Lewis Hamilton crashed out at Turn 7 before George Russell went off at final corner, both causing red flags and ending pole hopes; Max Verstappen snatched pole from Charles Leclerc on last lap; grid now set for Saturday's Sprint - watch live on Sky Sports F1 at 3.30pm
Saturday 9 July 2022 10:38, UK
Max Verstappen took pole in Austrian GP qualifying as both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell dramatically crashed out in Q3 to ruin what appeared genuine chances of battling for the top positions.
With drivers fighting for grid places for Saturday's Sprint race, Hamilton looked to have pace to compete for pole but lost control of his Mercedes car into Turn 7 and went skidding over the gravel and into the barriers.
With only a slow time on the board, Hamilton will start ninth for the Sprint.
Remarkably, Russell then caused another red flag on his next flying lap as he spun off into the barriers at the final corner, prompting anguish down in the Mercedes garage as they missed out on a huge opportunity.
Those stoppages left just two minutes on the clock and time for one final flying lap for the remaining eight drivers.
Verstappen was leading heading into a chaotic finale but Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both went faster than the Red Bull on their laps to raise Ferrari hopes of a one-two.
However, Verstappen kept his nerve on his last lap to post a 1:04.9, just 29 thousandths of a second quicker than Leclerc.
Verstappen's lap led to a huge reaction from his Dutch orange army at Spielberg's Red Bull Ring, while many of the crowd also were cheering Hamilton's crash.
Sergio Perez claimed fourth for Red Bull but has dropped to 13th on the Sprint grid after qualifying as he was penalised for a track limits infringement in Q2.
Perez made it through to Q3 with his last lap but - while it wasn't picked up by stewards at the time - went wide at Turn 8 and the stewards summoned him and then deleted that lap, and removed all his Q3 laps.
That led to Perez dropping down to 13th on the grid, where his previous best Q2 lap would place him.
That means Russell gainsa place from the fifth he had managed to secure before his crash.
Elsewhere, McLaren had a nightmare session to finish a nightmare and reliability-disrupted day, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo managing only 15th and 16th respectively.
Austrian GP: Qualifying Result, Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4) Sergio Perez, Red Bull*
5) George Russell, Mercedes
6) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
7) Kevin Magnussen, Haas
8) Mick Schumacher, Haas
9) Fernando Alonso, Alpine
10) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
*drops to 13th after post-qualifying penalty
All appeared to be going to plan for Mercedes heading into Q3, with their upgraded W13 car continuing the momentum from last weekend's British GP and, in Hamilton's case, looking like a pole contender.
Hamilton had been fastest at the start of Q2 and had similar pace to Verstappen and Leclerc through qualifying.
But the seven-time world champion backed out of his first two flying laps of Q3 - despite good first sectors - and then after starting his third push lap well he had a snap of the rear through Turn 7 and went speeding off the track before slamming into the barriers sideways.
"I'm so sorry, guys," said Hamilton on team radio before he got out of the car and thankfully walked away.
"It was a big hit but I am OK," he added to Sky Sports F1 afterwards.
"I am incredibly disappointed in myself ultimately and so sorry to the team who worked so hard to put this car together and I never like to bring it back damaged."
Hamilton said Mercedes were "fighting for the top three" and that he did not have an answer for the crash.
"I lost the back end into Turn Seven and that was that," he stated.
"I am encouraged for sure, I am encouraged of course to see our performance. We weren't expecting for it to be as close as that today.
"That is a huge positive from the team but I am really quite far back [for the Sprint] so I don't know what is possible from there. Hopefully I can make up for some lost time."
There were five minutes remaining in Q3 after the first red flag but Russell, who was less comfortable than Hamilton with the W13 on Friday, took too much speed out of the final 10th corner and went spinning off into the barriers.
"These two should never beat themselves up because of this situation - crashing out," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
"We've given them a car that wasn't on par for 10 races in a row and now we're starting to come to terms and drive in front, it can happen that you just lose the car.
"I'd rather have a fast car and a qualifying like this than not having the pace to be in the top four."
Mercedes' exit from qualifying left the door wide open for Red Bull and Ferrari to battle and the Sprint is now set to be a head to head between title rivals Verstappen and Leclerc, while Sainz will also fancy his chances.
The top three were split by just 0.082s on Friday.
Verstappen will start at the front ahead of Leclerc, with the 24-lap Sprint then setting the grid for Sunday's 71-lap Austrian Grand Prix.
All the action will be live on Sky Sports F1, with Practice Two preceding the short race.
Schedule for the rest of the weekend:
Saturday
9.30am: F3 Sprint
11am: Austrian GP Practice Two (session begins 11.30am)
2.30pm: Austrian GP Sprint Build-up
3.30pm: Austrian GP Sprint
4.50pm: F2 Sprint
Sunday
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
12.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP Build-up
2pm: The Austrian Grand Prix
4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP Reaction
5pm: Ted's Notebook
F1 2022 heads to Austria this weekend, and the Sprint is back! Join Sky Sports F1 for extensive coverage, with the Sprint starting at 3.30pm on Saturday and the race at 2pm on Sunday.
