Verstappen beats Ferraris to pole in Austria as both Mercedes crash out of Q3
Verstappen beats Ferraris to pole in Austria as both Mercedes crash out of Q3. Max Verstappen qualified on pole for the Sprint on Friday evening at the Red Bull Ring. Both Mercedes drivers crashed out.
Sunny skies greeted the drivers after a rainy morning and lead-up to the Austrian Grand Prix. Qualifying set the grid for Saturday’s Sprint, which will set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton started third in Q2 and Mercedes entered Q3 expecting for pole, but he crashed at Turn 7 and brought out a red flag, leaving him provisionally 10th.
George Russell (P5) spun and crashed minutes later, capping a disastrous afternoon for the Silver Arrows.
After the second Q3 stoppage, Verstappen won the pole with his final flying lap, beating Leclerc by 0.029s and Carlos Sainz by 0.082s.
Sergio Perez finished fourth for Red Bull by 0.420s, with Russell fifth despite crashing out.
Esteban Ocon was next; Fernando Alonso was ninth. Kevin Magnussen finished seventh and Mick Schumacher eighth for Haas.
Pierre Gasly missed Q2 by a tenth of a second while Yuki Tsunoda qualified 14th. Alex Albon finished 12th for Williams ahead of Valtteri Bottas in P13. Lando Norris finished 15th for McLaren after having multiple Q2 laps deleted for breaching track restrictions.
Daniel Ricciardo will start 16th in the Sprint, behind his teammate. Lance Stroll is 17th for Aston Martin and shares the penultimate row alongside Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu.
Nicholas Latifi qualified 19th for the Sprint, with Sebastian Vettel 20th after a disallowed lap.
Perez’s Q3 timings were removed after the session, sending him to P13 and boosting Russell to Bottas.
Q1 – Ricciardo and Aston Martin bow out
Under the beautiful, blue sky, teams quickly emerged for Q1.
With eight minutes left, Verstappen momentarily led but had his lap disallowed, leaving Perez first, ahead of Alonso and Leclerc by 0.057s. Sainz finished fourth after having his first flyer disqualified for track limitations.
With Verstappen and Hamilton unable to set a time and track conditions still ramping up, there was plenty of time on the table – Williams (Albon sliding wide at Turn 9) and Aston Martins in the drop zone with the title leader.
Verstappen lapped in 1m 05.852s with five minutes left. Soon after, the Ferraris moved him down the order, with Sainz second and Leclerc leading by 0.433s.
AlphaTauri’s Gasly made Q2 by 0.024s over McLaren’s Ricciardo in 16th. Vettel was 20th with a deleted lap time, and Stroll was 17th.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou and Williams’ Latifi were between them.
Q2 – Hamilton at bay
Hamilton led Q2 early, with Russell third and Verstappen 0.033s back. That left the Ferraris in P4 and P5, but there was still time and seven drivers to turn a flying lap.
With five minutes remaining, Bottas was in P10, Perez 0.139s behind after going wide at Turn 9, while Norris was last after excursions at Turns 1 and 4. Albon and AlphaTauri were also in danger. Hamilton kept Verstappen 0.093s behind, for now.
Leclerc was 0.087s ahead of Verstappen, while Hamilton was 0.188s behind Sainz. Russell was fifth and Perez sixth.
Magnussen and Schumacher advanced to Q3 for Haas, while Ocon and Alonso did the same for Alpine.
Gasly improved to 11th (missed Q3 by 0.009s), followed by Albon and Bottas. Tsunoda’s displeasure was audible as he grabbed provisional P14 for the Sprint, with Norris having three laps written off. McLaren driver: “I’m afraid to brake.”
Q3 – Both Mercedes crash out
Although nobody was in a hurry to set a time in Q3, it became clear that Perez may have gone wide at Turn 8 in his successful attempt to emerge from Q2 and was therefore called to the Stewards after the session.
Early on, Leclerc led Russell and Ocon, while Hamilton held back on his second attempt (nearly backing into a fast-moving Leclerc) despite a purple first sector, and a roar from the rowdy orange sea of fans welcomed Verstappen. The Dutchman came through, claiming provisional pole by 0.091 seconds over Leclerc, with Sainz in third for Ferrari and Perez in fourth for Red Bull.
Next, a red flag was waved and time was stopped — for Hamilton. Sudden oversteer sent him sliding into the gravel at Turn 7, where the right side of his W13 crashed into the barriers. He abandoned the race and will now start the Sprint in 10th place on a provisional basis.
With only around five minutes remaining in the session, it restarted after a lengthy break. The problem is that this would raise yet another warning sign. The race was halted with two and a half minutes remaining due to an accident involving the other Mercedes driver, Russell, who fortunately walked away from this one.
Verstappen beats Ferraris to pole in Austria as both Mercedes crash out of Q3