F1 2023: Verstappen reigns supreme at a wet Austrian GP sprint, Perez and Sainz follow behind

It was a picture-perfect finish for Red Bull Racing, at their home circuit in Spielberg. The sprint started with the two Red Bull drivers in first and second and ended the same way. Max Verstappen was the man to beat and no one had any answer to his pace in the wet. Completing the entire sprint on Intermediate tyres, Verstappen was able to fight off an early charge by teammate Sergio Perez.Finishing in third place was Carlos Sainz who silently had a solid run to gain two places and end on the podium.
The track was wet enough for the entire grid to bolt on Inters, except for Valtteri Bottas who was staring from P19. The Finnish driver was the only one to use Medium tyres but soon realised that the gamble was not going to work and had to come into the pits after the warm-up lap.

Sergio Perez got a better launch and was able to challenge Max for the lead. The two got really close a couple of times and Max even got pushed onto the grass. At the next corner, it was Max, who was not able to turn very quickly and this pushed Perez wider. The exhilarating battle ended with the two-time World Champion taking the lead and from there on, no one could pass him. The battle with Verstappen caused Perez to lose a place to Hulkenberg who was right behind the Red Bull pair. Lando Norris had a terrible start and fell from P3 to P10 due to the crowding at Turn 3. Further back, Lewis Hamilton was able to gain five places early on to slot himself behind teammate George Russell.
Nico Hulkenberg was running a solid race and was able to hang on to second place till Lap 12. Perez initially looked like he was unable to keep pace with the Haas but came back strong. At the very next lap, it was Carlos Sainz who overtook Hulkenberg, who was not starting to struggle for grip. Further back, the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen was in a fight with the two Mercedes for P11. Russell and Hamilton were able to overtake the Dane in Lap 9 and Lap 10, respectively.
An exciting battle was brewing between Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris who were fighting to keep hold of the final points place. Leclerc had secured a sixth-place start during the shootout but a penalty for impeding Piastri resulted in a three-place grid drop. Ocon defended brilliantly against the charge of Leclerc and Norris. While Leclerc looked like he had the pace to overtake, a few mistakes ultimately meant that he finished the race well outside the points.
Russell came in for soft tyres on Lap 15, causing a chain reaction with other drivers also pitting for dry tyres in the next few laps. On the same lap, the track was deemed dry enough to enable DRS. After being overtaken by Lance Stroll on Lap 17, Hulkenberg came in for a tyre change as well. He go onto the mediums and had enough pace to finish the race in P6. Alex Albon had been running in P7 until this point and it looked like Williams was on course to get two more points. However, he had to come in for a tyre change during Lap 19 and got pushed further down the order. A slow pit stop did not help the cause either and the Thai driver crossed the finish line in P13.

Stroll came on the radio early on in the race to suggest that his teammate, Fernando Alonso should not fight him since they were running in fifth and sixth, respectively. However, the last lap saw the two Astons fighting for fourth position and it was Stroll who finished ahead. Ocon and George crossed the line with a few inches between them but it was Ocon who was able to hang onto P7. For the second time this year, Norris started on the podium but was not able to capitalise on it, finishing just outside the points in ninth.