F1: Verstappen wins pole for Austrian GP Sprint Qualifying Race

Red Bull ace Max Verstappen sent the huge throng of Dutch fans into a frenzy by turning the fastest lap to win the pole for Saturday’s Sprint race for the Austrian GP.

Verstappen’s lap of 1m04.984s was just 0.029s and 0.082s faster than the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. respectively.

A brilliant third sector from Verstappen, who did not set any personal best times in the first two sectors, but pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the final sector to pip Leclerc to pole position.

Verstappen sealed his 16th career pole position, moving him ahead of Charles Leclerc on the all-time list.

“It was a very long between the two runs (because of two red flags caused by Mercedes crashes) and that’s never great with the track temperatures dropping, the wind changing,” said a happy Verstappen.

“Not that many corners here but the corners you have here, it’s very easy to make a mistake… I think we have a great car, normally qualifying is not our strongest point… but I feel confident with the car we have.”

“I think we are all three definitely close, on the last lap I struggled to bring the tires up to temperature having been in the pits, but Max was just a little stronger today so congrats to him,” said Leclerc.

“We put a good lap at the end of Q3, but it wasn’t easy because the tires were very cold… it wasn’t easy but I’m going to take P3,” said Sainz Jr.

“I’m getting there, this quali was strong, peaking at the right time in Q3… I think there is progress being done and I’m definitely more confident and comfortable.”

Sergio Perez will start 4th in the 2nd Red Bull, 0.420s behind his teammate.

George Russell rounded out the top-5 for Mercedes but crashed out in Q3, as did his teammate Lewis Hamilton so, depending on the extent of their damage, may have to take grid penalties.

A session that started out so well has ended being somewhat disastrous for Mercedes, with Russell and Hamilton set to start in fifth and 10th, respectively. The team felt they had the car to be contenders for pole coming into qualifying, and early signs indicated that they were right. But, all is not lost though, as they seem to have the pace in the car to make up positions for the race on Sunday, in tomorrow’s Sprint.

Another great showing from Haas, with Magnussen in seventh, while Schumacher did manage to get a lap time in that puts him eighth. Alonso is out-qualified by his team mate as he is in ninth, while Ocon is in sixth.

Sprint Qualifying Race Qualifying Results