BOITUMELO RANTAO
A thrilling display in Austria went down for pole position, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen taking the top spot ahead of the main event on Sunday.
Verstappen managed to clock his fastest time for Q3 in his first run at 1:03.84, following a successful practice where he led in practices one and two.
“It’s been a very good weekend,” said pole-sitter Verstappen. “Again in qualifying the car was really good to drive.
“It was not easy to deal with the traffic in the last few corners to get a clean run but I think that first lap in Q3 was good enough in the end.
And of course super happy to be on pole here at home. It’s always nice to see a Red Bull car first here,” he added.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top three in second and third respectively, ahead of Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez with their difficult weekend on the track giving Red Bull the advantage.
“I honestly think it was a good qualifying,” Hamilton said on his qualifying results. “I think I’ve been a little bit lost with set-up during the weekend so far, but then to be able to go in the right direction with the set-up.
“We, by working as a team, found the right direction and I think thanks to that I found the confidence in the car.
Bottas’ unlucky weekend in Styria continued during qualifying, where the Finn was punished with a three-place grid penalty for driving dangerously in the pit lane during practice.
“My personal view: it’s quite harsh,” he said of the penalty. “I never imagined after that, that there would be a penalty.
“I think Max and Red Bull were faster today; it [mine] was a good lap and I’m pleased for that. Of course it’s a shame I have the penalty. Obviously, the job today was to maximise the situation,” he said.
He had spun his car in the pit lane after leaving his pit box in second gear and being caught out by the higher wheelspin.
Bottas’ drop to fifth place pushed Hamilton into second; Norris up to fourth; and Charles Leclerc to fifth but he was not the only one to be penalised prior to the race.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, in his second time in the third qualifying session (Q3), was also given a three-place grid penalty, putting him in eleventh place from eighth.
Tsunoda’s teammate Pierre Gasly had a far more successful weekend, even though the Frenchman didn’t partake in the second practice due to an issue with his Honda Power Unit.
In Q3, Gasly’s pace sent him to pole for four seconds before Verstappen claimed the spot in his first lap. Completing two laps on the track, Gasly found himself in sixth position, continuing his impressive form this season.
“I’m really pleased, yes, because we lost some ground yesterday not doing FP2, so we had quite a lot of work today to catch up,” said Gasly.
Gasly added that his drive for Sunday may be difficult to plan due to his power unit issue, leaving him with Tsunoda’s set of data to work from.
“We just have Yuki’s data from yesterday in the long runs so we are going with a bit of unknown into the race tomorrow but we know it’s not going to be easy with the temperature.
“We know the degradation is quite high, so for sure they’re going to be quite a lot of work.
“There might be some rain I heard, so maybe everything changes. Yes we are like many in the same boat starting with the soft compounds but no I’m confident.
“I’m going to work well tonight with Yuki’s data and try to understand as much as I can to get ready for tomorrow.”
Fernando Alonso was quite pleased with his results, securing a spot in Q3 in 9th, reporting “beaauuutiful, so enjoyable!” when crossing the line. His teammate, Esteban Ocon, on the other hand made a shocking exit in Q1 taking the 17th spot.
Mclaren’s Lando Norris secured fourth but moved up to third after Bottas’ penalty was used. Daniel Ricciardo had a less than stellar qualifying session despite performing well in practice, getting knocked out in the second round of qualifying in 13th place.
He was joined by Sebastian Vettel, Antonio Giovinazzi, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll, with Sainz and Stroll getting eliminated due to the deletion of their lap times due to track limits infringements.
George Russell improved his overall qualifying form with his highest position in a Williams car in 11th place. Russell’s spot was then changed to tenth after Tsunoda’s penalty.
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, along with drivers Kimi Räikkönen, Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin were all knocked out in the first round.
Qualification results:
| No. | Pos. | Driver | Team | Q2 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:04.489 | 1:04.433 | 1:03.841 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas* | Mercedes-AMG | 1:04.537 | 1:04.443 | 1:04.035 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG | 1:04.672 | 1:04.512 | 1:04.067 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:04.584 | 1:04.298 | 1:04.120 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:04.638 | 1:04.197 | 1:04.168 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:04.765 | 1:04.429 | 1:04.236 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:04.745 | 1:04.646 | 1:04.472 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda* | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:04.608 | 1:04.631 | 1:04.514 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Racing | 1:04.608 | 1:04.631 | 1:04.514 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:04.821 | 1:04.663 | 1:04.708 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Williams | 1:05.033 | 1:04.671 | – |
| 12 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:04.859 | 1:04.800 | – |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:05.142 | 1:04.808 | – |
| 14 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin Mercedes | 1:05.051 | 1:04.875 | – |
| 15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:05.092 | 1:04.913 | – |
| 16 | 6 | NIcholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes | 1:05.175 | – | – |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:05.217 | – | – |
| 18 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:05.429 | – | – |
| 19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari | 1:06.041 | – | – |
| 20 | 9 | NIkita Mazepin | Haas Ferrari | 1:06.192 | – | – |
*Valtteri Bottas lost 3 places to 5th due to a penalty
*Yuki Tsunoda lost 3 places to 11th due to a penalty.
