Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has cruised to victory in the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race on Saturday.
Like in Friday's qualifying for the main race, Verstappen secured pole in the Sprint shootout on Saturday morning, and he proceeded to prevail largely from start to finish.
In the wet conditions, Verstappen briefly lost first place during a thrilling opening lap, with the Dutchman recovering from letting slip his lead in the first corner to regaining it on the second.
From there, it was a procession, Verstappen winning by over 21 seconds with Perez edging out Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr in the battle for second.
Lance Stroll won the battle of the Aston Martins with Fernando Alonso for fourth and fifth respectively, while Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg had to settle for sixth after spending the first half of the race in second.
Hulkenberg finished strongly after making the decision to swift the medium tyres, overtaking Alpine's Esteban Ocon and McLaren's Lando Norris who stayed on the intermediates.
George Russell was the first to take such an approach and it was enough to claim the final point as he overtook Norris on the final lap.
Lewis Hamilton had to settle for 10th, still an impressive feat having started in 18th, while Charles Leclerc was 12th in the second Ferrari.
Darren Plant
