The 2022 Austrian Grand Prix: Verstappen's sprint, Leclerc's Sunday

In July 2022 Formula 1 returned to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix, one of the races that season to use the sprint format. The F1 Austria gallery has photos from the sprint race, all taken from the fans' grandstands.

A sprint weekend

On sprint weekends, qualifying on Friday sets the grid for a short race on Saturday, roughly a third of the full distance, and the sprint result decides the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. It gives fans competitive racing on every day of the weekend.

On Saturday 9 July Max Verstappen won the sprint from pole for Red Bull. Behind him, the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fought hard for second, and Leclerc came out ahead.

Sunday belonged to Ferrari

In the Grand Prix itself the story turned. Leclerc passed Verstappen for the lead early in the race and won by around a second and a half, with Lewis Hamilton third. It was a reminder that the 2022 season, which Verstappen dominated in the end, was closer at times than the final standings suggest.

A home race for Red Bull

The Red Bull Ring is owned by Red Bull, and the race is effectively a home Grand Prix for the team. It is also a home race for the tens of thousands of Dutch fans who travel to Styria to support Verstappen, turning the grandstands and campsites orange.

A short, fast track

The circuit in the hills near Spielberg is one of the shortest on the calendar, with long uphill straights and heavy braking zones that make overtaking possible. The grandstands look over the whole valley, so even from the fans' seats you see much of the lap.

See the F1 Austria photos, plus F3 and the Porsche Supercup from the same weekend.