Max Verstappen secures pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix as triple world champion follows victory in sprint race on Red Bull's home track by finishing ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell
Max Verstappen managed to secure pole position for the Austrian Grand PrixVerstappen finished 0.404sec ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris
Max Verstappen blasted to pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix – destroying the field on his Red Bull’s sun-scorched home track in Spielberg.
Amid the verdant Styrian mountains, the triple world champion followed his victory in the sprint race on Saturday morning to stamp his dominance ahead of Sunday’s 71-lap main event.
The triple world champion put aside the spat between his father Jos and boss Christian Horner that has impinged on a smooth build-up. Verstappen said the row, about whether Jos took part in a pre-race parade in Sebastian Vettel’s old Red Bull, ‘isn’t nice and could have been avoided’. That appeared to be a barely disguised dig at Horner, who had made it known that he didn’t want his critic Jos involved in the ceremonials.
Out on track, Verstappen was cheered on by thousands of orange-clad fans from Holland to see him secure his fourth consecutive pole.
He finished 0.404sec ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, a dominant margin on the 10-corner shortest lap on the calendar. Mercedes’ George Russell qualified third, half a second back. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth quickest and Lewis Hamilton fifth.
Max Verstappen managed to secure pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix
Triple world champion Verstappen followed up on his victory in the sprint race on Saturday
Charles Leclerc ran off track in his Ferrari – for the umpteenth time overcooking it. He reported to the garage that he had damaged the underneath of his car. He was sixth quickest.
As a mark of Verstappen’s brilliance, his team-mate Sergio Perez was only eighth best, a place behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
‘Max was in a league of his own today,’ said Norris.
A poor day for Aston Martin. Lance Stroll, who signed a new multi-year contract to keep himself at the team his father Lawrence owns, went out in Q1 and will start 17th. His team-mate Fernando Alonso, squeezed into Q2, but could only manage 15th, an emblem of how Aston are struggling to sustain the form that put them at the sharp end of the grid at the start of last season.
Verstappen finished ahead of Lando Norris (L) in second and George Russell (R) in third
Carlos Sainz ended up in fourth place in qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton in fifth
Charles Leclerc ran off track in his Ferrari and ended up finishing sixth fastest in qualifying
Alonso has scored in only one of the last four races, a decline that he will do well to rectify on this evidence.
Daniel Ricciardo needs a strong showing to save his career at Red Bull’s junior team, RB. The 34-year-old Australian has not set the world alight since returning to the cockpit after being sacked by McLaren and the team’s hierarchy are running out of patience. At least Ricciardo qualified three places ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in 11th place.
Red Bull’s motorsport adviser said this week that reserve Liam Lawson is waiting in the wings, an ominous statement for Ricciardo.