Lando Norris put in a dominating performance as he takes pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix by over five tenths.
Q1
Turn 4 proved to be a difficult corner at the start of qualifying, with Verstappen having his car get loose, Piastri running wide and Alonso having a snap of oversteer at that part of the track.
Turn 4 also caught Carlos Sainz, contributing to a compromised lap that led to a third consecutive Q1 exit for the Spaniard.
Yuki Tsunoda had another troublesome qualifying, having been knocked out in 18th place after failing to improve in his final lap.
Turn 4 had also caught out George Russell in Q1, leading to him being four tenths down on 15th place coming out of sector 2. However, his final sector was almighty, and he was able to pull himself through into the second part of qualifying.
ELIMINATED
16. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.051
17. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.086
18. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull +0.091
19. Carlos Sainz – Williams +0.304
20. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber +0.328
Q2
Lawson put in a decent lap early on in Q2, having initially gone faster than both Mercedes and Ferrari cars, as well as being within two tenths of Verstappen.
The Red Bull looked to be a handful to drive. Tsunoda had complained of a lack of front grip after he got eliminated, and Verstappen had said he himself had no grip whatsoever.
Lewis Hamilton had dipped a couple of tyres onto the grass at the final corner on his second lap, which caused a fire to take place at that part of the track, bringing out the red flag.
The Mercedes cars appeared to struggle in the heat. While both were able to make it through to Q3, Antonelli was very much on the bubble, and Russell had been slower than the likes of Gasly and Bortoleto in what are realistically slower cars.
ELIMINATED
11. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.076
12. Alexander Albon Williams +0.153
13. Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.174
14. Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.236
15. Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.260
Q3
The McLarens had been the class of the field in Q1 and Q2, and that was no different at the start of Q3, with Norris leading both Piastri and Leclerc after their first runs.
Verstappen had looked as though he was going to be pushing towards the sharper end towards the end of Q3, even if he wasn’t challenging for pole position. However, something caused him to back out of that lap, and he will be resigned to starting tomorrow’s race in seventh.
A yellow flag seemingly caused by Pierre Gasly appeared to compromise Piastri’s lap, meaning he was unable to set a faster time and put his car onto the front row.
Norris was able to go even quicker on his final run, extending the gap between him and Leclerc to over half a second, and breaking a streak of five consecutive Verstappen poles at the Red Bull Ring in the process.
Qualifying Results
1. Lando Norris – McLaren 1:03.971
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.521
3. Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.583
4. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.611
5. George Russell – Mercedes +0.792
6. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.955
7. Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing +0.958
8. Gabriel Bortoleto – Kick Sauber +1.161
9. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +1.305
10. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +1.678
