MAX VERSTAPPEN eased to victory in the Austrian GP sprintrace ahead of the main event tomorrow – while Lewis Hamilton claimed a solitary point for finishing eighth.
Dutch world champ Verstappen converted his pole but was helped by Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz scrapping for second behind him.
Hamilton was involved in a crash in qualifying yesterday that meant he started ninth on the grid.
A dramatic start saw him caught in a tangle with Pierre Gasly early on, with the AlphaTauri driver sent spinning after making contact with Hamilton.
But the Brit recovered well and piled the pressure on the Haas' of Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen for almost the entirety of the 23-lap sprint.
The Haas duo did a good job of frustrating Hamilton, with Schumacher benefitting from DRS off Magnussen in front of him to stay ahead of Hamilton.
Finally on lap 22 out of 23 the pressure paid off, and Hamilton snuck past Schumacher to take eighth and the final points position.
There was plenty of drama ahead of tomorrow's race, with Fernando Alonso failing to start after his Alpine team left the tyre covers on his car ahead of the formation lap.
Zhou Guanyu was also forced to start from the pitlane after encountering a problem on the formation lap.
Verstappen though never looked in danger of giving up first after getting away from the Ferrari's well and scooped eight points, as well as securing first on the grid tomorrow.
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Leclerc came home second ahead of Sainz, with Hamilton's Mercedes teammate George Russell fourth.
Sergio Perez (Red Bull) had a storming sprin to come from 13th to fifth, ahead of Esteban Ocon (Alpine) in sixth and Magnussen in seventh.
Hamilton then rounded off the points in eighth.
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