Preview for the 2022 Austrian Sprint Race

Max Verstappen took pole on Friday, but there was only a gap of 0.029 seconds to Leclerc, who says he is "ready to get the points the team deserves" there are 8 points on offer for the winner today. Is this an insight of a close sprint race to come?

The big stories:

Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crashed out in Q3. Hamilton crashed earlier in the session and was left with more damage to his car but Russell also had damage and received a warning from the stewards for entering the track without permission. Hamilton starts P9 and Russell P4 after Perez's disqualification. Were the something to do with the Mercedes car? Can the drivers recover in the sprint race?

We have already mentioned it but Sergio Perez has received a disqualifcation from Q3 and starts the sprint race from P13. In the Q2 session, Perez exceeded track limits and finished in P2, however, this was not fully investigated by the stewards until after Q3 had finished. It was decided that Perez had indeed exceeded track limits. He was disqualified from Q3  where he qualified P4 and starts where his first Q2 lap put him; P13. The Red Bulls have shown decent race pace this season which should give Perez some comfort as he has to gain a lot of positions in the sprint race today.

Valtteri Bottas is taking a new engine and will be receiving a penalty for it which has caused some confusion. This penalty will be taken in the race and not the sprint race. For the sprint race, he will start in P12 where he qualified on Friday but for the race, he will start from P20 regardless of where he finishes today.

Both Haas drivers reached Q3 for only the third time this year. Kevin Magnussen starts the sprint P6 and Mick Schumacher P7. Will the sprint race be as good as their qualifying?