Max Verstappen victorious in thrilling sprint at COTA

19th October 2024

Credit: Mark Sutton / Getty Images

RED Bull's Max Verstappen took the checkered flag after 19 laps of intense racing, securing the top spot ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in second place and championship rival McLaren's Lando Norris, who held on to third.

"It feels a bit like old times. I am very happy with today. I think if you look at the whole race, Ferrari was also very quick, but I think for us, finally, we're racing again," Verstappen said in the post-race interview. "There’s always a bit more pressure [on sprint weekends], but luckily it’s working out for us."

The sprint race format rewards only the top eight drivers with points, making every position a valuable fight. The scoring system awards 8 points to the race winner, with decreasing points awarded to subsequent positions. Each position from second to eighth receives one point less than the position ahead, with the eighth-place finisher earning 1 point.

With this win, Verstappen adds two more points to his lead over Norris, who now trails by 54 points.

The action kicked off with Norris, starting in fourth, leaping into second place on lap one. Behind him, Mercedes' Sir Lewis Hamilton, who started seventh, gained a position to find himself directly behind the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sainz, with the latter putting in the standout performance of the race.

The Spaniard attacked his teammate Leclerc, battling wheel-to-wheel until finally making a move stick on lap five to take fourth. The de facto second driver at Ferrari continued his charge, chasing down Mercedes' George Russell, whom he eventually caught and passed with 10 laps to go, moving into third. Leclerc followed closely, overtaking the struggling Russell, who was battling issues with his front-left tyre.

Sainz persisted, and on the final lap, he pressured Norris into a lockup at Turn 1, sweeping past the McLaren to snatch second place.

"[It was] a good sprint; if the sprints are like this, you always enjoy them," Sainz remarked after the race. "We had a lot of battles, especially in the first five laps, and toward the end, I started to struggle with the tyres. But I saw Lando also struggling, and I thought, if I could get him into the [Drag Reduction System zone], I would have my chance to finish in P2, and yes, we made it stick into Turn 1. It was a fun one," he added with a broad smile.

Though disappointed to lose second place, Norris remained upbeat. "It was a good race. I’m pretty happy with how things ended up. It was tough; I thought I could hold onto second, but Carlos did a good job. My front tires were completely finished. There wasn’t a lot I could do—whether I defended or not, I would have lost the position," he said. "We didn’t have the pace to match Max or Ferrari, so I’m happy with third and the points."

As the sprint concluded, the remainder of the points were shared between Leclerc, finishing fourth, Russell in fifth, and Hamilton in sixth. Haas had their best result of the season, with both drivers snatching up the last points available by finishing seventh and eighth.

With the sprint race behind them, teams now reset and prepare for qualifying later this evening, where they will fight to secure the highest positions in the order for the Grand Prix tomorrow (October 20).