Austria - Qualifying

Although the qualifying hour at the Red Bull Ring started off slowly, it finished with an incredibly exciting fight for pole position. With the teams desperate to show that they are not to be discounted and a crash changing the trajectory of the evening, who ended up on top? 

The midfielders and backmarkers appeared on track much earlier than those expected to fight for positions in the first few rows, but were pushed down the order rather quickly. With all the drivers completing their first attempts, Kimi Antonelli found the quickest time of all, while the two Cadillacs, two Aston Martins, Esteban Ocon, and Carlos Sainz stood in danger of being eliminated. Despite their efforts, only one of the six managed to make it into Q2: Ocon's second attempt was good enough to push him into a safe position. His spot in the bottom six was taken over by Alex Albon.

Lando Norris was the driver who set Q2's first benchmark time, although his efforts were beaten by those of his immediate contenders. Once again, it was Antonelli who found himself at the very top. What was interesting, however, was that his teammate, George Russell, did not set a time at all. For him, everything hinged on the second attempt. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, was in a perfectly opposite situation. Having completed his first flyer, he drove into the pits with the intention of trying his luck and hoping to move through Q3 without wasting an additional set of softs. In the end, both drivers made it through. Russell's lap was good enough to ensure a safe qualification, and although Verstappen was in significant danger, he just managed to hold onto the coveted P10. The Alpines, Audis, and Haas filled out the bottom six.

For the last session of the day, it was once again Norris who appeared on the track before everyone else, only to see his position fall as, one by one, his rivals took to the track. The two Mercedes sat comfortably at the first two spots, while on the other side of the leaderboard, Hamilton was left with no time to his name after a costly mistake led to him backing out of his first attempt. Since he knew that everything hinged on the second flyer, he put his all into every corner, producing a lap that gave him the coveted provisional pole. He didn't hold onto it for long, though, as Charles Leclerc, who set off on track not long after, took the position away. 

Having found themselves on the very top of the standings, the Ferraris could only pray that the other teams would not be able to catch up to them. The McLarens quickly fell away from contention, but Verstappen set off on a monster lap that could put the men in red in serious danger. The fans would never get to find out just how good the attempt could have been as the Dutchman crashed by turn nine while pushing the car to its very limit. A yellow flag waved over the circuit and, with the Mercedes still on their final attempts, Ferrari began celebrating their first pole of the season. The excitement was not over, however, as, to the surprise of many, Russell did manage to complete his lap and move into P1 despite having to lift off the throttle towards the end. In the end, it is he who will start tomorrow's race from the very front.

Order of the grid:

1. George Russell

2. Charles Leclerc

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. Kimi Antonelli

5. Max Verstappen

6. Lando Norris

7. Oscar Piastri

8, Isack Hadjar

9. Liam Lawson

10. Arvid Lindblad

11. Pierre Gasly

12. Gabierl Bortoleto

13. Oliver Bearman

14. Nico Hulkenberg

15. Esteban Ocon

16. Franco Colapinto

17. Carlos Sazin

18. Alex Albon

19. Sergio Perez

20. Valteri Bottas

21. Fernando Alonso

22. Lance Stroll