Max Verstappen Takes Emphatic Austrian Pole

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing secured his eighth pole position of the season, finishing four-tenths of a second ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. George Russell claimed third place for Mercedes after Oscar Piastri, in the second McLaren, had his final Q3 lap deleted for exceeding track limits.

Verstappen was the first on track in Q1, setting a pace of 1:06.054 on used Soft tyres, with teammate Sergio Pérez initially in second. Both drivers were soon overtaken as faster times rolled in, dropping Verstappen to sixth. A subsequent run on used tyres saw Verstappen reclaim the top spot with a 1:05.336, though he was later displaced to third by Carlos Sainz and Piastri. Content with their times, the top three drivers opted to stay in the garage for the final Q1 runs. The session ended with Williams’ Alex Albon, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, along with Logan Sargeant, failing to progress to Q2.

In Q2, Verstappen, now on new tyres, showcased the RB20’s speed, clocking in at 1:04.577, nearly a second faster than Charles Leclerc, who was on used rubber. Russell improved but still trailed Verstappen by 0.491 seconds. Sainz then moved to second place on fresh tyres, but Verstappen widened the gap further, ending Q2 with a leading time of 1:04.469. Sainz, conserving his tyres, sat out the final runs, yet secured P2, followed by Russell, Hamilton, and Piastri. Daniel Ricciardo narrowly missed out on Q3, finishing 11th, alongside Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

During Q3’s initial runs, Verstappen improved his Q2 time slightly, taking provisional pole by 0.351 seconds ahead of Norris, with Russell and Leclerc following. In the final attempts, Verstappen remained unbeatable, achieving his 40th career pole with a lap of 1:04.314, 0.404 seconds ahead of Norris. Russell secured third, while Piastri’s last lap deletion for a track limits violation saw him drop behind Sainz, Hamilton, and Leclerc, who encountered issues at the final corner, finishing seventh. Pérez, Hülkenberg, and Ocon rounded out the top ten.

Max Verstappen

“It was a good day today. I am extremely happy that we got P1 in the Sprint and put it on pole in Qualifying and am really proud of the Team that we were able to be so competitive. We definitely saw some good improvements after the Sprint race, it all connected and the balance of the car felt a lot better, so hopefully we can keep that going. I could really push to the limit and it felt great to be that competitive in qualifying. The whole session went really well and the car was in a better window; I could push harder, the car was sticking and I am actually quite surprised by the gap! It shows that small changes that you make to the car can really make a difference. I am looking forward to tomorrow. We have had a really good weekend so far but the most important part has to happen tomorrow, so let’s see what the race brings.”

2024 Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying Results