Max Verstappen narrowly beat Lando Norris by 0.093 seconds to claim pole position for the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen, the last of the leading contenders to complete his lap, faced challenges with his tires due to a chaotic session end and a crowded track.
Oscar Piastri ensured a strong showing for McLaren by securing third place, 0.301 seconds behind Verstappen. He was followed by George Russell in his Mercedes and Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc, Sainz’s teammate, couldn’t start his flying lap in time and will begin the race from 10th place. Lewis Hamilton, who had several off-track excursions, ended up in sixth place, just ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Perez, struggling after a series of disappointing races, was affected by the scramble for track positioning as all 10 drivers competed in the final minutes of the session. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly of Alpine took eighth and ninth places, respectively.
The competition between Verstappen and Norris has intensified over the last two races, and this sprint qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring was no exception. Unlike in Spain, where Norris took pole, Verstappen was the fastest in every session of the shortened qualifying for the sprint and always seemed poised to take pole.
Norris struggled in the initial sessions, placing fourth and seventh, but delivered a strong lap when it mattered. Russell and then Piastri set the pace initially, but Norris surpassed them before Verstappen reclaimed the top spot with his final lap.
The crowd, predominantly fans from the Netherlands in their orange attire, celebrated Verstappen’s success at Red Bull’s home race on a track they own.
Verstappen commented, “It is great to be first here in front of basically my home fans, my home grand prix. It has been a good day so far. It has been nice to drive the car. Immediately it was well balanced. Of course, you make some small changes before spring qualifying and everything has been working really well.”
Norris remarked, “I never got quite comfortable until my final lap so I am quite happy with that. Close. It must have been a nice lap by Max and (it’s) a good position for the sprint tomorrow.”
Leclerc experienced an engine issue at the end of the pit lane during the final lap of the sprint qualifying session. His car went into anti-stall, and the engine stopped. By the time he restarted the car, he couldn’t reach the line before the chequered flag.
Hamilton went off track twice in the first session, at the first corner and Turn Six. The second incident damaged his floor, costing him about 0.2 seconds, according to Mercedes’ initial investigations. Hamilton concluded 0.216 seconds behind Russell’s time.
He said, “I wasn’t in the mix the whole session. It was pretty disastrous from my point of view. Car felt good, I don’t think we had the pace to be on pole but very bad laps.”
