Austrian GP: Max Verstappen on pole, Charles Leclerc a whisker away
Austrian GP: Max Verstappen on pole, Charles Leclerc a whisker away
In qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, characterized by the many times cancelled due to track limits exceeded by drivers, one of the many absurd rules of this Forula 1, pole position goes to the strongest driver, Max Verstappen, for the sixth time this year and the 26th in his career, but the Ferraris finished immediately behind him.
In fact, Red Bull’s two-time world champion was just 48 thousandths ahead of Charles Leclerc, who will therefore start on the front row alongside the Dutchman, and 190 ahead of Carlos Sainz. Fourth was Lando Norris in the reborn McLaren, fifth Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Seventh was Fernando Alons, also preceded by Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll.
Among those penalized by the insane track limits rule, George Russell in the second Mercedes finished 11th, while Sergio Perez had all three Q2 times cancelled and therefore finished 15th with a beauty of a minute behind teammate Verstappen. These are the qualifying times.
1 Max Verstappen RED BULL HONDA RBPT 1’04″391
2 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1’04″439
3 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1’04″581
4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1’04″658
5 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1’04″819
6 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1’04″893
7 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1’04″911
8 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1’05″090
9 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1’05″170
10 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1’05″823
11 George Russell MERCEDES 1’05″428 (Q2)
12 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1’05″453 (Q2)
13 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1’05″605 (Q2)
14 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1’05″680 (Q2)
15 Sergio Perez RED BULL HONDA RBPT 2’06″688 (Q2)
16 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1’05″784 (Q1)
17 Guanyu Zhou ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1’05″818 (Q1)
18 Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1’05″948 (Q1)
19 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1’05″971 (Q1)
20 Nyck De Vries ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1’05″974 (Q1)
