Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix with ease, moving farther ahead in the rankings.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari were defeated by the Dutchman, who increased his advantage over Leclerc to 44 points.
When Leclerc pulled away from Sainz’s early challenge and moved far enough ahead of his teammate to lose the DRS overtaking aid, he was assured of second place.
George Russell of Mercedes finished fourth, and Lewis Hamilton came in eighth.
Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly was involved in an accident at the start of the race, which caused him to spin out and become stalled behind the two Haas cars before finally passing Mick Schumacher for the winning point.
The sprint outcome had little bearing on the starting lineup for Sunday’s major event, except from allowing Sergio Perez of Red Bull to move up from 13th to finish fifth, where the Mexican will now line up for the grand prix.
While Hamilton was constrained by the Mercedes’ difficulties in the straight-ahead department, Perez benefited from the Red Bull’s excellent straight-line speed to make good progress.
Fernando Alonso, who had to retire his Alpine before it could even turn a wheel, was the huge loser.