Mercedes feared missing Austrian GP if cars were damaged in sprint race

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both had heavy accidents in Friday’s Q3 session in qualifying, and the former was forced to switch to the spare chassis, which was built up for him on Saturday morning.

Both drivers lost their rear wings in the accidents, and the only spare example of the low-drag spec prepared for the Austrian GP was given to Hamilton, as he was further down the grid and thus had more overtaking to do. Russell meanwhile was obliged to switch to a less…