Max Verstappen showed his teeth again on Saturday during qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. The 26-year-old Dutch driver, who had already won the sprint earlier in the day, largely dominated the session and will start from pole position on Sunday during the race (3 p.m.). The triple world champion, who set a blistering time of 1’04”314, will start ahead of Lando Norris’ McLaren (0”404 behind) and George Russell’s Mercedes (0”526 behind). Charles Leclerc will start sixth after a mistake in his last attempt and Esteban Ocon, tenth, has done his best with an Alpine that has not been very comfortable, especially on the straights, since the start of the weekend.
In front of an orange audience won over to his cause, Verstappen (40th pole position of his career) recalled who was the boss during a session, initially tight in Q1 (798 thousandths of a second between first and last, never seen before in F1), before the champion’s show.
Leclerc misses, Ocon in the top 10
In Q2 then in Q3, Red Bull delivered a big uppercut to the competition while the other teams seemed to have gotten closer in recent weeks. Verstappen’s new runner-up in the drivers’ standings, Norris, quite far behind, finished best of the others ahead of Russell, who took advantage of Oscar Piastri’s canceled time for track limits exceeded (the Australian will start 7th).
At Ferrari, a good performance for Carlos Sainz (4th) and a big disappointment for Charles Leclerc (6th), author of an error in his last attempt. The Monegasque felt he did not “have done the job” after getting out of his car. Lewis Hamilton, despite a Mercedes that he had difficulty handling, grabbed a fifth place while Sergio Perez, eighth, is still struggling.
At Alpine, a smile for Ocon, tenth, who got the most out of his car, and a grimace for Pierre Gasly, thirteenth after putting the tires in the gravel in his final attempt in Q2. The French team will have to fight if it intends to score at least one point on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring.
