Qualifying was already a battle for a hundredth of a second, so pole sitter Max Verstappen was wary of the two Ferraris.
After an extra formation lap – because Fernando Alonso couldn’t get his Alpine going – the Dutch World Cup leader got away well. Leclerc also started excellent, but Verstappen was able to cut off his rival.
Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who instilled confidence with his first GP victory at Silverstone, wanted to show once again that he is not satisfied with the status of number 2 of the team. He immediately insisted on Leclerc.
The fierce duel between the two Ferraris gave Verstappen a clear path to victory in the sprint race and the associated 8 World Cup points. Sainz had to bow his head for Leclerc after a braking error. The two Ferraris will start from 2nd and 3rd tomorrow.
In the rear, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton mainly provided the show. Perez, who had been pushed back to 12th place for breaking the track limits in qualifying, put in a great catch-up race. The Mexican made up 8 places and will start tomorrow in 5th, behind George Russell.
Hamilton also had a similar scenario in mind, but the seven-time world champion was tapped by Gasly at the start. The Briton was then stuck with his Mercedes for a long time behind Mick Schumacher, who was able to defend his position in the DRS train for a long time. In the end, the German had to fold and give up his World Cup point for 8th place.
