Bottas fends Verstappen off to win the Sprint after Hamilton’s bad start drops him down to 5th behind both McLarens.

Formula 1’s second ever Sprint Qualifying took a surprising turn of events after a costly mistake from Hamilton handed Bottas the lead, and allowing title rival Verstappen to gain 2 additional points for finishing as the sprint runner-up. His terrible start dropped him down to 5th behind the McLarens, where he would often be within DRS range of Lando Norris but unable to pass after multiple attempts. The battle of the two Brits however did not distract the audience from Ricciardo’s redemption, the Aussie finished 3rd after a long season struggling to adapt to his new car, and it seems that he has finally found his footing on the McLaren with the impressive drive today. Bottas’s grid penalty would also mean that Ricciardo will line up on the front row alongside Verstappen, marking it as McLaren’s first front row start since Mexico 2018.

Pierre Gasly unfortunately ran out of luck this time as he slightly clipped his front wing against Ricciardo’s car, before the wing eventually detached which caused him to lose control, sending him to the barriers. Gasly’s retirement bumped the Ferraris up a spot, with Leclerc and Sainz finishing 6th and 7th respectively.

Antonio Giovinazzi impresses at home, passing Sergio Perez at the start and chasing the Ferraris for half the race before eventually dropping back and fending off the hard charging Mexican all the way to the end. Perez had barely gotten out of a hard but clean scrap with former teammate Lance Stroll for 9th earlier, a battle so hard that it required the stewards’ investigation. He eventually passed Stroll and charged towards Giovinazzi, while the Canadian managed to fend Alonso and off to seal the top 10 spot.

The grid will all move up a spot as Bottas’ engine penalty sends him to the back of the grid, but will still get to keep his 3 points earned for winning the Sprint.

Full results:

Background Image Credits: Mercedes AMG Petronas, LAT Images