F1 | Red Bull, Verstappen wins the Sprint Race: “Mercedes are close again”

Max Verstappen takes, by force, that pole that he would have liked to conquer yesterday too. At the start of this unprecedented Sprint Qualifying the Dutchman waited for the traffic light to turn green with the front left discs in focus, but despite this it was he who had the best "sprint", taking the lead of the group by force and breaking away from rival Lewis Hamilton, the fastest in traditional qualifying yesterday. Verstappen thus effortlessly wins his fourth consecutive pole position, the eighth of his career, in front of Sir Lewis' fans. With the Sprint Qualifying Max also wins three world championship points, while the Mercedes driver, second, gains only two, but the real spoils to be won will be tomorrow's: both cars had blistering on the fronts, and who knows who will be at the front tomorrow lead the group from the end of the first lap to the checkered flag.

F1 | Sprint Race, no! Useless, fake and out of context

"It was fun. Obviously I'm happy with these three points, it's funny to have taken pole after a race, but it's good – said the Dutchman – on this track it is difficult to overtake, but we had a great start followed by a good fight with Lewis on the first lap. From there we tried to dictate the pace, but we kept teasing and pushing, as demonstrated by the blistering on the tyres, which we all had to manage. Starting with a smaller fuel load allowed us to push the cars more in the fast corners, lap after lap, and this didn't help the tyres, but it was the same for everyone. Now we can no longer modify the cars for tomorrow, and today we once again had confirmation that we are really close to the Mercedes. It seems like we are very fast in the corners, while they are fast on the straight, so I think we can expect an exciting race and the team has managed the new format really well for this weekend. I also want to say a huge thank you to the fans. I know I'm here mainly for the British riders but it's still nice to see them cheering and all I want is to give them a good fight with Lewis and the rest tomorrow".