Winner: Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen converted his P2 grid spot to P1 within five corners of the opening lap, using his superior straight line speed and more trimmed rear wing compared to the McLarens to sail past Oscar Piastri.
From there, he was able to use it to hold off Piastri, and Norris as he closed in on the back of his teammate towards the mid-phase of the 15 laps, and crossed the line P1. But that’s not to say it was easy for Verstappen, who said he did 15 qualifying laps to keep them behind!
It’s the four time champion’s 12th Sprint race win, making him the winningest driver in the Sprint format since it began in 2021. But it’s also Red Bull’s first win of any format since Imola when Verstappen won the grand prix.
With the break in parc ferme now and the chance to make changes, will Red Bull stick with the winning formula of lower downforce or opt to switch to a higher downforce package to better suit the forecasted chance of rain tomorrow?
Loser: McLaren
Though McLaren were not ‘losers’ as such, with both of their drivers finishing in the top three, it was a disappointing result for Piastri particularly who had put the pressure on Verstappen from the time the lead switched to the end.
Piastri did hold the lead off the line with an impressive launch, but ultimately succumbed to Verstappen’s lower downforce setup and the advantage this gave him through the flat-out first phase of the lap. For Norris, he suffered a similar fate into Les Combes on lap 1 but to Charles Leclerc. Despite recovering his P3 position on lap three he had to hold it to the end as he couldn’t make enough progress over Piastri to challenge for P2.
Winner: Haas
Esteban Ocon’s P5 finish and a P7 for Ollie Bearman earned Haas a double points finish in the Sprint. It was Bearman’s first points paying position finish since Miami, though the points were later taken away following a penalty.
Credit: Haas F1 Media / Getty Images.
Their sprint qualifying set up this result perfectly, with both drivers holding on to their starting positions from the start to the finish of the 15 laps. Given that Bearman hasn’t scored points in the grand prix format since Bahrain, he’ll be hoping this performance can continue…
Winner: Carlos Sainz
A 6th place finish for Carlos Sainz has earned Williams their best ever Sprint race result, but also showed a much needed sign of progression for Sainz himself after an issue with his FW47 saw him miss half of the sole hour of free practice.
Credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli.
He called his Sprint qualifying result of P6 a “big turnaround” with this result solidifying it for him and the team, and with new parts on the Williams this weekend, including a new floor, could there be hope of this converting into a similar result later on?
Loser: Mercedes
Mercedes will be wanting to move on from the Sprint phase of the weekend as soon as possible and shift their focus to qualifying and the grand prix.
A poor Sprint qualifying showing from both Russell and Antonelli left them starting from 13th and 19th respectively, and while both made up some positions over the 15 laps, it wasn’t enough to reach the top 8 for points. Russell finished in P12 while Antonelli was P17.
Even so, they may take hope for the remainder of the weekend from their top six finishes in FP1, as long as no further small but costly errors are made…
Loser: Lewis Hamilton
It was a similar story to Antonelli’s for Lewis Hamilton, as a mistake on his last run of Sprint qualifying kicked the rear out on him into the bus-stop chicane and spun off track – leaving him out and P18 on the grid.
But even to that point, Hamilton had struggled to get up to speed with Ferrari’s long-awaited rear suspension upgrade with his first run of SQ1 putting him in the drop zone following a moment in T14-15.
With very little action through the field over the Sprint, Hamilton pulled off two of the four changes of position in the 15 laps to gain marginally on where he started and cross the line in P15.
The P4 result for Leclerc will show Hamilton that there’s hope of the upgrades clicking, but with a tight turnaround from the end of the Sprint to qualifying, can he and Ferrari work something out?
