Following a dramatic British GP in which Carlos Sainz clinched his maiden F1 win, Max Verstappen had his championship lead trimmed to 34 points as Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez recovered to second place with the Dutch driver down in seventh after sustaining damage.
Charles Leclerc also chipped into his own deficit, taking it down to 43 points off Verstappen, but was lamenting Ferrari’s strategy call not to pit him under a late safety car as he dropped from the lead to fourth.
Lewis Hamilton led Mercedes’ resurgence, having challenged for the win and ending up third at Silverstone, while his team-mate George Russell had his first DNF of the season as he was involved in the massive start crash which tipped Zhou Guanyu over in his Alfa Romeo F1 car and fired him behind the tyre wall.
Thankfully Zhou was OK after checks in the medical centre, crediting the halo with saving him from serious injury, while in a separate accident Alex Albon was discharged from hospital on Sunday night after taking a heavy hit into the pitwall when he was punted off by an unsighted Sebastian Vettel amid the start chaos.
The Austrian GP sees the return of the sprint race weekend format, having made its first 2022 bow at Imola, which will mean qualifying is moved to Friday evening to make space for the sprint race on Saturday afternoon.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Drew Gibson / Motorsport Images
Full 2022 Austrian GP session timings
Friday 8th July 2022
Free Practice 1: 12:30pm-1:30pm BST (1:30pm-2:30pm local)
Qualifying: 4:00pm-5:00pm BST (5:00pm-6:00pm local)
Saturday 9th July 2022
Free Practice 2: 11:30am-12:30pm BST (12:30pm-1:30pm local)
Sprint Race: 3:30pm-4:30pm BST (4:30pm-5:30pm local)
Sunday 10th July 2022
Race: 2:00pm BST (3:00pm local)
How can I watch Formula 1?
In the United Kingdom Formula 1 is only broadcast live on Sky Sports, with highlights shown on Channel 4 several hours after the race has finished. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK.
Sky Sports F1, which broadcasts the F1 races, can be added as part of the Sky Sports channels which costs £20 a month for new customers. Sky Sports can also be accessed through NOW with a one-off day payment of £11.98p or a month membership of £33.99p per month.
Fans wanting to watch the race for free will have to wait until the Saturday afternoon (qualifying) or Sunday afternoon (race) to see the highlights on Channel 4.
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