Max Verstappen narrowly beats Charles Leclerc to pole at the Red Bull Ring; Carlos Sainz third as Sergio Perez and George Russell make surprise Q2 exits; watch Austrian GP Sprint Shootout live on Sky Sports F1 at 11am on Saturday, followed by the Sprint at 3:30pm
Saturday 1 July 2023 07:08, UK
Max Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc to pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix after a chaotic qualifying dominated by drivers' struggles to stay within track limits.
The Dutchman, who leads the world championship by 69 points as he seeks a third successive drivers' title, delivered a 1:04.391 to hold provisional pole going into the final seconds of the session.
However, a fourth successive pole for the Red Bull driver suddenly seemed in doubt as Leclerc stormed around the Spielberg circuit behind him, before ultimately coming up just 0.048s short.
Verstappen faced a post-Qualifying investigation for allegedly impeding Haas' Kevin Magnussen in Q1, but the Dutchman was cleared of any wrongdoing and will start from pole position on Sunday.
In a much improved display from Ferrari, Carlos Sainz finished third behind team-mate Leclerc, with the Italian squad showing signs of overcoming their early-season struggles.
With Sprint qualifying and a shortened race to follow on Saturday as the Red Bull Ring hosts the second Sprint weekend of the season, Verstappen's hopes of extending his world championship lead were boosted by his nearest challenger - and team-mate - Sergio Perez making a shock Q2 exit.
Perez was the highest profile victim as drivers struggled to remain within the confines of the circuit at the final two corners, with the Mexican having three lap times deleted in Q2 despite appearing to have the pace to compete for a place on the front row.
Lando Norris produced a brilliant display to take fourth in his upgraded McLaren, finishing a place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who appeared to maximise his Mercedes' performance as team-mate George Russell also made a surprise Q2 exit.
Lance Stroll out-qualified team-mate Fernando Alonso for just the second time this season as the Aston Martin duo finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Nico Hulkenberg made it through to Q3 for a third successive race as he took eighth for Haas, while Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Alex Albon rounded out the top 10.
Austrian GP Qualifying result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4) Lando Norris, McLaren
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
7) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
8) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
9) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10) Alex Albon, Williams
With the Sprint format limiting drivers to just one 60-minute practice session earlier on Friday, it was expected that track limits would be a crucial factor, particularly in the first qualifying session of the weekend.
No sooner had the cars begun setting flying laps in Q1, deletions began to come through as the stewards found drivers guilty of taking all four wheels beyond the white lines on the inside of kerbs, most commonly at the final two corners - Turns 9 and 10.
Verstappen and Hamilton were among those to lose their first flying laps, but recovered to advance, with no front-runners falling at the first hurdle.
After much speculation earlier on Friday about his time at AlphaTauri running out, Nyck de Vries was last, with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda also exiting along with Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen.
However, the big names would not escape in Q2, with Perez continuing his dismal run of form - missing out on Q3 for the fourth successive Grand Prix - at all of which his team-mate Verstappen has taken pole.
Perez had three opportunities to set a lap that would take him into Q3, and despite having plenty of pace in hand, exceeded track limits in the final two corners on each occasion, leaving him to start from 15th.
The Mexican, whose title challenge has spectacularly fallen away after winning two of the first four races this season, now looks set to miss out on a podium for a fourth successive Sunday.
Also facing the prospect of fighting through the field is Russell, who will start from 11th on Sunday after a simple lack of pace saw the Brit fail to advance from Q2.
Perez's struggles continue to be emphasised by the remarkable consistency of his team-mate Verstappen, who appears unbeatable at present.
The 25-year-old expressed his frustration after being pinged early in Q2 for his second track limits infringement, but made the required adjustment to ease through.
A 26th F1 pole appeared a forgone conclusion when he comfortably topped the timesheet after the first runs in Q3, but Leclerc's late surge created some unexpected drama.
It was ultimately crucial that Verstappen made a slight improvement with his second flying effort, with Leclerc producing a trademark qualifying lap full of commitment to come within half a tenth of what would have been a shock pole.
"It's very difficult because of the track limits," Verstappen said. "We don't do it on purpose but with these speeds and the high-speed corners, it's so hard to judge the white line.
"We could see today that a lot of people get out. It was about surviving, even Q3 you just want the banker lap, it takes out the joy a little bit.
"But it was still a very good lap. So very happy to be on pole."
The biggest obstacle to Verstappen extending Red Bull's streak of eight wins to start the campaign - and his own run of four victories - appears to be the weather, with rain forecast for both Saturday's Sprint and Sunday's race.
While Leclerc was buoyed by his brilliant lap, the Monegasque admitted that Ferrari's main goal at the moment is to improve their race pace, which has left them trailing Mercedes and Aston Martin - along with Red Bull - more often than not this season.
After a poor Qualifying two weeks ago in Canada, both Ferraris showed strong race pace to recover for a strong points haul, but a direct comparison with Verstappen on Sunday should clarify how much progress has actually been made.
"Consistency is where we need to focus so we will have to see on Sunday if we have the same pace as Montreal," Leclerc said.
"Red Bull right now is quicker on race pace so it will be difficult but if we can put them in difficulty we will do it all."
