Max Verstappen pips McLarens to Sprint Pole in Austrian GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has claimed his eighth-career sprint pole position as he pipped both McLarens in Sprint Qualifying, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race. 

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool

SQ1

When the pit exit light turned green for the second sprint qualifying session of the year, no one was eager to get out first. After two minutes, no one had ventured out onto the circuit. 

After nearly three minutes, the first cars finally headed out on track. Lewis Hamilton was the first to head out onto the Austrian circuit, quickly followed by the rest of the field. 

Hamilton and Zhou were the only drivers who failed to set a lap time on the banker laps, both drivers had exceeded track limits.

As the chequered flag fell on SQ1, Logan Sargeant finally out-qualified Alexander Albon – at Williams Racing – on merit for the first time since the Miami Grand Prix, Sprint qualifying. 

Eliminated: 

20 – Zhou Guanyu  

19 – Alexander Albon

18 – Valtteri Bottas

17 – Nico Hulkenberg

16 – Daniel Ricciardo

SQ2 

Unlike SQ1, when the pit exit light turned green, many of the drivers peeled straight out onto the circuit. 

In the banker laps, Verstappen slapped down the gauntlet as the Dutchman put a 1m 5.186s lap on the board, this was closely followed by George Russell and Oscar Piastri in second and third respectively, two-tenths behind. 

In the dying minutes of the session, there was still a handful of drivers who had not set a lap time on the board. Of those who finished in the bottom five, were drivers who did not set a banker at the start of the second third.  

Eliminated:

15 – Logan Sargeant

14 – Yuki Tsunoda

13 – Fernando Alonso

12 – Lance Stroll

11 – Kevin Magnussen

SQ3 

Similarly to SQ1, when the final third got underway no one was eager to head straight out on track. With eight minutes on the clock, at the start of the session, it took five minutes before the first car went out on track. 

The two Mercedes drivers were the first cars out into the pit lane which caused a chain reaction down the pit lane as the rest of the of the field peeled out. 

However, Leclerc seemingly had an issue down the pit lane as he pulled off to the side. Despite this, he was able to continue on but the Monegasque did not make it to the line in time, meaning he couldn’t set a lap time on the board. 

Top 10: 

10 – Charles Leclerc

9 – Pierre Gasly

8 – Esteban Ocon

7 – Sergio Perez

6 – Lewis Hamilton

5 – Carlos Sainz

4 – George Russell

3 – Oscar Piastri

2 – Lando Norris

1 – Max Verstappen

Read more Formula 1 here:

•  Verstappen fastest in sole Austrian GP practice despite red flag
• Lance Stroll to stay at Aston Martin for ‘2025 and beyond’
• Pierre Gasly signs multi-year deal with Alpine
• F1 Austrian GP: The Weather Report
• F1 Rumour: Sargeant poised to jump over to IndyCar
• Gasly will keep an ‘eye on the euros’ during Spanish GP weekend

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