Qualifying for the Austrian GP ended with a solo from Max Verstappen, who showed all his superiority over his opponents in the last two heats. Norris qualified right behind him. It will be the fifth time we will see the English driver in the front row together with the Red Bull driver. Behind, thanks to George Russell, Mercedes confirms itself as third force, while Ferrari continues to struggle.
Austrian GP qualifying: Alonso narrowly saved himself in Q1
After Max Verstappen's victory in the sprint race, the highly anticipated qualifying for the Austrian GP begins at 16pm sharp. The McLarens are ready to chase the Dutch standard bearer of Red Bull, followed by Mercedes and a Ferrari still in great difficulty. In the first part of Q1, Leclerc, then Russell, Verstappen and finally Sainz followed one another at the top of the standings, with the best time of the session. All the drivers run on soft tyres, but the only one in the lead who set a time on used rubber was Verstappen. In the last minutes the fight breaks out at the back to access Q1. Finally, Albon, Stroll, Bottas, Sargeant and Zhou are eliminated. Alonso saves himself at the wire confirming the difficulties of theAston Martin, while Perez, struggling, gains twelfth position.
Q2 dominated by Verstappen. Ocon and Hulkenberg enter the final stage
The second qualifying heat of the Austrian GP begins with the dance being opened by the two Alpines and suffered by both Ferraris, with the Leclercs immediately taking the lead on used soft tyres. Record demolished nine minutes from the end by Max Verstappen, who, this time with new soft tyre, leads the Monegasque by almost a second. Subsequently, Sainz did better, placing himself four tenths behind the Dutchman in second place. Fernando Alonso remains fifteenth, very far from the tenth position occupied by Esteban Ocon. Great performance instead from Nico Hulkenberg, who always manages to bring out something more on the flying lap than what the Hass can offer him. Missing out on Q3 are Gasly, Magnussen and the two Racing Bulls, who just can't get out of the negative period that began in Barcelona.
Q3: Pole Position for Max Verstappen. Ferrari is still bad
Different start compared to qualifying sprint that we saw yesterday. Seven minutes from the end all the drivers have already left the pits for a first attempt. The McLarens take off their veils and begin to push harder than in the first two sessions. The music, however, does not change: at the end of the first lap Verstappen is still firmly in the lead, followed by Lando Norris and George Russell. Carlos Sainz didn't make a good first attempt, but by the time of Q2 he would have found himself ahead of his teammate in fourth place.
Qualifying is about to end and with three minutes to go the drivers begin to leave the pits. They are all ready for their second attempt, even if Verstappen seems unattainable, which further lowers his time to an excellent 1:04.314. A time that earned him the Pole Position. The usual Norris manages to place himself behind him, overtaking his teammate. Piastri, who had earned third position, had his time canceled due to track limits and was forced to move back to seventh position. George Russell therefore finds himself third, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton. Only sixth was Charles Leclerc, who made an error on his last attempt which took him off the track in the stretch between the last two corners of the Austrian circuit.
