Verstappen will start ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell 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.
Austrian Grand Prix grid: Verstappen on pole from Norris
What happened in Austrian Grand Prix Q1?
Russell set the benchmark with a lap time of 1m05.614s, which was quickly beaten by Verstappen’s 1m05.336s and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who set the P1 benchmark at 1m05.263s on fresh soft tyres.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri jumped up to second, 0.048s behind Sainz and 0.025s ahead of Verstappen.
Falling at the first hurdle were Alex Albon (Williams), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), Logan Sargeant (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Sauber).
Austrian GP Q1 results: Sainz fastest from Piastri
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Laps |
| 1 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1’05.263 | 6 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’05.311 | 0.048 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1’05.336 | 0.073 | 6 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’05.450 | 0.187 | 9 |
| 5 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1’05.508 | 0.245 | 9 |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’05.509 | 0.246 | 8 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’05.541 | 0.278 | 6 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB/Honda RBPT | 1’05.563 | 0.300 | 9 |
| 9 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB/Honda RBPT | 1’05.569 | 0.306 | 9 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1’05.574 | 0.311 | 9 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’05.585 | 0.322 | 6 |
| 12 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1’05.587 | 0.324 | 9 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 1’05.596 | 0.333 | 9 |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 1’05.598 | 0.335 | 9 |
| 15 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’05.656 | 0.393 | 9 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 1’05.736 | 0.473 | 9 |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’05.819 | 0.556 | 9 |
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber/Ferrari | 1’05.847 | 0.584 | 9 |
| 19 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 1’05.856 | 0.593 | 9 |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber/Ferrari | 1’06.061 | 0.798 | 9 |
What happened in Austrian Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen set the pace at 1m04.469s, setting two laps good enough for P1. He ended up over half a second clear of the rest, led by Sainz and Russell who set the same time of 1m05.016s.
Knocked out at this point were Daniel Ricciardo (RB), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (RB) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
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