The sun finally burst through the clouds overlooking the Red Bull Ring on Saturday evening – three hours after the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race had concluded. Rain and low-hanging, misty cloud had otherwise prevailed on a day of glory, reflected tragedy and controversy in the Styrian mountains.
The glory belonged to Max Verstappen and Red Bull – the combination also having a hand in the controversies too. These were a bizarre sprint shootout Q1 clash between Verstappen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, and the Dutchman’s brutal battle with team-mate Sergio Perez in their early sprint race exchanges.
