Max Verstappen takes the win in a dramatic Sprint Race at COTA

IMAGE: pedrik via Wikipedia Commons

Max Verstappen takes the win in the Sprint Race after a dramatic opening lap saw both McLaren's out of the race. 

The Dutchman's win today sees him collect eight points and close the gap to 55 points between himself and current championship leader Piastri. 

George Russell comes home in P2 as he didn't quite have the answers to take the lead despite a close attempt on Lap 8 and Carlos Sainz comes home in P3 and makes it a second podium in three races. 

As it happened

Lights out and Verstappen got away well and was well out in front reaching Turn 1 comfortably in front but there was drama behind.

Oscar Piastri, who also had a great start, was looking to get passed his teammate into the first corner but chaos reigned as Nico Hulkenberg made contact with the rear of Piastri's McLaren who in turn tagged the back of Lando Norris. The latter spun and the Briton's race came to a premature end. 

Piastri and Hulkenberg both tried to limp back round to the pit lane but the Aussie was forced to stop before he could make it back and a Kick Sauber front wing goes flying and lands on the racing line.

Fernando Alonso was also out of the race as contact with Hulkenberg amid the Turn 1 chaos meant he was collateral damage. 

With the Safety Car out on track, Hulkenberg was able to continue in the race but had fallen down the order to P15 after pitting to make repairs to the car. 

The Safety Car ended at the end of Lap 5 and Verstappen handled the restart well getting the jump on Russell making into Turn 1 first by a good margin, whilst stewards announced that there wouldn't be any further investigations into the first lap incident. 

Russell was doing well to stick to the back of the Red Bull who was struggling to pull more than a seconds gap to the Mercedes. With DRS enabled, Russell was looking for opportunities to make a move on the race leader. 

On Lap 8, the Briton was able to capiltise on the Dutchman's lack of grip out in front and went for the overtake with a big lunge from quite far back going into Turn 12. Both of the drivers went off the track and rejoined with Verstappen still in the lead. Stewards looked into the incident but deemed there was no investigation required. 

The Ferraris battled it out on Lap 9 and Lewis Hamilton managed to make the move on his teammate Charles Leclerc to take P4, a positive race so far from the team in red after they struggled in Sprint Qualifying yesterday. 

Lap 11 and Verstappen was complaining on the radio that the rear of the car was not riding the kerbs well as the he continued to struggle for grip out on track but despite this, the gap had grown between himself and Russell in second place. 

Chaos reigned at Turn 1 once again on Lap 16 when Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon got entangled as the Aston Martin looked to make the move past the Frenchman. Ocon suffered when Stroll locked up and made contact, ending his race in the process.

Whilst it initially looked as though Stroll was going to try and continue, he too stopped out on track at Turn 3 as damage to his car meant he was unable to safely return to the pits - and the safety car was called upon again. The blows kept coming for the Canadian, who was handed a five place grid penalty post race for the Grand Prix on Sunday. 

Ultimately, that is how the race ended, behind a Safety Car, and it was Verstappen to take the chequered flag to covert Sprint Pole to a Race win for the second year running. 

It was Russell who came home in second, followed by Sainz in third which puts the Spaniard into the top 10 of the drivers standings for the first time this season. 

P4 went to Hamilton, followed by Leclerc, Alex Albon, and Yuki Tsunoda with Kimi Antonelli taking the final points place due to Ollie Bearman being handed a 10 second time penalty for his battle with the Italian earlier on. 

It was then Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar that followed with Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, and Bearman rounding up the order with only 15 drivers finishing the race. 

Later on will be Qualifying for tomorrow's United States Grand Prix and there is plenty of action to come that is not to be missed!

Katie Shepherd 
Writer - F1 Journal