Max Verstappen wins the Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix after early pressure from the McLarens briefly saw Norris take a lead.
It was a very clean start from everyone involved, though the short run to turn 1 provided minimal opportunities to gain many places. Oscar Piastri got a better exit out of the first corner than Lando Norris, making an attempt to take 2nd place going into turn 3, though this was defended well. Further behind, Leclerc was able to make some ground on his 10th place start, gaining three places to end lap 1 in 7th, whilst his teammate Carlos Sainz was able to overtake Russell around the outside of turn 4 for fourth place.
The opening laps of the race were characterised by both McLarens being hot on the heels of Max Verstappen, with Norris getting close enough to Verstappen on lap 3 to force him into going defensive, though Norris would not be able to pass at this time.
Lap 5 saw Norris dive down the inside of Verstappen going into turn 3, going very late on the brakes. However, it would seem that he went a little too late, missing the apex of the corner, allowing Verstappen to get a better run down to turn 4, even with Norris having DRS. Though the McLaren driver tried to defend the lead, Verstappen found just enough of a gap on the inside to take back first, all the while Norris would lose out to Piastri and drop down to third, with the Australian being able to get a better exit out of the corner.
Piastri would continue with the pressure on Verstappen for a few laps, though would start to slowly fall away over time, losing out on the 1 second gap needed to gain DRS. Norris would himself begin to slowly fall away from Piastri, being a little under two seconds behind his teammate.
Lap 8 saw Carlos Sainz lose out on the position he gained on Russell on lap 1, with Russell managing to use DRS to his advantage to retake 4th before entering the braking zone at turn 4. For a few laps, the closest battle on track was between the Ferraris and the Mercedes, but everyone was holding position.
Norris began to close back in on Piastri, and was clearly the faster of the two McLarens by this point in the race. In spite of this, Norris wasn’t able to get close enough to make a pass for 2nd, and no team orders were being made, so any defence put up by Piastri was fair game.
Come the final lap the closest battles on track were Norris still trying to overtake Piastri, and Hamilton trying to take 5th from Sainz. Though both drivers were mounting a good amount of pressure, and Norris having created some impressive last lap moments at this track in the past, neither Norris nor Hamilton were able to make any gains by the time the chequered flag fell.
