Untouchable Max Verstappen takes dominant Austrian GP pole
Max Verstappen could not be toppled as he made it two poles in as many days in Austria.
Max Verstappen was in a league of his own in qualifying as he stormed to a dominant pole position for the F1 Austrian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver produced a 1m04.314s to end up 0.404s faster than McLaren’s Lando Norris, while George Russell took third in his Mercedes, half a second off the pace.
Verstappen was on pole at the first seven races of the season but today’s effort was the first time he has topped regular qualifying in four rounds. It also marks the Dutchman’s seventh consecutive pole at the Red Bull Ring.
"The qualifying went really well," Verstappen said after claiming his 40th F1 pole. "We tried to adjust the car a little bit after the things that we learnt this morning, I think it worked well.
"Of course, the track is a bit warmer than yesterday so it made it trickier to drive, but the car felt a lot better for me today. I could really attack the corners a bit more, every run was on point and it was very enjoyable out there.
"It has been a while that we have actually been on pole [for a Grand Prix] so it's great. It's a great feeling. The team has been working really hard to make the car more competitive and I think this is a great statement.
"Hopefully we can of course also show that tomorrow in the race."
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth-fastest ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who saw his best time deleted for track limits after he ran wide at the final corner.
Oscar Piastri was another who fell foul of track limits as the McLaren driver ran wide at Turn 6 and saw his best lap deleted, leaving him seventh.
Sergio Perez could only qualify eighth as he ended up 0.888s slower than Red Bull teammate Verstappen.
Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon completed the rest of the top 10 for Haas and Alpine respectively.
RB’s Daniel Ricciardo will line up from 11th on the grid after narrowly missing out on a place in Q3.
Kevin Magnussen took 12th for Haas, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who was only 15th-fastest after a scrappy session.
Alex Albon had a stronger showing in Saturday’s regular qualifying but could not quite make it into Q2, taking 16th in his Williams, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Valtteri Bottas was 18th, with Logan Sargeant’s Williams in-between the Sauber pair as Zhou Guanyu ended up slowest of all for the second day running.
