Austin - Sprint

The last event Max won in the 2024 season was the Austrian sprint. Months later, he was set to being the first sprint after the long break on pole. With every point potentially crucial to the slowly brewing championship fight, he was eager to deliver a great performance. But so were Russel, Leclerc, Norris, and Sainz. 

Verstappen had a great start and quickly built up a gap between himself and the rest of the field. Behind him, the drivers fought for every position. While Russel was busy holding off Leclerc from overtaking, Norris found a way to move past both of them and straight into P2. The Monegasque tried to quickly get past the Brit but wasn't able to do so in the first few laps. He couldn't divert all of his attention toward getting on the podium, as he found himself in need of defending from his Ferrari teammate. The two scarlet cars spent a few laps trading positions on various turns until they swapped permanently on lap 6. 

The two weren't the only ones worth watching. Further down the field, Piastri, who started the race 16th, tried to fight his way back into the points. With very little to lose, he drove aggressively and earned himself a 5-second penalty after forcing Gasly off the track. He spent a great part of the race attacking Tsunoda for P10 and making viewers wonder if they were about to see another penalty added to his time. 

Verstappen was comfortably leading Norris, but the fight for the last available step of the podium was wide open. Sainz had his eyes set on overtaking Russel and began closing in on him with every corner. He got past the Brit on lap 9. One lap later, Leclerc repeated his teammate's feat and also overtook the Mercedes, giving Ferrari a temporary 3-4. 

With only a few minutes to go, the time differences between Norris, Sainz, and Leclerc were not big. Right after the last lap of the race began, Sainz took advantage of Norris locking up and quickly moved up to P2. Leclerc saw his chance to also get in front of the McLaren and tried to get as close as possible to the back of the papaya car, looking for the perfect overtaking opportunity. Unfortunately for him, when the moment came, his car slid over the track, taking away his chances of a podium finish. 

After a long winless streak, Verstappen managed to score the maximum available points, to the joy of all Red Bull fans. He extended his championship lead over Norris by two points, which may not seem significant but could end up being crucial in a few weeks. 

Order of the grid:          

1. Max Verstappen

2. Carlos Sainz

3. Lando Norris

4. Charles Leclerc

5. George Russel

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Kevin Magnussen

8. Nico Hulkenberg 

9. Sergio Perez

10. Oscar Piastri

11. Yuki Tsunoda

12. Franco Colapinto

13. Lance Stroll

14. Pierre Gasly

15. Esteban Ocon

16. Liam Lawson

17. Alex Albon 

18. Fernando Alonso 

19. Zhou Guanyu

20. Valtteri Bottas