Before us, the fifth sprint race in the history of Formula 1 is presented to society, all of them on different circuits, and the second of this 2022 season after the one that happened in Imola last April. The stage on this occasion is the Red Bull Ring, which hosts an Austrian Grand Prix whose final grid will be decided in just under half an hour, as long as there are no incidents that delay the end of a contest with very lively overtones.
The pole of the event will already appear in the history records for Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman will have to defend that first place from today against the attacks of the Ferrari. Charles Leclerc will start alongside him, and Carlos Sainz will do so just behind in third place, reinforced after his first pole position and victory last weekend at Silverstone. The Spaniard, yes, could have his hands full against the potential attacks of George Russell, who has shown he has the machine to fight for podium positions.
The presence of the two Haas cars in high positions, with Kevin Magnussen in sixth place and Mick Schumacher in seventh, promises to be an interesting disruptive element in the middle zone, from which Fernando Alonso will seek to be a reference again starting from eighth Market Stall. For this he will not only have to overtake the aforementioned drivers, but also an Esteban Ocon who allows himself a license to dream from fifth place.
However, the Asturian driver should not lose sight of the rear-view mirror either, since two faster cars a priori start behind him. He will soon have to battle with Lewis Hamilton, ninth after his accident in Q3, and it is not ruled out that Sergio Pérez will do the same later, after his track limit infringement in Q2 has retroactively cost him his place in the final round and a fall to 13th place in the table that he will have to amend to correct his recent losing streak.
Being a remarkably short circuit, the planned 24 laps is the longest of a sprint to date, but it will go by quite quickly. As this is a circuit that invites much more offensive maneuvers compared to the venue of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, several competitors could be inclined to leave caution behind and win today what may be more complicated tomorrow, even at the risk of losing more still.