Race Sundays - F1 - News - Verstappen secures pole in Austria GP qualifying, ahead of Norris and Russell

Verstappen secures pole in Austria GP qualifying, ahead of Norris and Russell

SPIELBERG, Austria — Max Verstappen clinched pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix with a formidable display in Saturday's qualifying session, outpacing his closest rival, Lando Norris, by four-tenths of a second.

Verstappen established an impressive early benchmark in the initial laps of Q3 and then enhanced his time on a second effort, clocking a lap of 1m 04.314s in his Red Bull. Norris, in his McLaren, was 0.404s behind and secured second place, while George Russell positioned his Mercedes in third.

Carlos Sainz's Ferrari took fourth place, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in fifth. Charles Leclerc, driving the other Ferrari, finished sixth after an off-track moment on his final lap. McLaren's Oscar Piastri dropped to seventh due to exceeding track limits.

Sergio Perez claimed P8 for Red Bull, while Nico Hulkenberg posted the ninth-fastest time for Haas. However, Hulkenberg is under investigation for two separate pit lane incidents. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10.

The Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo just missed out on Q3, placing P11, while Yuki Tsunoda will start from P14. Sandwiched between them were the Haas of Kevin Magnussen in P12 and Alpine's Pierre Gasly in P13.

Fernando Alonso had a challenging Saturday, being eliminated in Q2 after failing to improve from 15th. The Spaniard reported nearly crashing his Aston Martin during his flying lap.

Despite Logan Sargeant beating his Williams teammate Alex Albon in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, both had a tough Saturday. Albon ended P16, and Sargeant will start from the back row in P19.

Aston Martin faced a doubly difficult outing as Lance Stroll exited Q1 in 17th place, along with the Alfa Romeo duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, who completed the grid in 18th and 20th, respectively.

Make sure to tune in for what promises to be an exciting race on Sunday, with Verstappen on pole and a competitive lineup chasing him down.

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