Austrian GP 2022 - Sprint: Easy Saturday victory for Max Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz follow

Max Verstappen enjoyed an easy Sprint victory in Spielberg, with Charles Leclerc in P2, and Carlos Sainz in P3.

Formation Lap: Fernando Alonso got wheeled into the pits, as Alpine detected an issue with his car, which the team wasn't able to resolve, with the Spaniard not starting the Sprint. Guanyu Zhou stopped his Alfa Romeo on track at the end of the formation lap, and was later able to restart his car and get going again, but had to start from the pitlane. Drivers were told to do another formation lap.

Sprint Start: Max Verstappen was able to keep the lead of the Sprint, with Carlos Sainz overtaking his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, for P2. Lewis Hamilton got squeezed by Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, with the latter spinning and dropping to P18. The Ferrari battle went on, with Leclerc passing Sainz again, regaining P2.

Lap 8: Alex Albon got given a 5-second penalty for forcing Lando Norris off the track at T3.

Lap 9-10: Having already made up 5 places, Sergio Perez passed the Haas pair to find himself up to P6.

Lap 11: After some contact with Alex Albon, Sebastian Vettel spun at T6, finding himself in the gravel, rejoining last.

Lap 23: Aston Martin called Vettel to pit, in order to retire the car, as he picked up some damage after his battle with Albon.

Max Verstappen drove his Red Bull to an easy Sprint victory, with Charles Leclerc in P2 and Carlos Sainz in P3.

George Russell finished in P4, recovering well from his Friday crash, just ahead of Sergio Perez in P5, who made up 8 places, having started from P13. Esteban Ocon in P6, followed by the Haas driver, Kevin Magnussen, in P7, and Lewis Hamilton in P8, completing the points-awarded finishers.

Full Sprint Classification: