Sprint Highlights | 2024 Austrian Grand Prix

The lights are on. On the right, Verstappen. On the left, Norris. Who's the best for the sprint race here in the Red Bull Ring? What a fantastic start from Verstappen. He's off to a great start. On the outside, Piastri is choosing eggs for his money. And on the outside, Carlos Sainz. But Verstappen is off to a fantastic start. He's not only going into the first corner, but he's got three car lengths. And then the battle between the McLaren racers. It's Piastri on the outside. He's trying to overtake his teammate. But then you have to get out of the way. In the back, everything is going well. Everything is going well. Norris and Piastri next to each other. Sainz and Russell, again next to each other. And this is a great start for Verstappen. Sainz on the outside. Now you have to get to your throttle early. Nice move by the man in the Ferrari. He moves on to fourth place. On the inside, both Aston Martin, Stroll and Okon are together. Stroll overtook Okon. With that, Stroll is in tenth place. But this is the part where the McLaren is so strong. The straight, after corner 1 and corner 3. Look, DRS is driving all the way to the Red Bull. And so Verstappen has to defend. A defensive line doesn't always mean you can accelerate. And Piastri doesn't have to worry about that. From a McLaren perspective, Piastri has to let Norris get going. And then see what happens. Norris on the outside. Verstappen defends. Keeps the door closed. Make sure you don't ruin your exit here. And then now use the DRS to get all the way to the third DRS zone. To dare to attack. Fourteenth the difference. Thirteenth the difference. He's already doing it. He's already doing it. He's shooting, he's shooting. Verstappen, can he get past? He can, indeed. Does he have the DRS? He doesn't. Norris saves it because he can use the DRS. What a great move from Verstappen. On the inside, he's in between. Yes, yes, yes, yes. But he keeps shooting. Piastri is going to take advantage of this, but Verstappen back to the lead. And the McLarens next to each other. They have to work together. Otherwise Verstappen won't be able to beat you on the outside. Then Piastri takes second place. Norris leaves it for what it is. Norris came from very far. He came from very far in this action. But in the end, Verstappen counters. Norris was really helped here by the fact that he could still use the DRS. That's why he could drive away. But Verstappen... He decided to turn his car around right away. He had to. Block a little bit to the right. And Oscar Piastri sees it happen right in front of him. Piastri thinks, if everyone goes too far, I'll just do it. Piastri is 43 hundredths faster than Verstappen in every lap. Piastri doesn't make it. Piastri has to be in the top three when they get to this point... to have a very small chance. But as long as Verstappen has this lead, there is no cloud in the sky. George Russell's blue helmet passes Sainz. Russell to fourth. Sainz can't work at full speed. And that seems to be the case for Oscar Piastri. Norris is faster, but he has to pass him. Daniel Ricciardo complains just before the start... about a car that pulled to one side. He's in a fight with Logan Sargent. Sargent is still sixteenth. But Ricciardo passes him. When we're on board. Here's Bennieke Hulkenberg. Fernando Alonso passes him. But it doesn't take long. Do you think Alonso will be able to pass him on the right? No. Okay. Let's see what Fernando Alonso is up to. The fact that late in a stint... Alonso is really being driven off the track. Some races are wet, others come to you. He has had to fight very hard for Verstappen so far. He had to get rid of the orange attack. Russell in fifth and still Sainz. Hamilton's attack was a bit late. Norris looks, but this is a bit of risk management. I don't know. I don't know. I think he's going to look, even though he doesn't come out of turn three. Yes, okay. He's done. His exit was just not good from turn three. You saw Piastri drive away. Because if he had wanted to do something, he should have done it here. In turn four. There are few chances left. Verstappen is now in turn seven. There are ten of them on this circuit. So he has now reached the final phase of the round. His start was excellent. His defensive work was excellent. But his counter was fantastic. Sprint races are not always as spectacular. But this one was very interesting. And Verstappen wins the first of two races this weekend in the Red Bull Ring. Great job. And also with a big margin. Piastri in second place. 4.6 seconds. And Norris in tenth or seventh place. At McLaren they can blame themselves. At Red Bull nothing at all. Verstappen just does it all over again. It was spicy. He really had to go for it. And we can all, and I hope you at home, enjoy that. Because these are the races, these are the fights that make the Red Bull Ring so beautiful.