Max Verstappen has secured pole for the Austrian Grand Prix speed race to improve his position as Red Bull Ring master, but Mercedes suffered a double disaster in a drama-laden qualifying session.
Verstappen made an impressive lap in front of tens of thousands of his Dutch fans to reach the first position of the grid with only 0.029 seconds of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
“It’s amazing to see the crowd here and see so much orange and the support I have now for a few years now that it’s already here,” said the Belgian-born Dutch world champion.
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Dutch Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen reacts after the qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring racing circuit in Spielberg, Austria. Source: AFP
“It definitely puts a smile on my face and I hope we can have a great weekend.”
It was not a happy day for McLaren as Lando Norris finished 15th and Daniel Ricciardo 16th for the Sprint.
Norris complained of a “pretty scary” braking problem, while Ricciardo said “a little bit everywhere” when asked where he was losing pace.
“I don’t just want to get out of the turnstiles and say‘ see you later ’; Obviously, I just want to find out and the only way it will improve is if I try to learn and understand a little more. So yes, try to be just an adult in this situation, ”Ricciardo said.
“Of course, I’ll let out a little bit of excitement, whatever it is, but in the end we still have a long weekend ahead of us, so I still have to keep my eyes on the award and know it will get better if we keep working . ”
Carlos Sainz, who just won his first win at Silverstone last weekend, was third with the other Ferrari with less than a tenth of a second covering the top three.
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished fourth, but the Mexican dropped to 13th place to break the limits of the track in the second qualifying session.
Mercedes had approached this weekend with confidence after a good performance at Silverstone, but both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crashed into the top 10.
Hamilton made a rare mistake when he crashed into the barrier on the seventh corner on a fast lap with five and a half minutes left in Q3.
He soon got out of the car and went back to the pits.
“It was a big hit, but I’m fine,” he said later.
“Incredibly disappointed with myself and I’m so sorry for the team that worked so hard to ride this car; I never like to damage it,” Hamilton added.
“I think we were fighting for about the first three. I have no answer for that.”
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After a red flag period when the crushed Mercedes was lifted off the circuit, the session resumed.
But not for long, as Russell left the stage on the left, at turn 10, to leave Mercedes team manager Toto Wolff staring desolately at his TV monitor.
With eight cars left to fight for pole, Verstappen took the honors. “It was a very long wait between the two races and that’s never great. Once you’re at the pace, it’s nice to keep going,” Verstappen said.
“But of course, very happy with the stick; but I also know that tomorrow and Sunday you can get the points “, he added.
Verstappen has won four of the last six races, including two last year on successive weekends, at one of the most picturesque but challenging facilities on the F1 calendar.
Saturday’s sprint will shape the grid of Sunday’s race, the 11th round of the world championship that Verstappen leads by 34 points from Perez.
Russell had done well before his start to set the fifth fastest time, but rose to fourth after Perez’s penalty.
In the revised starting order, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) starts from fifth position, ahead of Kevin Magnussen and his Haas teammate Mick Schumacher. Fernando Alonso, Hamilton and Pierre Gasly complete the top 10.
This is half of three sprints on the 2022 calendar. The first, the weekend of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, was won by Verstappen, who also continued in the race.
While not an ideal day for Mercedes, Saturday’s 100km offers them a chance to improve their positions on the grid for Sunday’s main event.
“I’m really far behind. I don’t know what’s possible from here, but it’s a speed race, so I hope to be able to make up for lost time,” Hamilton said. On a brighter note, he added, “I’m excited, I’m sure I can see our performance; we didn’t expect it to be as close as this today, so it’s a big positive.” Leclerc is looking for a change of fortune after seeing his challenge to the early season title compromised by suspicious tactics from the team.
“I just want to have a clean run. We had five races that were a bit of a disaster on my part. I just hope we can finally score the points we deserve.”
Schedule of Saturday’s Austrian Grand Prix sprint race after qualifying at the Spielberg Red Bull Ring circuit on Friday:
First row Max Verstappen (NED / Red Bull) Charles Leclerc (MON / Ferrari)
2nd row Carlos Sainz (ESP / Ferrari) George Russell (GBR / Mercedes)
3rd row Esteban Ocon (FRA / Alpine-Renault) Kevin Magnussen (DEN / Haas-Ferrari)
4th row Mick Schumacher (GER / Haas-Ferrari) Fernando Alonso (ESP / Alpine-Renault)
5th row Lewis Hamilton (GBR / Mercedes) Pierre Gasly (FRA / AlphaTauri-Red Bull)
6th row Alexander Albon (THA / Williams-Mercedes) Valtteri Boots (FIN / Alfa Romeo)
7th row Sergio Pérez (MEX / Red Bull) Yuki Tsunoda (JPN / AlphaTauri-Red Bull)
8th row Lando Norris (GBR / McLaren-Mercedes) Daniel Ricciardo (AUS / McLaren-Mercedes)
9th row Lance Stroll (CAN / Aston Martin-Mercedes) Zhou Guanyu (CHN / Alfa Romeo)
10th row Nicholas Latifi (CAN / Williams-Mercedes) Sebastian Vettel (GER / Aston Martin-Mercedes)
+ Perez finished fourth but dropped to 13th place after breaking track restrictions in second place.