F1 Austrian GP: Max Verstappen secures pole as both Mercedes crash out

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen secured pole position, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix: Sprint Qualifying, while both Mercedes drivers crashed out of Q3 in dramatic fashion.

How qualifying unfolded…

Q1

As the pit exit light went green, only group of cars headed out onto the Austrian Red Bull Ring. Despite this, many drivers – who remained in their respective garages – eased their way onto the circuit to complete their first set of qualifying runs.

Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver to set a timed lap but the young Japanese driver was soon toppled by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who went up to P1. But, the Monegasque was soon overtaken by his teammate, Carlos Sainz.

Despite all of this, the Scuderia Spaniard later had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 10.

Haas’ two drivers, Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen, jumped up into the top five with two healthy lap times before the session even reached its 10-minute mark.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen went to the top of the timing board with one-minute, six-second lap but the reigning world champion had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at T10.

Mercedes’ seven-time world champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton, jumped to the top of the timing board with a quick 1:06.079, six-hundredths of a second quicker than Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. On the other side of the Silver Arrow garage while Russell could only manage P5.

However, it wasn’t long before Verstappen retaliated with another lap which placed him at the top of the timing sheets. However, both Ferrari’s – who set their inital laps on a set of used soft compound tyres – had climbed back up to the top of the timing board; Leclerc (P1) and Sainz (P2).

Eliminated:

20. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin

19. Nicholas Latifi, Williams

18. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo

17. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

16. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren

Q2

When the second third of the session began, only handful of drivers raced out onto the track before they were followed by a slow stream of cars soon after.

When McLaren’s Lando Norris raced around the circuit, on his first flying lap, he failed to slow down his car enough to make the corner at turn four and nearly found himself in the gravel. Fortunately, the Briton was able to avoid the trap but he had to bail out of his fast lap.

After the initial laps, Hamilton found himself at the top of the timing board with a 1:05.538 which stood three-hundredths of a second faster than his 2021 championship rival, Verstappen in P2.

On the final set of runs of Q2, with just under three minutes left, Leclerc jumped back up to P1 after he beat Hamilton’s time by one-tenth of a second. While, at the other side of the table, Norris was yet to set a competitive lap time as the young Briton sat P15, 20-seconds off the pace – at the time.

However, the British McLaren driver wasn’t able to set a representative lap time and finished 20-seconds off the pace, in P15.

Eliminated:

15. Lando Norris, McLaren

14. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

13. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

12. Alexander Albon, Williams

11. Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri

Q3

Although the pit exit light went green, no one rushed out of their respective garages to set their initial laps in Q3. Hamilton, on his first flying lap, set the quickest first sector but as he curled around turn four, the seven-time world champion slowed down significantly.

After the first set of laps, Verstappen topped the timing board with a 1:05.092, nine-hundredths of a second quicker than his championship rival Leclerc.

A red flag was soon brought out as Hamilton crashed out of qualifying as the seven-time world champion was seen in the barriers at turn seven.

The seven-time champion blitzed through turn seven, he lost rear grip and his car began to oversteer. When the Mercedes #44 tried to regain control, he found himself across the gravel trap and into the barrier sideways.

As a result of the contact, Hamilton had severely damaged the right-side suspension components of his W13 and couldn’t continue on with the session.

Another red flag was soon brought out after Russell crashed out in the final corner.

The remaining Mercedes tried to improve his track position, as the only standing Mercedes, but as the Briton arrived into the final corner Russell’s car became unsettled and spun around. Although Russell locked up the brakes, the #63 Mercedes could not slow down in time and avoid a rear-end collision with the barrier.

Despite the crash, Russell was soon noted by the stewards for entering the track without permission.

When the session went back to green-flag conditions, the pit lane saw its highest amount of action, across the entire session, as both Haas’ headed the queue out of the pit lane.

While Leclerc threatened Verstappen’s consistent run of pole positions, after the Monegasque topped the timing board. Verstappen set two slower sectors, than his personal best, but managed to deliver in the final sector to regain pole position with a 1:04.984.

Top 10:

10. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

9. Fernando Alonso, Alpine

8. Mick Schumacher, Haas

7. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

6. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

5. George Russell, Mercedes

4. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s it for the article: F1 Austrian GP: Max Verstappen secures pole as both Mercedes crash out! Who do you think will win the Sprint Race, on Saturday? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Formula 1 here!

• F1 Austrian GP: Max Verstappen hits ground running in Spielberg
• F1 British GP: Carlos Sainz takes maiden win
• F1 British GP: Carlos Sainz secures maiden pole position
• F1 British GP: Max Verstappen tops final practice ahead of qualifying

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