Verstappen dominates to 40th pole position for Austrian GP

Max Verstappen claimed his 40th career pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix with comfortable domination over the field with four-tenths in hand over the McLaren of Lando Norris.

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool  

Q1

Verstappen led the pack onto the Austrian circuit when the pit exit light turned green to signal the start of Q1, followed by the rest of the field – unlike SQ1 yesterday.

As the first driver out on track, the Dutchman lay down the benchmark setting a 1m 6.054s. However, this was soon beaten by the two Ferraris and McLarens. 

After the first set of banker laps, George Russell topped the timing boards ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, who occupied second and third. 

With nine minutes left, many drivers returned to the circuit apart from the two Mercedes as they returned to the pits after setting their laps.  

Eliminated: 

20 – Guanyu Zhou

19 – Logan Sargeant

18 – Valtteri Bottas

17 – Lance Stroll

16 – Alexander Albon

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Q2

Unlike Q1, there wasn’t a rush to head out on track as both Alpines and Ferraris were the first – and only – cars out on track.

It wasn’t long before Verstappen returned to the top spot on the leaderboard as the Dutchman put in an impressive 1m 4.577s lap, closely followed by Russell and Oscar Piastri in second and third respectively.

As the chequered flag fell on the session, only Carlos Sainz remained in his garage whilst the rest pulled out onto the track for their final laps. In the end, Verstappen led the way ahead of Sainz and Russell. 

Eliminated: 

15 – Fernando Alonso 

14 – Yuki Tsunoda

13 – Pierre Gasly

12 – Kevin Magnussen

11 – Daniel Ricciardo

Q3 

There was a bit of a delay to the start of Q3 after the track marshals were out on the circuit, sweeping the gravel back into its trap on the exit of turn six. 

The gravel had begun to escape its allotted space as several drivers clipped the area, like Gasly who had exceeded track limits and rode over the trap in Q2. 

However, it wasn’t long before the session resumed and no one was eager to head straight out onto the track. After a minute, a handful of drivers started to peel out of their garages. 

Of the first banker laps, in the fight for pole position, Verstappen led ahead of Norris and Russell. When the session came to an end, Verstappen claimed yet another pole position in the 2024 season ahead of Norris and Russell. 

At the same time, Leclerc temporarily lost control of his Ferrari as he raced into turn nine. The Monegasque’s car stepped out as he curled around the corner which caused the the SF-24 to skip across the grass verge before reaching the run-off at turn 10.

Top 10: 

10 – Esteban Ocon

9 – Nico Hulkenberg

8 – Sergio Perez 

7 – Oscar Piastri 

6 – Charles Leclerc

5 – Lewis Hamilton

4 – Carlos Sainz

3 – George Russell

2 – Lando Norris

1 – Max Verstappen

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Verstappen holds off McLarens to secure Austrian GP Sprint win
• Max Verstappen pips McLarens to Sprint Pole in Austrian GP
• 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

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