Max Verstappen takes his 4th consecutive pole at the Red Bull Ring, whilst Sergio Perez fails to make Q3 for the 4th race in a row.
Q1
One of the major stories throughout qualifying was the issue of track limits, as is often the case in Austria. Numerous drivers had lap times deleted from the start of Q1, including the likes of Sainz, Hulkenberg, Norris and Verstappen. The majority of infractions came at the last couple of corners, with drivers looking to carry as much speed as possible through them leading to the limits being pushed as far as possible.
Valtteri Bottas had a mixed first session. He had spun on the exit of turn 1, and seemed to struggle with getting the car going once more. This in turn brought out a red flag, though the Finn was able to eventually continue, finishing Q1 in 15th.
An under pressure Nyck De Vries failed to turn his fortunes around in qualifying. He ended up slowest of everyone, on a day where speculation over his future grew after reports he has four races to save his career.
Eliminated
16. Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri +0.021
17. Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo +0.055
18. Logan Sargeant – Williams +0.185
19. Kevin Magnussen – Haas +0.208
20. Nyck De Vries – Alpha Tauri +0.211
Q2
Sergio Perez saw himself fail to reach Q3 for the 4th race in a row, though it wasn’t for a lack of pace. He had three lap times deleted during Q2, all of which would have seen him comfortably qualify for the next session. However, he will now start Sunday’s race in 15th.
It wasn’t just Perez that track limits caught out however. Esteban Ocon went wide at the last corner, snatching away what would have been a Q3 appearance right at the end of the session, placing the Alpine driver down in 12th.
George Russell underperformed in Q2, only ending up 11th fastest, simply not being quick enough to go through.
Oscar Piastri will be disappointed with qualifying 13th, especially as Lando Norris showed what the McLaren was capable of by being 3rd fastest in Q2. Another driver showing how capable their car could be is Alex Albon, who makes another Q3 appearance in his Williams.
Eliminated
11. George Russell – Mercedes +0.041
12. Esteban Ocon – Alpine +0.066
13. Oscar Piastri– McLaren +0.218
14. Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo +0.293
15. Sergio Perez – Red Bull +61.301
Q3
Max Verstappen set a great benchmark of a 1:04.503, which proved to be just over two tenths faster than Leclerc in 2nd, on the track that produces the shortest lap times of the season. However two tenths was by no means untouchable, managing to improve his time by one tenth to make it a 1:04.391.
Whilst Verstappen would get pole with this time, Leclerc showed why the time improvement was absolutely necessary. He threw his Ferrari round the track, taking it to the absolute limit as he managed to get within less than half a tenth of Verstappen’s pole time. The other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz managed to go 3rd fastest, a little under two tenths behind Verstappen.
Lando Norris continued his fine form during qualifying by going 4th fastest, on the same track where he got his maiden podium back in 2020. Hamilton picked up 5th just behind, whilst the two Aston Martins ended up with Stroll in 6th and Alonso in 7th. This is only the 2nd time Stroll has outqualified Alonso this season.
As this is a Sprint weekend, this qualifying has set the grid for Sunday’s race. Tomorrow morning will feature a Sprint Shootout, that sets the grid for Sprint race in the afternoon.
Qualifying Results
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull 1:04.391
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.048
3. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari +0.190
4. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.267
5. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.428
6. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.502
7. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.520
8. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas +0.699
9. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.779
10. Alex Albon – Williams +1.432
