The Latest Breaking News from Nico Hulkenberg

Red Bull led the way on Friday, with Max Verstappen topping both practice sessions in the utterly-dominant RB19.

Verstappen was quickest in FP1 and FP2, setting the fastest time of the day at 1m28.078s, just 0.022s quicker than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while Alex Albon shone for Williams.

Verstappen nailed the start to head off Leclerc’s run to the inside for the first corner and then dropped him again following an early safety car needed to clear debris from contact between cars back in the pack at Turn 1.

Verstappen nailed the start to head off Leclerc's run to the inside for the first corner and then dropped him again following an early safety car needed to clear debris from contact between cars back in the pack at Turn 1.

Max Verstappen started on pole with two Ferrari behind him for company, with Lewis Hamilton also in the mix while Sergio Perez and George Russell had much more work to do after poor qualifying results

The sun finally burst through the clouds overlooking the Red Bull Ring on Saturday evening – three hours after the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race had concluded. Rain and low-hanging, misty cloud had otherwise prevailed on a day of glory, reflected tragedy and controversy in the Styrian mountains. 

Hulkenberg holds the record for the most F1 starts (189) without a top-three finish.

On Saturday Verstappen won the sprint race from pole position and can complete the clean sweep on Sunday as he starts from pole for the grand prix, after topping Friday’s qualifying. 

Saturday polesitter Verstappen complained of wheelspin off the line in the slippery conditions. This delay allowed Perez to dive up the inside into the Turn 1 right-hander.