2021 F1 Austrian Grand Prix - Qualifying - As it happened

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CRASH.NET's LIVE F1 COVERAGE OF THE 2021 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

The final part of Formula 1's triple-header takes us to the Red Bull Ring for the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.

Back-to-back races in Austria means good news for Max Verstappen after his dominant victory last weekend at the Styrian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman extended his championship lead to 18 points, while Red Bull now sits 40 clear of Mercedes at the top of the constructors’ championship.

McLaren is 12 points clear of Ferrari in the race for third-place after Norris continued his impressive run of form last time out, finishing inside the top five for the seventh time in eight races.

It's another chance for George Russell to get off the mark after he was forced to retire early last time out after running comfortably inside the top ten.

The only change for this weekend is Pirelli going a step softer with the tyre allocation. 

What to expect from this weekend?

The weather situation is changing as we get closer to race day. Race day is expected to remain dry though.

Pirelli has nominated the C3, C4 and C5 tyres for this weekend's race.

Ahead of the weekend, Pirelli's Mario Isola said: “Once again after last year, Austria hosts a back-to-back race, which means that the teams have plenty of data on this track and recent experience of how to deal with its particular challenges and tactics. However, having two different tyre nominations is a first for the Red Bull Ring, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the teams get to grips with the softest C5 tyres for the second race weekend – and how the new selection influences strategy in order to create different opportunities compared to the preceding Steiermark Grand Prix.”