Verstappen survives sensor scare on way to sprint pole

Max Verstappen swept Friday's track sessions at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, topping the sole practice and all three rounds of qualifying to claim pole position for the Austrian GP sprint race.

“It was a positive day today," he said afterward, in something of an understatement. "I am happy as we started off the day well and that the car was in a good window.

"The car was really strong and I could push," the Red Bull driver continued. "We were quick in the high speed, which is important round here and hopefully we can keep that going tomorrow.

"Of course there are always areas that we can do better so we will look at that tonight, he acknowledged. "All in all it was definitely a good start and I am looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”

"Looking to the Sprint race tomorrow, this will give us an early indication of how the pace of the car will be for the race."

• Read also: Silky Verstappen speeds smoothly to Austrian Sprint pole

Although everything turned out as well as he could possibly have hoped for, there was one slight scare in practice when he briefly came to a stop on the pit straight during the practice session.

The steep uphill gradient on this section of the track meant that the car rolled back down the straight, until marshals helped push it back through a pit wall opening from where it could be returned to the Red Bull garage.

It looked a serious concern at the time, but Verstappen was back in action within a few minutes and went on to set the fastest time. "There was a small issue with the sensor in the practice session but we fixed that really quickly."

"Max drove straight ahead in Turn 1 and unfortunately went over these humps with almost all four wheels," Dr Helmut Marko Red Bull motorsports consultant told ServusTV.

"That disabled a sensor that indicates oil pressure, so theoretically there was no oil pressure," he explained. "Of course you have to turn it off to save the engine, but then we were lucky where it happened [on the pit straight].

"That allowed [the car] to roll back. They were able to push it out, we deactivated the sensor and it continued, and we only lost maybe one or two laps."

While there are rules about going backwards on the track, Marko said he didn't expect the FIA race stewards to take any action over the incident given the circumstances.

"Jonathan Wheatley, our sporting director, has a very good handle on all these rules and is in communication with the stewards," he said. "And you can't roll back quickly anyway!"

Marko said the team is hoping for an emphatic win this weekend after being pushed harder than expected in the most recent races in Canada and Spain, and with Charles Leclerc's win in Monaco and Lando Norris' maiden win in Miami.

"It's no secret, the last few races we've had to do three practice sessions and qualifying to get the balance right," Marko admitted. "This time the car was in a good balance right from the start and then of course Max did the lap."

"It was a great showing from Max but it’s getting close," was the view from Red Bull principal Christian Horner. "McLaren were looking strong and Mercedes were edging closer too, so we are looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.

"This track is good for overtaking with a few good long straights. It’s going to be very hot tomorrow so that should throw up some challenges for all the cars on the grid."

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