Verstappen pips Leclerc to pole position ahead of 2023 F1 Austrian Grand Prix

Despite a couple of track limit violations, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pipped Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pole position ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. 

Q1 

It wasn’t long before the field peeled out of the track once the pit exit light went green as a bulk of the drivers peeled out of the pit lane on their out-laps. 

While a number of drivers looked to take a banker-lap approach to their first timed laps, it seemed as if Verstappen did not get the memo as the Dutch F1 world champion smashed in a blistering 1:05.190 lap.

However, the red flag was soon brought out as Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas rotated his C43 around on the exit of turn one. The Finn was stationary for a prolonged amount of time as he struggled to get his car into neutral which resulted in a red flag with 11 minutes and 49 seconds left on the clock. 

During the red flag stop, a number of drivers had their times deleted for track limits more noticeably Verstappen who dropped down into the elimination mix. This left McLaren’s Oscar Piastri as the fastest man when the session resumed. 

It wasn’t long before Verstappen returned to the top with a lap which went even faster than his previous best with a 1:05.119. 

By the end of Q1, it was a Red Bull 1-2 as Verstappen topped the timing boards ahead of Perez. While, at the bottom five, Magnussen reported issues with his downshifts which cost him time and a potential place in Q2. 

Eliminated:

20. Nyck De Vries, Alpha Tauri

19. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

18. Logan Sargeant, Williams

17. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo

16. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

Q2

In a similar fashion to Q1, the remaining 15 drivers trundled out of their respective garages to wait for the pit exit light to go green. The Red Bull duo were no exception to this as they waited at the head of the queue in plenty of time before the pit exit light went green. 

During the break, all of the 15 drivers who made their way into Q2 remained and were not eliminated due to an inspection of track limits.

Naturally, the two Red Bulls were the first to cross the finish line with Verstappen on top – the first driver to delve into the 1-minute and four-second lap times. However, in a similar manner to Q1, Verstappen was found to have exceeded track limits on the final corner. 

In turn, this dropped Verstappen down the order. Perez and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll soon followed suit with their own track-limit excursions. Following his track-limit violation, Verstappen was heard in a displeased manner about the incident, he said.

“This is a joke, honestly, with these track limits. ***** ridiculous.”

Despite his frustration, Verstappen still managed to put in the fastest lap once again with a 1:04.9, eight-hundredths of a second faster than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris who sat in second and third respectively. 

In the dying minutes of the session, Perez was once again demoted to the bottom of the leaderboard once again as he – and Mercedes’ George Russell – exceeded track limits. Perez on their final laps occupied 14th and 15th respectively. 

On their final laps, Russell could only manage 10th fastest but this was soon 11th fastest as a number of drivers were slapped with track limits. 

The shock elimination was Perez who, once again, exceeded track limits and found himself at the bottom of the table – again – with the slowest, and unrepresentative time. 

Eliminated:

15. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

14. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

13. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

12. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

11. George Russell, Mercedes

Q3

When Q3 got underway, the pack quickly trundled out and around on their out laps. 

On the first timed laps, Verstappen quickly topped the timing board with a 1:04.503 lap and managed to keep it without a track-limit violation. However, the final third did not come without issue for one driver. 

Stroll was the first driver to exceed track limits. The Canadian found himself in the run-off area on the exit of turn in what must have been the easiest decision for the stewards to make. 

Despite everyone’s best efforts, Verstappen went on to secure his fourth consecutive pole position ahead of the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz who will start the Grand Prix in second and third respectively. 

Top 10: 

10. Alexander Albon, Williams

9. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

8. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

7. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

6. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

4. Lando Norris, McLaren

3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s all for the article: Verstappen pips Leclerc to pole position ahead of 2023 F1 Austrian Grand Prix!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Red Bull’s Verstappen fastest man in Austria GP sole practice
• Alpha Tauri expected to change F1 team name ahead of 2024
• Red Bull head home for 2023 F1 Austrian Grand Prix
• Verstappen victorious in Canada GP to give Red Bull 100th win
• Tsunoda and Stroll given three-place grid drop for Impeding in Canada GP Qualifying
• Hulkenberg loses Canada front row start with three-place grid penalty

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