By Joe Murphy
Max Verstappen made it two Poles for the price of one after another impressive performance around the Red Bull Ring on Saturday morning, with no summoning to the stewards office on this occasion.
Checo Perez but the disappointment of Friday behind him to make sure he started the Sprint format on the front row alongside his colleague. This coming on the same day as he received backing from Team Principal Christian Horner.
Lando Norris backed up an incredible P4 finish on Friday, going one better to secure a third-place start less than 24 hours later. Nico Hulkenberg also shone to put his Haas alongside the McLaren on the second row.
The Sprint will most likely follow the trend of the rest of the season to date and be dominated by Red Bull, although Ferrari could still score strongly. One team who will not find it so easy is Mercedes who both will struggle to secure any points on Saturday afternoon with a very poor morning leaving George Russell and Lewis Hamilton with it all to do. This was even more surprising when you consider the stride the team have made over the last few weeks.
Keep and eye on Fernando Alonso, he could score well, as could teammate Lance Stroll, especially if cars such as Hulk’s and Lando’s fall back as expected. For the race(s) itself (themselves), it’s near impossible to look beyond Verstappen at the moment. His run of victories will end at some point, but this weekend looks set to continue with the ominous presedent he has set so far in 2023.
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