Oscar Piastri finished second in the sprint race ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, having benefitted from a bold lunge from teammate Lando Norris on eventual winner Max Verstappen.
On the fifth lap of the Red Bull Ring in Austria’s Styrian Mountains, Norris made a huge dive on Verstappen into the turn three hairpin.
He managed to get the move done, but Verstappen was able to fight back on the run to turn four.
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A slight lock-up from the Dutchman carted both he and Norris wide, which allowed Piastri to slip down the inside. He got the move done around the outside of the next left-hander.
Verstappen was never headed from therein, to claim a 4.6-second victory over Piastri.
Norris closed in on his Aussie teammate in the closing laps and crossed the line only 0.7 behind.
Earlier, the race was shortened by a lap when the original race start was aborted after a group of photographers were deemed to be in a dangerous position at the first turn.
The cars were lined up ready to go when yellow lights on the starting gantry started flashing, and the cars were sent on a second formation lap.
”That’s strange … I don’t think I’ve seen that before,” Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle said.
Piastri said he was more or less happy with his race, but didn’t have the pace to challenge Verstappen.
“I finished one spot higher than I started, but didn’t have the pace in the second half of that one,” he said.
“I thought Max and Lando were going to pave the way through for me at one point, but not quite … A good points haul compared to the other teams around us.”
It was Verstappen’s third sprint victory of the year. Piastri was the last driver who wasn’t the three-time world champion to win a sprint race, having done so in Qatar at the end of last season.
The win extends Verstappen’s lead over Norris by two points in the championship standings, with the defending champion now leading his rival by 71 points.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who is third in the overall standings, only managed seventh.
Having qualified in 16th, Daniel Ricciardo made up a spot to finish in 15th.
– With AP