Austrian Grand Prix – Max Verstappen (Red Bull) takes pole position ahead of Lando Norris and George Russel (Mercedes)

Unbeatable, literally unbeatable. Poleman and winner of the morning sprint race, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) set the fastest time in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon. And by far: the Dutchman pushed Lando Norris (McLaren) back by four tenths to secure his fourth pole in a row at the Red Bull Ring. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) finished tenth.

Verstappen is in the momentum. Winner of the sprint by more than four seconds, he did it again three hours later by giving a speed lesson to his little friends. His RB20 on rails, the Batavian continued to drop the times, the last of the session in 1’04″314, to return to the exercise of the fast lap. In fact, he had no longer signed a pole from Imola, beaten successively by Charles Leclerc (Monaco), George Russell (Canada) and Norris (Spain).

Despite a first sector lit in purple, the latter remained powerless at Spielberg, on Red Bull land. We are therefore heading towards a new battle between Verstappen and Norris on Sunday. Will the Briton be efficient enough to worry a completely confident Dutchman over the long stints? That remains to be seen…

Behind the Austrian team and McLaren, Mercedes continues to assert itself as the third force of the moment. The Silver Arrows took the lead over Ferrari, which they dominated again in qualifying. The two teams share the second and third rows. However, beware of a possible sanction concerning Lewis Hamilton. The Briton was guilty of a dangerous exit from his garage, taking a hose and a speed lift. The commissioners had to give their verdict after qualifying. They were quicker to penalize track exits. Improving on his last run, Piastri expected to start from third place.

But the Australian was caught by the patrol for “track-limits” at turn 6 and will ultimately have to settle for seventh place ahead of the (very) disappointing Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), the astonishing Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine). The Norman driver satisfied his boss Bruno Famin, who hoped to see a French single-seater in the top 10. His garage neighbor Pierre Gasly also saw his last Q2 time canceled. It was in any case insufficient to ensure a passage to Q3. He will start from thirteenth row behind Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas).