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Austrian Grand Prix Pole For Red Bull’s Max Verstappen

By Robert Haile

The action was nonstop as Max Verstappen took another step towards his third Formula One title with pole position in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen got the better of a resurgent Ferrari as Charles Leclerc returned to the front row with teammate Carlos Sainz taking third place and a spot on the second row.

Verstappen said: “It’s great to be on pole here at the Red Bull Ring, it feels good. It wasn’t a straightforward qualifying because of all the track limits.

“It’s very hard to judge the white line here, a lot of us got caught out so at least it wasn’t just us. Today was all about surviving, we just needed to bank the laps as we weren’t able to push hard.

“It’s such a short lap here so we are all pretty close together. We’ve got a long weekend ahead so a lot can happen, tomorrow will be a completely different story.

“Today, the car was quick and we were ahead, that’s the most important thing.”

An upgrade Lando Norris put his McLaren in fourth as Mercedes Lewis Hamilton beat Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso for fifth.

Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg took eighth ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Williams’ Alex Albon in tenth.

(right to left) Second placed qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari, Pole Position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Third placed qualifier Carlos Sainz of Spain and Ferrari celebrate in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 30, 2023 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

A lot of drivers had their lap times deleted, something that has been a feature of the season so far, and over the three qualifying sessions it caused some surprise eliminations.

In the second qualifying session George Russell ended up in eleventh for Mercedes after losing a lap while Sergio Perez lost all his laps to start in fifteenth for Red Bull.

Esteban Ocon took twelfth for Alpine, Oscar Piastri’s McLaren is thirteenth and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas starts in fourteenth.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was another driver to suffer from a deleted lap as he dropped to sixteenth and a early qualifying session exit.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant’s Williams start in seventeenth and eighteenth with Kevin Magnussen in nineteenth on his 150th Grand Prix.

Completing the grid is AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries.

The Austrian Grand Prix race starts at 2pm (14:00) in the UK on Sunday, July 2, but before that on Saturday there is the Sprint Shootout qualifying at 11am and then the Sprint Race at 3:30pm (15:30).

Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
  3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
  4. Lando Norris (McLaren)
  5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
  6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
  7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
  8. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
  9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
  10. Alex Albon (Williams)
  11. George Russell (Mercedes)
  12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
  13. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
  14. Vallteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
  15. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
  16. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
  17. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
  18. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
  19. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
  20. Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri)