Formula 1 | Austrian Grand Prix: F1 qualifying live in Spielberg

The Austrian Grand Prix weekend has been pretty consistent so far. In free practice, in Sprint qualifying and during the Sprint, Max Verstappen dominated, narrowly ahead of one of the McLaren F1 drivers. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are now the ones stopping the Dutchman from going around in circles.

But it was the latter who took pole during the Sprint Shootout, then won during the Sprint. From now on, his goal will be to continue his perfect weekend and beat the McLarens again.

Behind, the fight between Mercedes and Ferrari continues in full swing, even if the Scuderia displayed a disappointing pace during the Sprint. Behind, Alpine will obviously seek to be once again the best team in the pack.

There are no penalties to be applied after qualifying at the moment, and the biggest challenge of this timed session will be the management of track limits. Indeed, despite the arrangements to limit abuse, we saw several laps cancelled yesterday during the Sprint Qualifying.

Q1 – 18 minutes

Verstappen sets a first time of 1’06″054, and Sergio Perez does not do any better but closes to less than two tenths of his teammate, a closer gap than usual. Pierre Gasly is third ahead of Lance Stroll, and the Frenchman is only eight tenths behind Verstappen. Fernando Alonso is third.

Esteban Ocon does better, and Alex Albon does even better. Carlos Sainz does better than Verstappen in 1’05″941. Charles Leclerc beats his teammate in 1’05″901, and Lando Norris fits in between the two Ferraris, 0″009 behind the Monegasque. Oscar Piastri is third at 17 thousandths, pushing Sainz, however at 40 thousandths, into fourth place.

And Yuki Tsunoda slips into fourth place, 28 thousandths behind Leclerc! The gaps are incredibly small between the leaders. Behind, Daniel Ricciardo is eighth, and Kevin Magnussen seventh.

The Mercedes drivers came out of step with Lewis Hamilton setting the sixth fastest time, and George Russell did better than everyone else with a time of 1’05″614! Mercedes and Ferrari seem to have gained in performance since the Sprint.

Verstappen came out looking to improve and did so with a time of 1’05″336, propelling him into the lead. Perez improved with the third fastest time, three tenths behind his team-mate. Sainz did better than everyone else with a time of 1’05″263.

Gasly also improved, moving up to eighth. Leclerc also moved up to third, and Alonso beat his previous benchmark in sixth. Ocon finished his lap and also improved with a fine sixth time. Stroll only set the 13th fastest time.

Ricciardo moved up to seventh with over seven minutes to go before the checkered flag. Albon moved up to eighth, and Sargeant was no better than 17th fastest. Magnussen moved up to ninth.

Tsunoda moved up to eighth but his time was canceled. Piastri moved up to second, 0.048″ behind Sainz, and Norris also improved his time to take fourth position.

With less than 4 minutes to go in Q1, the first and last are separated by less than a second, and the drivers are obviously forced to go out to secure a place in Q2.

Gasly took sixth, Hamilton moved up to the Frenchman’s position shortly after. Russell got in between the two men. Hulkenberg set ninth, and Magnussen did a great time with fifth! Hamilton says he’s slow on track.

Ricciardo moved up to eighth, Tsunoda finished his lap in eighth. Norris was on track but came in before his fast lap, while Sainz, Piastri and Verstappen did not return to the track. Albon did no better than 15th.

Stroll did no better than 16th, and Alonso finished in 15th place, narrowly eliminating Albon. Perez improved with the 12th time, 3 tenths off the best time! Albon, the first eliminated, finished 0.473 behind Sainz!

The eliminated are Albon, Stroll, Bottas, Sargeant and Zhou.

Q2 – 15 minutes

Ocon set the first time in 1’05″582, with Gasly 0″075 behind. Sainz set the third fastest time on used tyres, while Leclerc went one better than Ocon in 1’05″532. The first run was not entirely clear in terms of hierarchy, with some drivers choosing used tyres.

Verstappen attacks the Ferrari time and does better in 1’04″577, with new tires. Tsunoda places second, beaten by Hamilton. Russell places second, but half a second behind the Dutchman who did well with his time.

Ricciardo slotted in between Hamilton and Tsunoda, and Piastri slotted into third between the Mercedes. Norris was fourth, half a second behind, and Perez was no better than fifth, six-tenths behind his team-mate.

Already under investigation after Q1 for not respecting his positioning at the exit of the pit box, Hülkenberg did it again by forcing his way into the ‘fast lane’ in front of Pérez while his wheel was not present behind the white line. Magnussen is placed 12th and Ocon seventh. The Ferrari drivers returned to the track, this time on new tires.

Sainz finished in second place, but more than four tenths behind Verstappen. Gasly moved up to tenth position, and Leclerc placed sixth. This pushes Gasly out of the provisional top 10.

Alonso is not satisfied: “I almost crashed in turns 7 and 10.” And in fact, the Spaniard set the last time of the first run of Q2. Aston Martin’s affairs do not seem to be improving in this second phase of qualifying.

Chronos after Q1: