Verstappen leads all-Red Bull front row for Austria sprint race

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of team mate Sergio Perez in second and Lando Norris third.

The pole winner for Sunday’s grand prix took pole for Saturday’s sprint race by almost half a second, while Norris was less than a tenth of a second slower than Perez in third.

Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise fourth for Haas, but is under investigation for an unsafe release from the pit lane. Both Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will start the sprint race well down the order, in 15th and 18th, respectively.

SQ1

After earlier rain had led to a wet Formula 3 race, a damp track awaited the Formula 1 teams for the first phase of sprint qualifying. As the track was officially declared wet, the regulation compelling all drivers to run on medium compound tyres in the opening session was voided.

The two Williams cars of Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant led the field out, the only two cars to opt for intermediate tyres. But they quickly realised the circuit was easily dry enough for slick tyres and returned to the pit lane to fit soft tyres.

Max Verstappen headed out on the medium tyre compound and set the early benchmark, but then lost his first time for exceeding track limits at turn nine – which had been a problem for many drivers in the previous day’s qualifying session. Carlos Sainz Jnr’s first run was ruined when he complained of a brake-by-wire problem on his Ferrari, having to return to the pits while his team tried to find a solution.

Zhou Guanyu had a spin at turn nine, while Logan Sargeant also ran off at the penultimate corner. Charles Leclerc returned to the pit lane to change tyres, but appeared to hold up Oscar Piastri in doing so, earning an investigation by the stewards after the session.

The track rapidly dried, causing lap times to drop quickly. In the final minutes, both Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz were in the drop zone, along with Pierre Gasly and the two Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou.

Despite complaining traffic for his final lap, Leclerc managed to only just go safe in 15th. Zhou could not escape and was out in 16th, with Piastri eliminated in 17th. Lewis Hamilton had set a time good enough for sixth place, but then had it deleted for running outside of the white line at turn nine.

As he began his final lap, Hamilton caught the Red Bull of Verstappen, the pair crossing the line side-by-side. Hamilton had to abandon his lap, which doomed the Mercedes driver to 18th place and out of sprint race qualifying.

Bottas and Sargeant were the two final drivers to be knocked out in 19th and 20th, respectively.

Q1 result

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’06.187		5
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’06.236	0.049	9
3	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’06.548	0.361	9
4	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’06.569	0.382	10
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’06.611	0.424	10
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’06.629	0.442	9
7	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14	1’06.653	0.466	10
8	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’06.704	0.517	10
9	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’06.723	0.536	9
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’06.840	0.653	10
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’06.873	0.686	10
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’06.892	0.705	10
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’06.896	0.709	10
14	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’06.924	0.737	9
15	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’07.061	0.874	10
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’07.062	0.875	9
17	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’07.106	0.919	10
18	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W14	1’07.282	1.095	9
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’07.291	1.104	9
20	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’07.426	1.239	10

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SQ2

The track was continuing to improve as the second phase of sprint race qualifying began. The remaining drivers all took to the track on used softs tyres, with Verstappen demonstrating how much the track was drying by posting a 1’05.624 to set the early pace.

Fernando Alonso went second in the Aston Martin with Lando Norris third for McLaren. After their first laps, Ferrari’s Sainz moved into second place while Leclerc could only manage ninth after his first push lap.

With five minutes remaining in the session, George Russell was the only driver yet to set a time. He had reported a hydraulic failure at the end of SQ1, which led to a flurry of activity in the Mercedes garage as they attempted to fix the car. However, the problem was too complex to fix and Russell was forced out of the session, unable to set a time.

In the closing minutes of the session, Leclerc had fallen into the drop zone in 12th place. Yuki Tsunoda, Nyck de Vries and Gasly were also under pressure to improve to avoid being eliminated and both AlphaTauri drivers’ plights were made no easier when both of their fastest times were deleted for exceeding track limits at the final corner.

An alarming incident in the pit lane occured when Nico Hulkenberg hit a wheel held next to his front-left mechanic as he pulled out of the pit lane, bouncing his Haas up into the air. There were no apparent injuries from the collision and Hulkenberg was able to continue, but the incident will be investigated after qualifying.

Leclerc increased the temperature on his used soft tyres ahead of his final flying lap attempt. It worked to his advantage as he jumped to fourth place as the chequered flag flew, securing his passage to SQ3.

That dropped Albon out of the top 10 as a result, with Gasly also failing to secure a place into SQ3, eliminated in 12th. The two AlphaTauri drivers were also knocked out in 13th and 14th, with Tsunoda just ahead of his team mate, with Russell stranded in 15th on the grid for the sprint race.

Q2 result

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’05.371		17
2	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’05.434	0.063	12
3	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’05.604	0.233	18
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’05.673	0.302	18
5	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’05.699	0.328	17
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’05.730	0.359	17
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’05.759	0.388	18
8	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’05.836	0.465	17
9	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’05.914	0.543	18
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’06.091	0.720	17
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’06.152	0.781	18
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’06.360	0.989	16
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’06.369	0.998	18
14	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	AT04	1’06.593	1.222	18
15	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14	No time		10

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Q3

Verstappen was the first driver queueing at the end of the pit lane for the final section of sprint qualifying. But during the wait for the lights to turn green, white smoke began to appear from the Red Bull’s exhaust at the rear of the car. However it appeared to pose no problem for him over the remaining minutes of the session.

The Red Bull driver used his first set of fresh soft tyres to post a strong first timed lap of a 1’104.613 to go comfortably quickest. Norris beat Perez to second place after both completed their first laps, Perez setting his first lap on used tyres.

Sainz went fourth-fastest on the medium tyres, while Hulkenberg was three tenths slower in fifth, also having run on the medium tyres. Leclerc waited until the midway point of the session to head out onto the circuit, making use of a fresh set of softs available to him.

Leclerc’s first push lap was underwhelming, putting him into fifth place behind his team mate, six tenths of a second slower than Verstappen’s provisional pole time. Norris could not improve on his final push lap and remained in second place, but with many of his rivals behind yet to complete their final laps.

Verstappen switched to his second set of fresh soft tyres and managed to shave even more time off his previous best, lowering it to a 1’04.440. Perez improved on his final lap to move ahead of Norris and secure an all-Red Bull front row for the sprint race, while Hulkenberg ended the session in fourth place behind Norris but ahead of the two Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc.

The two Aston Martins of Alonso and Lance Stroll will start seventh and eighth, with Esteban Ocon ninth and Kevin Magnussen completing the top ten in the second Haas.

Q3 result

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’04.440		23
2	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB19	1’04.933	0.493	23
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’05.010	0.570	23
4	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’05.084	0.644	23
5	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’05.136	0.696	18
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’05.245	0.805	23
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’05.258	0.818	24
8	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’05.347	0.907	24
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’05.366	0.926	24
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’05.912	1.472	23

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