The second sprint race of the F1 2022 season brought plenty of drama at the Red Bull Ring as Max Verstappen took first place gaining 8 points followed by the Ferrari’s of Leclerc in P2 and Sainz in P3 who gained 7 and 6 points respectively. The other drivers receiving points are Russell, Perez, Ocon, Magnussen and Hamilton.
The drama began as Fernando Alonso failed to start the formation lap as the car had not had the tyre blankets removed, the plan was then to start from the pitlane however the issue could not be resolved therefore Alonso was not able to participate in the sprint. Zhou also faced issues at the start of the race with his engine on the formation lap and started from the pitlane, finishing P14. Pierre Gasly made contact with Hamilton in the first lap and dropped from P10 to P18 but managed to make up places to end up in P15.
Championship leader Max Verstappen took P1 after a dominant drive at Red Bull Racing’s home race in front of the orange army resulting in him securing the maximum 8 points.
Further back Schumacher in the Haas had an exciting battle for P8 with Hamilton in the Mercedes which saw some great defending from Mick however on lap 21 Lewis was able to overtake finishing in P8 receiving 1 point.
After having his lap times deleted for track limits in qualifying, Sergio Perez started the sprint from P13 and had an excellent drive seeing him secure P5 by the end of the race.
There was disappointment for Sebastian Vettel who started at the back of the grid but made-up places to come in at P14, however, after contact with Albon in the Williams he was running in P19 and forced to retire. Albon had also pushed Lando Norris off the track earlier in the race resulting in a 5 second time penalty finishing in P16 and his teammate Nicholas Latifi in P18.
The Mclarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo made up places at the beginning of the race after a disappointing qualifying yesterday saw them start from P15 and P16 managing to come in at P11 and P12.
A number of drivers have been summoned to the stewards for messages during the formation lap including Ocon, Russell, Stroll, Ricciardo, Schumacher, Perez and Vettel. The drivers concerned received no further action from the FIA after it was concluded that the radio messages were permitted. Vettel was also summoned with regards to his behaviour at the drivers’ meeting on Friday night after leaving the meeting without permission for which he has received a €25,000 suspended fine.