Leclerc takes 2nd F1 pole in Austria as Hamilton, Vettel hit trouble

Charles Leclerc swept to his second Formula 1 pole position by dominating qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday as Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel hit trouble.

After leading FP2 and FP3 for Ferrari, Leclerc managed to carry his good form through qualifying as he led both the second and final stages of the session, setting two lap times good enough for pole.

A final lap of 1m03.003s saw Leclerc take pole by two-tenths of a second ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who ended qualifying under investigation and at risk of a penalty for allegedly impeding Kimi Raikkonen in Q1.

Leclerc was left to lead Ferrari’s charge solo in Q3 after an engine pneumatic issue emerged on Vettel’s car, forcing the German to miss the final stage of qualifying. He will start the race from P9 on the grid.

Max Verstappen impressed for Red Bull at the team’s home race, taking third ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the sister Mercedes.

Kevin Magnussen finished as the leading midfield driver in fifth place for Haas, but will drop to P10 on the grid due to a grid penalty. Lando Norris took sixth for McLaren ahead of Alfa Romeo drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, while Pierre Gasly finished a disappointing ninth for Red Bull after failing to improve on his second Q3 run.

Romain Grosjean missed out on a Q3 berth to Haas teammate Magnussen by just 0.024s, qualifying 11th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who was one of three drivers to lose their final flying lap to traffic in Q2. A mistake by Magnussen at Turn 4 caused Hulkenberg and teammate Daniel Ricciardo to both back off, leaving them P12 and P14 respectively.

Alexander Albon took 13th for Toro Rosso, but will drop to the back of the grid due to a number of engine penalties. He will be joined there by Carlos Sainz, who did not go for a proper run in Q2, leaving him P15.

Racing Point’s recent qualifying struggles continued as both Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were eliminated in Q1, dropping out in P16 and P17 respectively. It marked Stroll’s 13th consecutive Q1 dropout.

Daniil Kvyat was left fuming after hitting traffic at the penultimate corner on his final flying lap, forcing him to run wide. The Russian told his Toro Rosso team over radio that he “almost killed someone”, with the incident due to be investigated after the session.

Williams once again propped up the running order as George Russell outqualified Robert Kubica for the ninth race in a row, finishing six-tenths shy of Kvyat ahead.