Red Bull 'surprised but grateful' for Austrian Sprint race fight between Ferrari drivers

Red Bull ‘surprised but grateful’ for Austrian Sprint race fight between Ferrari drivers. Red Bull 'surprised but grateful' for Sprint fight between Ferrari drivers.

After having firmly squeezed Charles Leclerc in the first meters of the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race start, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had no particular problems in winning the Sprint event at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, which guarantees him the start from pole position in the Sunday race alongside eight world championship points, which have further consolidated his leadership in the standings.

Behind him, in the very early stages, there was in fact an intense fight between the two Ferrari F1-75 cars, with Charles Leclerc recovering the second position from teammate Carlos Sainz, after a good duel between Maranello team’s drivers. A fight that was clearly beautiful in terms of spectacle, but which has raised more than one question among Ferrari fans and the media about the advisability of an internal challenge between the two Maranello cars. Team Principal Mattia Binotto defended the choice to allow them to fight, reiterated both before and after the Sprint, indicating that the world championship is still at an early stage and that therefore the choice – which in the future is not excluded – would be premature for now.

Meanwhile Max Verstappen now has to 44 points ahead of Charles Leclerc and +56 ahead of Carlos Sainz, as Helmut Marko, director of the Red Bull team, was asked about the events in the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint race, admitting his surprise for the fight between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz:

“Ferrari was very close to us. But luckily for us they fought each other. We accept it with a slight surprise, but also with gratitude because this gave Max two seconds ahead and from that moment on he led the race alone”. The analysis of the former Austrian driver then was then focused on the entire race: “As a lesson for the race, we learned that the medium tires lasted longer than we thought. We will see based on the temperatures if we can make one or two stops. Finally Sergio Perez, from thirteenth place on the grid to the fifth final position was more than we expected.” – Helmut Marko explained for the Germans of Speedweek.