Max Verstappen’s recent domination at the Red Bull Ring continued on Saturday as the Dutchman led from lights out to chequered flag to win the Sprint race.
The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, who won both races in Austria twelve months ago, held off the early challenge from Scuderia Ferrari to take the victory and the eight points on offer for the win.
Verstappen feels it will be close again between Red Bull and Ferrari during Sunday’s main race in Austria, but he will be looking to extend his incredible run at the circuit and his lead in the Drivers’ Championship.
“It feels good to bring home the Sprint win at here at The Red Bull Ring,” said Verstappen. “The first two laps were important for me to pull a gap, from there it was all about maintaining the pace.
“The Sprint race of course does not give you the full picture heading into the race tomorrow, but pace wise, it’s close between us and Ferrari. I still expect it to be a tough battle tomorrow, we’ll also have the hard tyres so it will be interesting to see how they perform during the race.
“It’s going to be very important to make good strategy calls during the race as you never know what can happen, it’s not going to be straightforward but I’m looking forward to it.”
“We got the most we could out of the Sprint” – Sergio Pérez
Team-mate Sergio Pérez enjoyed a strong recovery drive from thirteenth on the grid following his penalty after Qualifying, with the Mexican ending the day in fifth.
Pérez gained five places on the opening lap to run eighth, and he then found his way ahead of Mick Schumacher, Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon to take fifth. However, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s George Russell was too far ahead for him to make any further gains.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Pérez hopes to make further gains to fight for the podium, but he knows he will need to make a good start if he is to get ahead of Russell to ensure he finds himself in the battle at the front.
“It was a good race and recovery, I had a good start and kept out of trouble, it was tricky with Lewis [Hamilton] and a lot of people going side by side into turn three,” said Pérez. “We got the most we could out of the Sprint and I feel it is a strong result from us.
“Once I got past everybody, George Russell was a bit far for me to catch up with, I wish I had got back up to P4 but I can fight from fifth.
“There are lessons we can take from the Sprint race to make sure we are on the podium tomorrow. Patience will be key on Sunday; I want to get a good start and get in the mix straight away in the race.
“I made up four places in the first lap today so hopefully tomorrow is the same. We are still to unlock some potential from the car so we can look forward to the race.”
