out for this afternoon for tomorrow’s race but we’ll definitely take the points – it’s a really good haul compared to the other teams around us.”
