Max Verstappen ensured that he didn't disappoint the Dutch fans gathered at the Red Bull Ring on Friday, easily securing pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.
Verstappen was quickest in all three rounds of qualifying despite being one of several drivers to have lap times deleted for exceeding track limits. Worst afflicted of all was his team mate Sergio Perez, who will start from P15 as a result.
Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were best of the rest behind Verstappen, while Lando Norris made good use of McLaren's latest upgrades to line up in fourth ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, whose team mate George Russell had missed the cut at the end of Q2.
For the second year in succession, the Red Bull Ring was playing host to a sprint race weekend, although there had been changes to the format in the interim: this year, Friday afternoon qualifying would set the starting grid for Sunday's Grand Prix while Saturday's showdown would decide the order for the afternoon sprint.
Despite the prospect of intermittent rain having been a common feature of the forecasts heading into the weekend, Spielberg was cool and dry as the engines fired up and the cars headed down pit lane to get the first round of qualifying underway. The key question on everyone's minds was whether anyone could thwart Max Verstappen's current run of success, the Red Bull having already topped the sole practice session ahead of Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Q1: Verstappen and Perez ease in front at the Red Bull Ring
First into action when the lights at the end of pit lane went green were the two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg together with AlphaTauri rookie Nyck de Vries, everyone straight on to the red soft compound tyres. But it wasn't long before Verstappen's name was at the top with a time of 1:05.190s putting him seven tenths ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri, with Sergio Perez just behind in third.
A handful of cars managed to complete their initial laps but several - including Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Zhou Guanyu - had strayed outside track limits in the process. Verstappen's time was also deleted, leaving Piastri on top. More significantly a yellow flag had come out, and moments later that turned red. The cause was Valtteri Bottas had who had lost the rear end of the Alfa Romeo going through turn 1, but there was no harm done and the Finn was eventually able to get back underway and head to pit lane.
The session resumed and Verstappen replanted his flag on the summit with a time of 1:05.116s putting him two tenths ahead of Sainz, whose Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc was third ahead of a new effort from Norris, and Fernando Alonso pipping Hamilton to sixth. Bottas was also back out and quickly running up in ninth after his earlier mishap. At the other end, those at risk of elimination included Lance Stroll in the second Acton Martin, the two Williams of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, Alpine's Esteban Ocon, and de Vries in last place - but still with plenty of time to complete further laps of this short circuit.
Sure enough, Stroll soon leapt to comparative safety in P11, setting the fastest final sector of the session so far in the process. Norris meanwhile jumped up to second in the significantly upgraded McLaren, just 0.063s off Verstappen. Despite that fine margin it was still enough of a gap for Perez to insert himself, two thousandths quicker than Norris who was then pushed even further down by new runs from the two Ferraris. Meanwhile Albon had improved his chances by going eighth ahead of Piastri and George Russell, with Pierre Gasly then finding extra time to split the Ferraris for fourth.
Bottas had just survived the cut by the skin of his teeth, but his team mate Zhou was less fortunate and he ended up joining Yuki Tsunoda on the sidelines together with Sargeant, Magnussen and de Vries. Several of them lingered in the cockpit on pit lane in the hope that a late deleted lap might hand them a reprieve, but none came. Just 0.858s covered all 20 drivers, showing how tight the running was on this 4.318km circuit.
Q2: Verstappen and Sainz quickest, Russell misses the cut and Perez lap times deleted
The clouds over the Red Bull Ring seem to be getting thicker by the minute, prompting teams to get straight back to work when the second round opened for business rather than risk being caught out by sudden rainfall. Verstappen immediately set the pace with a time of 1:04.955s, 0.073s quicker than his team mate Perez. Norris was close behind in third followed by the two Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso who found themselves divided by Haas' Nico Hulkenberg.
A subsequent review of the completed laps saw both Red Bull laps deleted along with that of Stroll, leaving Norris on top and Gasly up to second ahead of Hulkenberg and Alonso. Verstappen attempted to set a new time and fell foul of track limits again, and he was not best pleased with the "joke" situation. He finally pulled it off with a time of 1:04.951s as Sainz also pushed two thousandths ahead of Norris for second, with Leclerc fourth ahead of Hamilton and Perez. At risk was Russell whose latest lap had been deleted dropping him to P14 - just ahead of Perez who had suffered a similar fate. That left Ocon on the bubble in P10 ahead of Stroll, Piastri and Bottas.
Lacking a representative lap time, Perez was straight back out to get something in the books, and it was good enough for P2 - until it was another lap to be binned by race control for going too wide at the exit of turn 10. It left him missing the cut meaning he will start Sunday's race from P15, at one of the worst circuits to try and pass on. Russell was also on the wrong side of the cut and found himself languishing in P11, while Ocon's final lap went awry leaving him in 12th. Piastri and Bottas were also eliminated but there was good news for Albon, squeaking through to the final round in tenth just behind Hulkenberg.
Q3: Verstappen secures pole from Leclerc and Sainz, Norris seals fourth from Hamilton
Albon was first to hit the track for the top ten pole shoot-out followed by Verstappen. The Dutch fans in the grandstands were already igniting their orange flares in salute of their hero, the smoke catching on the wind that had picked up - although at least there was little sign of rain now. Albon posted the first time with a lap of 1:05.823s but Verstappen's response was over a second quicker. Leclerc and Sainz then filled into second and third, with Norris still featuring strongly in fourth albeit half a second slower than provisional pole having made his run on used softs.
Lewis Hamilton was the final driver to head out, but running wide in turn 4 left him in fifth ahead of Alonso, Gasly, Albon and Hulkenberg, Stroll having had his lap time deleted. Albon soon went for a new run during a brief lull, but also strayed outside the limits in the process and had the time snatched away which dropped him back into eighth.
There was time for one final assault on the timesheets: Verstappen shaved off another tenth of his time and that proved vital when Leclerc pulled within 0.048s of the Red Bull - close, but no pole this time for the Monegasque. Sainz secured third from another good run from Norris, leaving Hamilton lining up in fifth ahead of Stroll's last gasp effort that had succeeded in putting him ahead of Alonso. Hulkenberg pipped Gasly to eighth with Albon dropping to tenth by the time the chequered flag came out.
