Verstappen will start ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
Both Mercedes drivers – Lewis Hamilton and George Russell – crashed out in Q3, causing red flags.
Austrian Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Leclerc
What happened in Austrian Grand Prix Q1?
Leclerc set the early pace at 1m06.200s, which was quickly beaten by Sergio Perez on 1m06.143s and Verstappen on 1m06.097s, although the latter’s time was deleted for exceeding track limits. Hamilton took P1 with 1m06.079s before Verstappen, Sainz and Leclerc took it away.
Leclerc’s 1m05.419s remained the best time of the session, 0.241s ahead of Sainz and Verstappen.
Falling at the first hurdle were Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).
Austrian Grand Prix Q1 results: Leclerc fastest from Sainz
What happened in Austrian Grand Prix Q2?
Leclerc set the bar at 1m05.774s, which was quickly cleared by Verstappen on 1m05.568s and then Hamilton on 1m15.538s.
Leclerc improved to 1m05.287s in the closing stages, ending the session 0.087s ahead of Verstappen.
Knocked out at this point were Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Alex Albon (Williams), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and a brake-troubled Lando Norris (McLaren), who spent much of the session in run-off zones.
Austrian Grand Prix Q2 results: Leclerc fastest from Verstappen
What happened in Austrian Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Leclerc again set the early pace at 1m05.183s, which Verstappen beat with 1m05.092s. Sainz was two tenths off the pace in third.
Just after the halfway point of the session, Hamilton – who aborted his first run – crashed into the tyre wall on his second push lap at Turn 7, causing a red flag.
The final runs were delayed when Russell also spun and slammed backwards into the wall at Turn 10.
That left just time for one more flying lap for the remaining eight cars, with Leclerc grabbing provisional pole with 1m05.013s and Sainz taking P2 with 1m05.066s, Verstappen saved his best until last with 1m04.984s to take pole in front of an adoring crowd.
Perez will start fourth, ahead of Russell, Esteban Ocon (Alpine), the Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and…
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