F1 Austrian Grand Prix Sprint: Verstappen given BRUTAL mocking as Norris makes 'amateur' claim

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the 2024 Emilia-Romagna GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Austrian Grand Prix Sprint

Verstappen given BRUTAL mocking as Norris makes 'amateur' claim - Top three sprint verdict

The Dutchman came home ahead of both McLaren drivers in the sprint

Rhys Thomas

Saturday 29 June 2024 13:27

Max Verstappen was under fire both on and off track as he fended off both McLaren drivers to win the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint.

Lando Norris momentarily took the lead on lap five after diving down the inside at turn three, but Verstappen returned the favour into the next corner.

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That allowed Oscar Piastri down the inside of his team-mate into P2, and that is the order the top three finished in, marking Verstappen's fifth consecutive sprint triumph.

It was also his tenth sprint win, meaning he was been victorious in two thirds of all F1 sprints.

Here's what the top three had to say after the race.

Max Verstappen

Former Austrian F1 driver Alex Wurz was carrying out the post-race interviews, and wasted no time in mocking Verstappen for his national team's performance against Austria at Euro 2024.

Wurz's nation beat the Netherlands 3-2 in the final matchday of Group D, meaning the Austrians topped the group with the Dutch sneaking through to the Round of 16 as one of the best-performing third-placed teams.

"Let's not talk about football," Wurz joked, before reminding viewers of the result as Verstappen laughed.

On the race, the world champion said: "It was a good first lap but once the DRS opens, it was very hard to get out of it. A few exciting battles as well but once we cleared the DRS, I could do my own race and it was better.

"You could see they had two cars pushing flat-out trying to make it difficult for me. A few things to think about [that] we can do better for tomorrow because it's a longer race and harder for the tyres.

"It will be interesting to see how that evolves."

Oscar Piastri

Piastri took advantage of the scrap for the lead to squeeze ahead of his team-mate, and the Australian was satisfied with his effort.

"I finished one stop higher than I started but just didn’t quite have the pace in the second half of that one," he said.

"I thought Max and Lando were going to pave the way for me to come through at one point, but not quite. There are things to look at for this afternoon and for tomorrow’s race but we’ll definitely take the points – a really good haul compared to the other teams around us."

"I could see that they were battling quite hard and into turn four I saw the move was quite late and I knew that there’d be an opportunity on the exit. I was hoping I would get both but just bided my time and tried my best.

"I think I had probably one opportunity to try to get Max the lap after but just didn’t quite have the pace after that. Being patient at the start paid off a bit."

Lando Norris

Norris, meanwhile, was typically self-critical, ruing the fact that he did not fully close the door on Verstappen having passed him.

"[It was] a good race between us, especially with Max at the beginning it was good fun," he said. "There were definitely things I should have done better in my battle. I understand that and the pace of the car was very strong, especially at the end of the race.

"I had a good battle trying to get past Oscar but didn't quite have enough pace. It was a good race. A good job from the team."

Asked if McLaren could have worked together more as a team, Norris said that was not an issue.

"I think once things settle in too much, once the tyres get hot it's difficult, so I had to make the most of my opportunity," he said of his fight with Verstappen.

"Then I messed it up and left the door open like an amateur. Some things to improve but we are there and can definitely give them a fight tomorrow."

F1 Max Verstappen McLaren FIA Lando Norris Christian Horner