Max Verstappen has edged out Lando Norris by the smallest of margins to take pole for the Austrian GP. Perez impressed with 3rd, ahead of both Mercedes while George Russell made Q3 for the first time as a Williams driver.
The track conditions were remarkably similar to the qualifying session here last week, but there was an air of anticipation as the tyre compounds were one step softer this weekend.
This was the first race weekend to allow a full capacity crowd, and there was clear support for one individual. Championship leader, Max Verstappen. Seas of orange shirts and a cacophony of noise followed the Dutch driver’s every move.
Q1
Like last week, Verstappen set the initial pace, ahead of both Mercededs and then a very competitive midfield. But, this was disturbed as Norris and Alonso occupied 2nd and 3rd with 5 minutes to go. They would remain in these positions until the end of the session.
Both Haas took their usual positions at the back of the grid while Latifi could only manage18th. Ocon again suffered with 17th place, made worse by his team-mate finishing 3rd. Raikkonen was unable to climb out of Q1, while Giovinaazi cruised through. Ricciardo was comfortably through, but a late lap time deletion put him in 15th, just avoiding relegation.
- 16th Raikkonen
- 17th Ocon
- 18th Latifi
- 19th Schumacher
- 20th Mazepin
Q2
There was a complete mix between the soft and medium tyre throughout the grid as strategy calls started to take charge. The midfield was incredibly unpredictable, with Norris and Vettel making it into the top 5 on their intial runs. Half a second covered the top 11, while Verstappen was 0.2s clear at the front of the grid.
The elimination zone was one of the most frantic in recent memory, with cars jumping out, and getting relegated back constantly. Bottas was in serious trouble until his last lap, the Finn just escaped elimination.
Shockingly, both Ferrari cars were out in 11th and 12th after strong race pace all weekend. They were pipped to 10th place by a phenomenal performance by Russell, on the medium compound tyre. This was the first time a Williams had made Q3 since the 2018 Italian GP.
Ricciardo could only manage 13th, Alonso fell back from his previous strong performance and finished 14th ahead of Giovinazzi. However, replays showed that Alonso was held up by Vettel on the last corner of his flying lap, destroying his time. The Spaniard was livid as he crossed the line.
- 11th Sainz
- 12th Leclerc
- 13th Ricciardo
- 14th Alonso
- 15th Giovinazzo
Q3
The intial runs put Verstappen first, yet again by 0.2s, but this time ahead of the storming Norris. Mercedes could only manage a provisional 3rd and 4th, while Perez tailed.
Verstappen was unable to improve his time while Norris looked strong, setting purple sectors. Despite a messy lap, Verstappen was just able to cling on to 1st by 0.048s from Norris. Both drivers were incredibly happy with their final positions, but both admitted they should have done a bit better.
Perez leapt up to a strong 3rd while both Mercedes struggled to 4th and 5th. Gasly and Tsunoda lined up in formation while Vettel finished 8th. Russell managed to outqualify Stroll for 9th and is expected to jump up after Vettel meets the stewards.
- Verstappen
- Norris
- Perez
- Hamilton
- Bottas
- Gasly
- Tsunoda
- Vettel
- Russell
- Stroll
As is normal with 2021 qualifying sessions, a tantalising prospect is set up for tomorrow. Red Bull seem fully in control, but Mercedes have strong race pace. Norris will want to convert his best ever grid position to silverware, while numerous midfield drivers will be eyeing large points.
All this and with multiple strategies taking place across the midfield. On paper, a 2 stop will be the quickest, but, which teams are hiding something up their sleeves?
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
