Tag: sprint

Norris feeling ‘stupid and silly’ after sprint loss

Lando Norris says he was “stupid and silly” allowing Max Verstappen a chance to regain the lead from him in the Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix as he dropped to third place. Verstappen led from pole but was under pressure in the early laps on …

Lando Norris says he was “stupid and silly” allowing Max Verstappen a chance to regain the lead from him in the Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix as he dropped to third place.

Verstappen led from pole but was under pressure in the early laps on Saturday, and Norris overtook the Red Bull into Turn 3 to take the lead. However, Verstappen got him back down the inside into Turn 4 in a move that allowed Oscar Piastri to follow Verstappen through and take second place, with the positions remaining unchanged until the finish.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“It was a good battle,” Norris said. “I knew there were not going to be too many opportunities to try and do it, so I had to go for a bit of a move into Turn 3, and then I was just pretty stupid into Turn 4 and left the door open. So not a lot to be honest, was two corners we battled, and that was it and then Oscar managed to come past.

“So I tried, obviously it didn’t go to plan, but the pace in the car was pretty good and I think we gave it a good shot but it wasn’t quite enough today. It was nice to have two cars up there, nice to have two cars trying to fight against Max, and that’s what we need on Sunday.

“We’re saying this every weekend now so I’m not going to say it again … but I needed to do a better job and I just did something pretty stupid and silly which was not very smart of me. But no, I think a good amount of points, it could have been a lot worse and for the team it was still a good result and the result we wanted, so I’m happy, but I need to do things better.”

Norris believes McLaren needs to find a little bit more performance ahead of qualifying to try and beat Verstappen to pole later on Saturday and change the picture heading into the race, but says he’ll also try and learn from his own driving for future battles too.

“Not much. It’s tiny, tiny things. I think as a race car we’re still missing a tiny bit but that’s not my excuse. For today I think nothing more than Turn 4, I think if I just defended and didn’t leave the door open a different story would have happened. That might have been just one corner and Max would probably have attacked me again the next lap. I don’t know, there’s nothing in particular.

“I mean, I’m not feeling great, and it’s still those little opportunities I just feel like I miss out on and in hindsight I think ‘how stupid was I to do some of the things that I’ve done?’ but at the same time I’m doing the best I can when I’m on the track.

“So I don’t necessarily think about what people are thinking from the outside, I know I’ve done things that are not good enough and things that aren’t at the level that they need to be, and I’m doing my best to improve on them. That’s all I can do for now.”

Norris was audibly not at full health and coughed on a number of occasions when speaking after the Sprint, but says he’s not unwell enough for it to notably impact his performance.

“I can’t say how much it’s affecting me. It’s not helping, that’s probably the main thing, but I wouldn’t say anything that’s changing my performance on track. It’s not to that level. So just talking, so stop asking me stuff and I’ll be happy! Nothing that’s affecting me I don’t think, but small things away from the track and just being tired and not sleeping good and that kind of stuff. So I’m sure a little bit, but nothing that I would use as an excuse to help me on track.”

Verstappen beats Piastri in Austria GP sprint race

Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint from pole after fending off front-row starter Lando Norris in an early duel. The sprint was reduced by a lap after an aborted start owing to photographers standing behind the barriers at Turn 1, and …

Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint from pole after fending off front-row starter Lando Norris in an early duel.

The sprint was reduced by a lap after an aborted start owing to photographers standing behind the barriers at Turn 1, and Verstappen had no trouble keeping Norris at bay off the line when the race eventually got going. But Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri, starting third, clung close to the back of the Red Bull Racing car, the advantage of which was notably reduced without the benefit of DRS. It was a great boost to the chasing McLarens, who were both able to click open their drag reduction systems at the end of the first lap to harry the championship leader.

Norris was the fastest man on track on the second lap, but his looks on either side of the Dutchman at the top of the hill at Turn 3 were deftly closed, holding him and Piastri at bay. It took a deep lunge from a long way back on lap 5 to force the issue, with Norris block passing down Verstappen inside at Turn 3 to relieve him of position.

It was to be short lived, however. Norris ran wide, and Verstappen was able to get a strong launch off the corner to run side by side on the run down to Turn 4, where he pried open the door down the inside of the downhill right-hander to take back the lead.

It caught Norris unawares, so much so that an opportunistic Piastri was able to barge through the open door after Verstappen. The two teammates were neck and neck down to Turn 6, where a gutsy move around the outside confirmed Piastri in second and bumped Norris down to third.

It was Piastri’s turn to chase the lead, but it was a forlorn pursuit. By lap 9 the Dutchman’s lead stretch just over 1s, and without DRS the chasing McLarens were unable to follow him up the road. It was a cruise for the title leader form there, with Verstappen claiming victory by 4.6s.

“Once DRS opens, it’s very hard to get out of it,” Verstappen said. “It took a few laps – a few exciting battles as well.

“You could see two cars pushing flat out trying to make it difficult for me. We had to work for it in that race.”

Norris dropped back from Piastri through the middle phase of the race but closed back in the final laps to pressure his teammate to cough up second place. The Australian wouldn’t be defeated, however, to take his best sprint finish and equal best finish in any session of the season.

“I finished one spot higher than I started but didn’t quite have good pace in the second half of that one,” he said. “Some things to look at for this afternoon and for tomorrow’s race, but we’ll definitely take the points. It’s a good haul.”

Norris was disappointed to have lost two positions in as many corners, but he was left optimistic that his team could close the gap to the front for Sunday’s grand prix.

“A good race between us, especially with Max at the beginning,” he said. “There were some things I definitely should have done better in my battle, but I understand that.

“The pace of the car was very strong, especially at the end of the race. I don’t think we probably would’ve had the pace to go with Max … but tomorrow’s another day, and we’ll try again.”

George Russell lost fourth place to Carlos Sainz on the first lap, but by lap 8 the Mercedes driver had resumed the position, leading home the Spaniard and teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc gained three places off the line to finish seventh ahead of a wayward Sergio Perez, who crossed the line a lonely eighth for the final point of the sprint.

Kevin Magnussen has a strong race to ninth, up two places on the grid, ahead of Lance Stroll, likewise up a pair of places. Those gains came at the expense of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, both down three places on the first lap.

Yuki Tsunoda finished 13th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who will see the stewards after the race for forcing Fernando Alonso off track late in the race at Turn 3, costing the Spaniard a place to Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian and Spaniard finishing 15th and 16th.

Logan Sargeant finished 17th ahead of teammate Alex Albon, who started from pit lane with setup changes, and Sauber teammates Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

Verstappen beats Norris to pole for Austrian GP sprint

Max Verstappen will start the Austria sprint race from pole position after claiming top spot in Friday qualifying from growing rival Lando Norris. The sprint qualifying rules left enough time for just one lap per driver in the top 10, and the …

Max Verstappen will start the Austria sprint race from pole position after claiming top spot in Friday qualifying from growing rival Lando Norris.

The sprint qualifying rules left enough time for just one lap per driver in the top 10, and the session rapidly boiled down to being a straight fight between Verstappen and Norris, the only two drivers to have taken poles in sprint races so far this season.

Norris was the first between them over the line, gapping the field — led by McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri — by 0.208s. Verstappen followed him shortly afterwards, and having set purple sectors in the first and last splits by slender margins, he pipped Norris by 0.093s for his second sprint pole of the season.

“It’s been a good day so far,” he said. “It’s nice to drive the car. I think immediately the car was well balanced.

“Everything has been working really well — a good start to the weekend. I’m happy with today.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Norris will start ahead of Piastri and Mercedes driver George Russell, who was 0.368s off the pace.

Carlos Sainz qualified fifth and 0.44s back as the only Ferrari driver who set a time in the top-10 shootout. Charles Leclerc was forced to stop in pit lane with what appeared to be a tripped anti-stall system, and though he was able to restart and join the session, he missed the checkered flag by a matter of seconds, leaving him 10th without a time.

Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth after a scrappy qualifying session that almost saw him eliminate in SQ1 after running off the track exiting Turn 6. He was 0.584s off the pace.

Sergio Perez underwhelmed for Red Bull Racing in seventh and 1.322s adrift, beating Alpine’s Esteban Ocon by less than 0.1s, with Pierre Gasly in the sister French car trailing further back in ninth ahead of the lapless Leclerc.

Kevin Magnussen was only 0.049s shy of a top-10 berth after a last-gasp lap at the end of SQ2, qualifying 11th.

Lance Stroll outqualified teammate Fernando Alonso by 0.031s. It’s the sixth time this year that the newly re-signed Stroll qualified ahead of Alonso in a grand prix or sprint qualifying session, bringing his head-to-head tally to 6-7 in the Spaniard’s favor — and 2-1 in his favor for sprints — on another disappointing afternoon of underperformance for Aston Martin.

Yuki Tsunoda qualified 14th ahead of Logan Sargeant in 15th after having both his SQ2 laps deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 6.

It’s only the second time Sargeant has outqualified teammate Alex Albon in his more than a season alongside the Thai driver at Williams, the previous occasion being sprint qualifying in Miami earlier this year.

Daniel Ricciardo will line up 16th, having missed out on progression by just 0.024s to teammate Tsunoda. It’s a stark comedown for the Australian, who qualified fourth for the previous sprint in Miami and who is fighting to retain his seat at RB.

Nico Hulkenberg will line up 17th ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Albon, while Zhou Guanyu qualified last for the fourth time in the last six qualifying sessions, the Chinese driver 0.443s off the back of the pack.

‘Better not to race’ in Sprints – Alonso

Fernando Alonso says the Sprint format is showing it is “better not to race” on a Saturday due to the impact on tire usage and the penalty points he received at the Chinese Grand Prix. The stewards gave Alonso a retrospective 10-second time penalty …

Fernando Alonso says the Sprint format is showing it is “better not to race” on a Saturday due to the impact on tire usage and the penalty points he received at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The stewards gave Alonso a retrospective 10-second time penalty and three penalty points for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz when fighting for a top three position in China’s Sprint, leaving him halfway to a race ban. The penalty points appeared particularly harsh despite the pair making contact, and with Alonso then forced into an unusual strategy on Sunday where he made an extra pit stop due to a lack of hard tires, he says sitting out the Sprint would have been a better option.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I think getting more tires will be good because in FP1 it is a game of who can run less and who uses less sets of tires, so it is a shame for the fans,” Alonso said. “And then, the Sprint, if they want it for the show and for overtaking and you don’t let them race, it is better not to race.

“We didn’t have any more hard tires (on Sunday). We had one soft and one medium and 35 laps in front of us, which, in our calculations, it was not possible to make it to the end. Obviously, there were a lot of safety car laps to remove the Sauber and once the safety car came in – more safety car laps because they crashed.

“The best thing is not to do the Sprint, probably, on Saturday, to keep a set of tires for Sunday. There are few points on the table for us if you are not winning the race and you risk penalty points and things like that, so it is better maybe not to race.”

Despite his frustrations, Alonso says his fightback to seventh place in Shanghai was “a miracle again” as he overtook Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton in the final stint.

“The truth is that it was a very good race for me, I had a lot of fun,” he said. “I attacked at the end, in the last stint with the newest tires, which gave me the chance to do the fastest lap of the race, so it was a good feeling.

“The safety car lasted too long, especially the second one and to the people who didn’t have to stop anymore helped them to keep the tires a bit longer, but we finished four seconds behind [George] Russell, ten seconds behind a Ferrari, which is totally unthinkable.

“When we are given the opportunity, like the start, that we are all on a level playing field, we are back to gaining a place and having fun. And then, when the cars drop back to their natural position, it’s a miracle again that we finish seventh.”

Alonso halfway to ban after penalty for Sainz collision in Sprint

Fernando Alonso has accumulated more penalty points after being deemed responsible for a collision with Carlos Sainz in the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix. The Aston Martin driver was running second for the first part of the race before being …

Fernando Alonso has accumulated more penalty points after being deemed responsible for a collision with Carlos Sainz in the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin driver was running second for the first part of the race before being overtaken by Max Verstappen, and then was driving defensively to hold off a queue of cars including Sainz, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris for the final top-three spot.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Late in the Sprint, Sainz managed to find his way past around the outside of Turn 7 as the pair made light contact, but Alonso then tried to re-take the position into Turn 9 and pushed both off the track with another touch.

The stewards decided that Alonso was at fault for the collision – that damaged Sainz’s car and gave himself a puncture – and handed him a 10-second time penalty as well as three penalty points.

While the time penalty is redundant due to the fact that Alonso retired from the Sprint as a result of his puncture, the penalty points move him to a total of six accumulated in the 12-month period. Alonso has picked all six points up in the past three race weekends, with the first three coming for the incident with George Russell at the end of the Australian Grand Prix.

If a driver picks up 12 penalty points across a single 12-month period then they receive an automatic one-race ban.

Speaking before the penalty was handed out, Alonso claimed Sainz was to blame for not leaving him more room at Turn 9 during their fight.

“As we didn’t have many tires, we kept Max two laps behind, with Carlos it was some more laps,” Alonso said. “Turn 7 I think we were evenly matched, then in Turn 8 I tried to go to the outside, but he opened the line to not leave me room, so, in Turn 9 I did the same thing he did in Turn 8.

“I did the same thing he did in Turn 8, I tried to go to the inside to not leave him room on the line, but in Turn 8 I opened up so we didn’t touch, in Turn 9 he didn’t open up, so we touched and in the end I got the worst part because I had to retire,. But it doesn’t hurt much because it would only be one or two points and it was fun, good for that part.”

Verstappen beats Hamilton for China Sprint win

Max Verstappen won the first F1 sprint of the year after passing Lewis Hamilton for the lead with 10 laps to go. Hamilton snatched the lead from polesitter Land Norris at the start, getting the better launch to run side by side into the first turn. …

Max Verstappen won the first F1 sprint of the year after passing Lewis Hamilton for the lead with 10 laps to go.

Hamilton snatched the lead from polesitter Land Norris at the start, getting the better launch to run side by side into the first turn.

The Mercedes driver had the inside line through the long, tightening right-hand bend. Norris attempted gamely to hold position, but grip from the slippery track abandoned him on the outside line. He understeered off the road and down to seventh, well out of victory contention.

Hamilton led Fernando Alonso from a surprisingly subdued Verstappen in third in the opening laps, with the Dutchman even briefly coming under attack from Carlos Sainz.

The reigning champion complained over radio that his battery was flat. Race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase instructed him to make some engine mode changes, after which his pace improved markedly.

On lap 7 he made an easy DRS pass on Alonso for second place down the long back straight, and by the following tour he was applying pressure to Hamilton, who locked up into the final-sector hairpin attempting to manage the gap.

The RB20 was all over the gearbox of the Mercedes on lap 9, and DRS on the back straight was more than enough to get him into the lead.

From top spot he gapped the field with embarrassing ease, putting two seconds in just one lap on his way to a dominant 13s victory in a 19-lap sprint.

“The first few laps were quite hectic,” Verstappen said. “They were pushing quite hard up front, and then of course I had Carlos behind with new tires.

“But then we became stronger and I felt a bit more comfortable with the balance of the car as well, and I could look after my tires, so very pleased for that.”

Despite being no match for Verstappen and struggling for turn-in through the slow corners, Hamilton was slick in second to cement the place, his best sprint finish since the United States Grand Prix.

“That’s the best result I’ve had in a long time, so of course I’m super, super happy and grateful,” he said.

“We couldn’t fight the Red Bulls today, but this is a huge step and improvement.

“I’m excited for [the grand prix] tomorrow.”

By the time Verstappen hit the lead, Sergio Perez in the sister Red Bull Racing car was showing strong pace too, but the Mexican was bottled behind the punchy Sainz.

The Ferrari driver was happily benefitting from Alonso’s DRS to aid his defense, which brought Charles Leclerc from sixth into play for the final podium place.

If it had been a deliberate defensive strategy by Alonso, it bit him hard on lap 16 when Sainz lunged on the Aston Martin into Turn 6, getting the better exit on switchback to take the place.

Alonso followed him through the sweeping Turns 7 and 8 and attempted to slip back through on the brakes at Turn 9, but the move caused contact, putting both drivers wide and allowing Perez to seize third place and gap the squabbling pack.

“It was really difficult to get through Carlos, through Fernando,” he said. “We were fighting and obviously we all had high degradation following each other.”

Things got worse for Alonso, who picked up a front-right puncture from the melee and was forced to retire.

Sainz now had Leclerc to worry about, with the Monegasque hoping to capitalize on the clash to follow Perez up the road.

DRS helped Leclerc draw side by side with Sainz on the brakes into the Turn 14 hairpin, but the Spaniard was super aggressive in defense, carrying both cars past the apex and banging wheels to hold the place.

Leclerc was frustrated but undeterred, getting his teammate back through Turns 1 and 2 to seal fourth ahead of Sainz in fifth, but the Monegasque was angered by the friendly fire post race.

“He’s fighting me more than the others,” he lamented, calling for peace talks.

Norris was unable to recover from his poor start, finishing sixth ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in seventh.

George Russell, the only driver to gamble on the soft compound rather than the medium, scored the final point for eighth, up from 11th.

Zhou Guanyu finished ninth ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who completed the top 10 as the leader of a long DRS train that neutralized the battle for the lower places.

Daniel Ricciardo was first in the queue ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon.

Logan Sargeant finished 18th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg at the back of the field after claiming he was pushed off track in a battle with Stroll at the start.

Verstappen strikes back in dominant Chinese GP Sprint win

Max Verstappen rebounded from a surprisingly subdued showing in qualifying to dominate the first F1 Sprint of the year after passing Lewis Hamilton for the lead with 10 laps to go. Hamilton snatched the lead from polesitter Lando Norris at the …

Max Verstappen rebounded from a surprisingly subdued showing in qualifying to dominate the first F1 Sprint of the year after passing Lewis Hamilton for the lead with 10 laps to go.

Hamilton snatched the lead from polesitter Lando Norris at the start, getting the better launch to run side by side into the first turn. The Mercedes driver had the inside line through the long, tightening right-hand bend. Norris attempted gamely to hold position, but grip from the slippery track abandoned him on the outside line. He understeered off the road and down to seventh, well out of victory contention.

Hamilton led Fernando Alonso from a surprisingly subdued Verstappen in third in the opening laps, with the Dutchman even briefly coming under attack from Carlos Sainz. The reigning champion complained over radio that his battery was flat. Race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase instructed him to make some engine mode changes, after which his pace improved markedly.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

On lap 7 he made an easy DRS pass on Alonso for second place down the long back straight, and by the following tour he was applying pressure to Hamilton, who locked up into the final-sector hairpin attempting to manage the gap. The RB20 was all over the gearbox of the Mercedes on lap 9, and DRS on the back straight was more than enough to get him into the lead.

From the top spot he gapped the field with embarrassing ease, putting two seconds in just one lap on his way to a dominant 13s victory in a 19-lap sprint.

“The first few laps were quite hectic,” Verstappen said. “They were pushing quite hard up front, and then of course I had Carlos behind with new tires. But then we became stronger and I felt a bit more comfortable with the balance of the car as well, and I could look after my tires, so very pleased for that.”

Despite being no match for Verstappen and struggling for turn-in through the slow corners, Hamilton was slick in second to cement the place, his best Sprint finish since the United States Grand Prix.

“That’s the best result I’ve had in a long time, so of course I’m super, super happy and grateful,” he said. “We couldn’t fight the Red Bulls today, but this is a huge step and improvement. I’m excited for [the grand prix] tomorrow.”

By the time Verstappen hit the lead, Sergio Perez in the sister Red Bull Racing car was showing strong pace too, but the Mexican was bottled behind the punchy Sainz. The Ferrari driver was happily benefitting from Alonso’s DRS to aid his defense, which brought Charles Leclerc from sixth into play for the final podium place.

If it had been a deliberate defensive strategy by Alonso, it bit him hard on lap 16 when Sainz lunged on the Aston Martin into Turn 6, getting the better exit on switchback to take the place.

Alonso followed him through the sweeping Turns 7 and 8 and attempted to slip back through on the brakes at Turn 9, but the move caused contact, putting both drivers wide and allowing Perez to seize third place and gap the squabbling pack.

“It was really difficult to get through Carlos, through Fernando,” he said. “We were fighting and obviously we all had high degradation following each other.”

Things got worse for Alonso, who picked up a right-front puncture from the melee and was forced to retire.

Sainz now had Leclerc to worry about, with the Monegasque hoping to capitalize on the clash to follow Perez up the road. DRS helped Leclerc draw side by side with Sainz on the brakes into the Turn 14 hairpin, but the Spaniard was very aggressive in defense, carrying both cars past the apex and banging wheels to hold the place.

Leclerc was frustrated but undeterred, getting his teammate back through Turns 1 and 2 to seal fourth ahead of Sainz in fifth, but the Monegasque was angered by the friendly fire post race.

“He’s fighting me more than the others,” he lamented, calling for peace talks.

Norris was unable to recover from his poor start, finishing sixth ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in seventh.

George Russell, the only driver to gamble on the soft compound tire rather than the medium, scored the final point for eighth, up from 11th.

Zhou Guanyu finished ninth ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who completed the top 10 as the leader of a long DRS train that neutralized the battle for the lower places.

Daniel Ricciardo was first in the queue ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon.

Logan Sargeant finished 18th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg at the back of the field after claiming he was pushed off track in a battle with Stroll at the start.

Piastri leads McLaren front row lockout for Sprint

Oscar Piastri beat teammate Lando Norris to first place on the grid for the Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix as both drivers beat Max Verstappen on outright pace. It was a delayed start to the session as a result of the track limits changes that had …

Oscar Piastri beat teammate Lando Norris to first place on the grid for the Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix as both drivers beat Max Verstappen on outright pace.

It was a delayed start to the session as a result of the track limits changes that had been imposed to try and negate concerns over tire safety, with Turn 12 and Turn 13 tightened on the exit curbs by 80cm. That led to a 10-minute familiarization session before SQ1 got underway 20 minutes after it was originally intended to, but still didn’t avoid multiple lap times being deleted.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Verstappen had his best time erased in SQ3 but it ultimately wouldn’t have changed his third place starting position, with Lando Norris also failing to improve on his second lap when going wide at the final corner. The meant Piastri’s time of a 1m24.454 led the way, with Norris second on a 1m24.536.

“Very, very happy,” Piastri said. “I might give the FIA five minutes to make sure I’m actually on pole! But as long as that’s OK, I’m very, very happy. It was a pretty good lap, I saw Lando on the big screen, he made a mistake in the last corner, I don’t know how his lap was looking like, but I’m very, very happy.

“Obviously Max is only starting third, he’s not a million miles away, but we’ll try our best. Obviously it’s a bit of a question mark on tires. We’ll try our best and see what we can pull off.”

Sergio Perez will start eighth which means the result still leaves Verstappen poised to be crowned drivers’ champion for a third time as he only needs a top-six finish in the Sprint regardless of Perez’s result, while Perez can only have any chance of delaying the title confirmation to Sunday if he finishes in the top three.

Alongside Verstappen will be George Russell, with an all-Ferrari third row for the Sprint after Fernando Alonso had his final lap deleted, dropping him from fifth to ninth on the grid. Nico Hulkenebrg starts ahead of Perez, while Esteban Ocon rounds out the top ten after seeing his only time of SQ3 invalidated too.

There was a shock elimination in SQ2 as Lewis Hamilton also fell foul of track limits – this time at Turn 5 where no changes had been made – and ending up 12th on the Sprint grid, one spot behind Pierre Gasly. Valtteri Bottas, Liam Lawson and Zhou Guanyu also were eliminated at the second stage, with Lawson going too far wide at the penultimate corner and admitting: “Yeah I f****d up, sorry. My bad guys.”

Of the five drivers to be eliminated in SQ1, four of them lost their final attempts to track limits violations, with only Lance Stroll in 16th retaining his time. Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant joined the Canadian in dropping out, with Sargeant losing each of his timed laps and not setting a time within 107% but being permitted to race given his previous lap times in practice and Friday’s qualifying session.

Albon was cited for twice going off on his best lap – at Turn 5 and Turn 13 – while it was the modified Turn 13 that proved costly for the other three.

Hamilton disputes penalty over collision Perez says caused ‘massive damage’

Sergio Perez says the collision with Lewis Hamilton caused “massive damage” to his car that led to his retirement from the Sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix, but the Mercedes driver feels the penalty he received for it was harsh. Hamilton was trying …

Sergio Perez says the collision with Lewis Hamilton caused “massive damage” to his car that led to his retirement from the Sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix, but the Mercedes driver feels the penalty he received for it was harsh.

Hamilton was trying to overtake Perez on the inside having got a run out of Stavelot in wet conditions, but the pair touched through the following right-hander and the Red Bull stayed ahead at the time. The contact saw Perez suffer damage that cost him significant performance and as he dropped through the field the team opted to retire his car, with Hamilton getting a five-second time penalty for the incident.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“Yeah, it was massive damage from the contact from Lewis,” Perez said. “He just took out the whole right-hand side of the car. He damaged the floor and sidepod so that was game over — we lost too much grip with it.

“Basically he ran out of grip and could not stop his car and just went into the side of me and damaged my floor and that was very unfortunate.

“I think he was in a bit of a hurry. Everyone was in a hurry to recover today — it’s a very short race and you need to take that level of risk. But not nice to get my race ruined by him.”

However, Hamilton felt the collision didn’t warrant punishment and referenced Ayrton Senna when stating he felt he was in a position to try and make the move stick.

“Not really much to say — racing incident I think,” Hamilton said. “I tried to go up the inside … I mean my only thought is it’s tricky conditions out there, we’re all trying our best, and of course it wasn’t intentional.

“I think I went for a gap, he was slow going through (Turn) 14, I went up the inside, I was more than half a car length on the inside, and if you no longer go for a gap you’re no longer a racing driver as Ayrton said, so that’s what I did. When I watched it back it felt like a racing incident to me.”

Although he didn’t agree with the penalty, Hamilton says he is less concerned about the lost points in a sprint event when he wasn’t in contention for victory, as he was demoted from fourth to seventh in the classification.

“In a race like today I honestly don’t really care too much, you don’t get too many points. Of course it would have been nice to have finished fourth but I don’t really care to finish fourth, I want to win. Fourth, seventh — doesn’t really make a difference.”

Verstappen overhauls Piastri for sprint win at Spa

Max Verstappen won a delayed wet sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix while teammate Sergio Perez retired following contact with Lewis Hamilton. Oscar Piastri threatened to ruin Red Bull’s perfect season for a spell as he led after pit stops but had to …

Max Verstappen won a delayed wet sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix while teammate Sergio Perez retired following contact with Lewis Hamilton.

Oscar Piastri threatened to ruin Red Bull’s perfect season for a spell as he led after pit stops but had to settle for second, with Pierre Gasly holding off Hamilton for third on the road even before a penalty was applied to the Mercedes driver.

The sprint had already been pushed back by 35 minutes due to weather-induced delays to the Sprint Shootout, and then race control had to do the same as two heavy showers approached just prior to the sprint start.

The first downpour occurred just when the grid would have begun the formation lap, and then a further delay was announced for a second heavy shower before the field headed off behind the safety car 30 minutes later than originally planned.

After four additional formation laps to reduce spray, the race began with a rolling start and Verstappen stayed out despite most drivers reporting the conditions were good enough for intermediate tires. Piastri and Carlos Sainz came in from second and third respectively, as each team chose to pit one car each immediately.

Aside from the McLaren and Ferrari drivers, Gasly, Hamilton, Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg all got the first stop for their teams, with the remainder all coming in at the end of the first lap.

A rare error from Fernando Alonso brought out the safety car on lap 3 as the Aston Martin driver — bottled up behind Hulkenberg — got onto the exit curb at Pouhon and lost the rear, spinning multiple times as he ended up beached in the gravel. It took two full laps to recover his car, resuming racing at the end of lap 5 with Verstappen having been told Piastri was struggling with his left-side tires.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised, he’s sliding everywhere,” came the reply.

When racing resumed, Verstappen duly cleared Piastri by breezing past in a straight line before Les Combes and pulled away to win comfortably, but his Red Bull team-mate was having a tougher afternoon.

On lap 6, Hamilton tried to overtake Perez at Stavelot and the pair made contact through the following corner, leaving the Mexican’s Red Bull with a hole in its sidepod. Hamilton was forced to slot in behind but then overtook into La Source on the next lap, with Perez dropping through the field and sliding off track at Stavelot a lap later before retiring.

Despite the contact being light as the pair fought in wet conditions, Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty for causing a collision and duly slipped to seventh in the final standings having crossed the line in fourth.

Hamilton had been putting pressure on Gasly but the Frenchman held him off to the tune of a second to secure his first top-three finish for Alpine.

Hamilton’s penalty promoted Sainz and Charles Leclerc after both Ferraris dropped out in the pits, with Lando Norris also benefiting in sixth but unable to find a way past Leclerc ahead.

Daniel Ricciardo had delivered a strong drive but having climbed into eighth place, he saw his chance of a first point since returning with AlphaTauri taken away by George Russell starting the penultimate lap. Ricciardo was also then passed by Esteban Ocon in the final sector to end up 10th, with only the top eight scoring.