Austrian GP: Verstappen secures pole as Norris claims P2

Max Verstappen was imperious as he dominated qualifying to claim pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix.

In front of thousands of his Orange Army, the Dutchman led all three segments and would post a 1m03.720s in Q3 to take his third straight pole and fourth of 2021.

Lando Norris claimed his best-ever result in Formula 1 qualifying in second for McLaren in another impressive performance for the Briton.

And on a bad day for Mercedes, Sergio Perez made it two Red Bull’s in the top three in third.

Q1

Verstappen set the pace at the front, with Lando Norris less than a tenth behind in second.

In the elimination zone, Esteban Ocon was knocked out in Q1 for the second straight weekend in P17 for Alpine.

Kimi Raikkonen also missed out on Q2 in 16th despite being only two-tenths slower than teammate Antonio Giovinazzi in P7.

Nicholas Latifi was 18th with the two Haas’ once again at the back, Mick Schumacher finishing over half a second faster than teammate Nikita Mazepin.

Q2

Verstappen remained untouchable at the front, three-tenths clear of Hamilton.

There was delight for George Russell who made Q3 by just 0.006s in P10 and on the medium tyre, giving him the perfect strategy for Sunday.

The Williams was ahead of both Ferraris in P11 for Carlos Sainz and P12 for Charles Leclerc, as a gamble to remain on the mediums for the second run didn’t pay off.

Daniel Ricciardo disappointed again in 13th for the second straight week, while Fernando Alonso was only 14th after being blocked by Sebastian Vettel at the final corner on a faster lap.

After a strong Q1, Giovinazzi will only start one place ahead of Raikkonen in 15th.

Q3

There was still no change in the first runs of Q3 as Verstappen set the pace for Red Bull.

The big shock was Lando Norris joining the Dutchman in the 1m03s bracket in P2 ahead of both Mercedes in third and fourth.

And the McLaren driver almost went one better on the final run coming up just 0.048s shy as he secured his best ever qualifying result.

Sergio Perez improved to take third in the second Red Bull as Mercedes had ot settle for fourth with Hamilton and fifth for Bottas.

AlphaTauri impressed with Pierre Gasly sixth and Yuki Tsunoda seventh. Vettel took P8 but is likely to be in trouble for the Q2 incident with Alonso.

Russell claimed P9 in his first Q3 with Williams and Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10 for Aston Martin.

In the fight for pole though, only one man reigned supreme at the Red Bull Ring and Max Verstappen will look to make it two wins in a week and a perfect treble for the first tripleheader of the season.

Full results from qualifying can be seen below: