Max Verstappen wins wet sprint race at the Red Bull Ring: 'Race went very well'

Published on 01 July 2023 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen won the wet sprint race in Austria dominantly. At the start of the race, the two-time World Champion was overtaken by his Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez. After an intense fight in the first lap, Max managed to regain the lead, and his victory was no longer in danger. With a lead of 21 seconds ahead of Perez, Max won the sprint race. Carlos Sainz finished third in his Ferrari.

After the sprint race, Max says: “The start was not ideal, I had a bit of wheelspin. But after lap one, once we got back in the lead, it was good. I was just managing the tyres, knowing that if it wasn’t going to rain anymore, 24 laps on an intermediate is quite a lot. But they were hanging in there. Of course the last five laps the slicks were quite a bit faster, but I think that for us, being so far in the lead, it didn’t make sense to pit. During the last few laps I had some cars on slick tyres passing me, and fighting. I just had to stay alert. We looked after the tyres, which worked out. And the race itself went very well.”

At the start of the race, on the straight into turn three, Max was pushed into the grass by Perez. About this moment, Max tells: “It was a little bit of a scary moment, when you get forced onto the grass. It’s very slippery, but we managed to keep the car under control. At the moment I was pretty angry, because I didn’t know why it happened. After the race we talked about it, and he said that he didn’t see me. I trust his word, and it’s all good now. I broke late into turn three, and we went two wide into turn four. Then we settled in, saw that we had the pace and I could extend the gap.”

Finally, Max focuses on Dilano van ‘t Hoff. The 18-year-old Dutch racing talent died earlier on Saturday in a tragic accident during a FRECA race at Spa-Francorchamps. “We heard after the sprint shootout, and it’s incredibly sad,” Max says. “My condolences to his family and the team of MP-Motorsport. We have to look into these kinds of situations, to see what we can do better to protect drivers. I’ve seen videos of the race, and it was very wet. It was totally unnecessary to restart the race. There’s a lot of water when you restart, and you can’t see anything through the spray. Drivers in the back of the field, who have nothing to lose, go full throttle and then you get these kinds of accidents, which should not happen. We have to look at how we can reduce the spray, and of course the safety of the car must also be looked at, but at this moment it is just very sad.”      

Rain is falling down on the Red Bull Ring at the start of the 24 laps lasting sprint race. Because of the weather conditions, all drivers start on intermediates, except for Valtteri Bottas, who wants to take a shot on the medium compound tyres. However, the Finnish driver pits after the warm-up lap and switches to intermediates as well. Max does not have a great start and in turn one, he loses first place to Sergio Perez. Verstappen gets pushed onto the grass by his teammate on the straight leading to turn three, but the Dutchman counters directly in turn three and regains the lead. Perez tries to get alongside him in turn four, but Verstappen defends his place successfully. Started on P4, Nico Hulkenberg takes advantage of the battling teammates and overtakes Perez, climbing to P2. Carlos Sainz is right behind in P4, followed by Lance Stroll in P5. 

With a clear track ahead of him, which is drying up quickly, Max extends the gap to the other drivers. By lap ten, Max is already eight seconds ahead of Hulkenberg. Perez, still in P3, is chasing the Haas of the German driver. He passes the Haas in lap 12, retaking second place. One lap later, Sainz also overtakes Hulkenberg, who is clearly struggling with his tyres.

In lap 17, George Russell is the first one to take the gamble and switch to slicks. A few others from the backfield follow his lead. Hulkenberg, in P4, is the only driver from the front of the field to pit for slicks. Race leader Verstappen has created a giant gap between him and Perez, and decides to stay out and continue the race on intermediates. He eventually wins the race with a 21 second lead on teammate Perez. Sainz finishes third, followed by the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso in P4 and P5. In the final laps, Hulkenberg on slicks flies through the field and finishes sixth. He is the first driver that finishes on slicks. Esteban Ocon and George Russell take the last points of this sprint race by finishing P7 and P8. On the finish line, the difference between the French driver and the British driver is only nine thousandths of a second.  

The Grand Prix of Austria will start Sunday at 15:00 Dutch time.

Contest GP Austria: win a 1:4 Max Verstappen World Champion 2022 helmet!

Results sprint race Austria: