Late change to Austrian sprint grid

Williams driver Alex Albon will start a race from the pit lane for the second consecutive F1 weekend.

Albon qualified a lowly 19th for the Austrian sprint, with the Thai-British driver beaten by team-mate Logan Sargeant.

Williams has now decided to make set-up changes to Albon's car, resulting in a pit-lane start.

A report from technical delegate Jo Bauer confirmed: "The Williams Racing Team has made changes to the set-up of car number 23 with the approval of the FIA technical delegate following a written request.

"Therefore car number 23 should now be required to start from the pit lane according to Article 40.9 of the 2024 Formula One Sporting Regulations."

Stake driver Zhou Guanyu now moves up one place from 20th to 19th on the grid.

For last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, Albon also started from the pit lane after new power unit components were fitted.

Albon had again qualified only 19th, so the team opted to change the energy store and control electronics on his car. Both were the third new element of the season, with only two permitted.