A Spielberg, for the second race weekend of the season after Imola, things start to get serious already on Friday. The presence of sprint racing al Saturday, in fact, anticipates the qualifications traditional to Friday afternoon. Whoever finishes with the best time of the session, in addition to the statistical pole position, will get the right to start from the front in the mini-race. This is done by Verstappen who closes in front of Leclerc and Sainz, but there was no shortage of surprises.
The first aspect to note are the track limits. In fact, this weekend the race director was clear: anyone who puts all four wheels beyond the white line in curves 9 and 10 will see their time deleted. In fact, many pilots are forced to make more attempts than expected due to an imperceptible but potentially lethal mistake.
Albon MVP of Q1, black period for Ricciardo and the Aston Martins
At the end of Q1, Ricciardo, Zhou, Latifs are eliminated together with the two Aston Martin by Stroll and Vettel. In fact, the English team seems to have found an excellent race pace that allows its riders to cover long distances with the same set of tyres, but it pays off in qualifying.
Even today, the Canadian finishes in seventeenth place, while the German is even last. Alex Albon, partner of Latifi, manages instead to bring his Williams in Q2 after the crash at Silverstone that forced him to spend a few hours in the hospital.
Norris excluded in Q2, excellent performance by the Haas
The Thai, however, is unable to enter Q3 and is excluded together with Alpha tauri, Bottas e Norris. The McLaren Englishman, in particular, had a nightmarish session, failing to complete none of the four laps carried out without drools. A weekend that promises to be uphill for the Papaya team.
Therefore, both enter the last phase Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, Alpine and Haas, who thus continue the moment of strength that began in the race at Silverstone, where they achieved their first double points finish since the distant German GP in 2019.
At Red Bull, Sergio Perez is put under investigation: the Mexican was in fact able to enter Q3 thanks to a final kidney failure, but in his best lap he was largely eliminated beyond the white line into turn 8. A potential penalty could have excluded him from Q3, but it was decided to delegate the matter once qualifying was over.
Pole for Verstappen, disappointment for Mercedes
After the first attempt in Q3, Max Verstappen excites the orange bedlam of the Red Bull Ring by placing himself in front of the Reds of Leclerc e Sainz. Bad Hamilton, which after a great start to qualifying ended violently on the barrier at the exit of turn 7. The English champion thus wastes a potential top 3, having always traveled on the times of the Ferraris and Red Bulls.
A red flag caused by a Mercedes is followed by another after a few minutes: George Russell loses the car at the last corner and ends up in the barrier like the teammate. An absolutely disappointing Q3 for the men in silver, who for the first time this year were confident of being able to undermine the two top teams.
At the end of a busy (and not yet finished, given Perez's investigation) session Verstappen mocks the Ferraris for a few thousandths and gets his third pole seasonal. Leclerc (second) e Sainz (third) thus losing a 1-2 that seemed possible with a few corners to go. Perez completes the second row awaiting the investigation, ahead of Russell, Ocon, Magnussen, Schumacher and Alonso. A disappointed Lewis Hamilton closes the top 10.
