Austria 2024, Sprint Race: Tsolov wins the internal duel with Mansell | FP

Battles from start to finish

Spectacular Sprint Race and at the same time not without some scares at the Red Bull Ring, where he asserted himself for the second time this season Nikola Tsolov. The Bulgarian of ART Grand Prix, after the success achieved in the Monaco Sprint, reasserted himself after a long and hard-fought duel with his teammate Christian Mansell, in a race interrupted on two occasions by the entry of the Safety Car. On one occasion, the safety vehicle entered following a bad impact against the barriers Sebastian Montoya at the entrance to turn 4, with the son of the former Colombian F1 driver who fortunately did not suffer any consequences.

Race report

The first Safety Car regime was already decreed during the first lap, immediately after the contact in Turn 1 between Sztuka and Wurz, with the Polish driver retiring. A start in which Christian Mansell stood out, doing well in overtaking poleman Martinius Stenshorne at the start, while Dino Beganovic’s attempts at a comeback were dashed due to the Swedish Prema driver’s spin, also here in turn 1. After four laps behind the Safety Car, the race resumed regularly on lap 5, initially without overtaking in the top areas of the standings. However, the very short track of the Red Bull Ring favored the compactness of the group, thus allowing the good comebacks of Luke Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli from 18th and 24th place respectively. The first signs of the challenge at the ART Grand Prix between Mansell and Tsolov were seen on lap 7, with the 17-year-old Bulgarian overtaking his teammate, with Stenshorne firmly in the podium area and behind them. The real battle, however, heated up towards the 15th lap, with several attempts by Mansell to gain the lead, all cleverly repelled by Tsolov. The other big duel, even more aggressive, was all for fourth place between Alex Dunne and Sebastian Montoya, not without some contact between the two. The worst occurred on lap 17, with the Irish driver of the MP Motorsport team pushing the Colombian onto the grass just before turn 4, with the son of an artist subsequently losing control of the car and violently impacting the barriers.