The Orange Army had plenty to cheer as Max Verstappen took pole and both Mercedes’ crashed in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Ferrari had set the pace in both Q1 and Q2, but in a disrupted Q3, the world champion found that little extra to take pole as less than a tenth covered the top three.
Q1
The opening 18 minutes started a trend as the session was filled with lap times being deleted for track limits in the final two corners.
At the front, the two Ferraris led the way ahead of Verstappen as the Italian team turned up the power for their final lap.
In the elimination zone, after a problematic practice, Daniel Ricciardo could only manage 16th in the McLaren, missing out by just 0.024s behind Pierre Gasly.
That’s the end of Q1. Lando makes it through, but unfortunately Daniel is out.
NOR ?? P8
RIC ?? P16#AustrianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/WIvBbtPcUm— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 8, 2022
Both Aston Martins were knocked out in Q1 for the third straight race weekend.
Lance Stroll was 17th and Sebastian Vettel finished slowest as his last time was among those deleted for track limits.
Zhou Guanyu was 18th ahead of Nicholas Latifi in the Williams.
Q2
Leclerc kept Ferrari at the front, leading Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in Q2.
Heading into the final runs, there was big pressure on Sergio Perez in P12, with the Mexican leaving it late to secure his place in Q3.
There was some controversy though as it appeared clear Checo had exceeded track limits at Turn 8 on his final lap.
Meu amigo, a imagem do track limits do Pérez é tão clara que não precisaria nem do VAR. Tá parecendo arbitragem do Campeonato Brasileiro… Enxerga o desnecessário e não enxerga o necessário. #F1 #F1noGE #AustrianGP #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/cUkkQ9f30z
— Rafael Lopes (@voandobaixo) July 8, 2022
McLaren’s miserable day continued as Lando Norris had all his flying laps in Q2 deleted for track limits as he finished 15th.
Pierre Gasly missed out on Q3 by just 0.009s in P11, ahead of Alex Albon in 12th for Williams.
Valtteri Bottas was 13th but will drop to the back of the grid due to engine penalties, Yuki Tsunoda was 14th in the second AlphaTauri.
Q3
The first run saw Verstappen lead the way for Red Bull.
Hamilton’s chances of a first pole this season ended in the barrier at Turn 7, as the Briton couldn’t recover from a snap of mid-corner oversteer.
Hamilton is out of the car after going into the barriers at Turn 7#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Xx8Yo3IG2f
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 8, 2022
Shortly after the proceeding red flag, George Russell then made it two Silver Arrows in the barriers as he lost the rear at the final corner causing another stoppage.
That left time for one final run to determine the top 10.
The two Ferrari’s produced better laps to beat Verstappen’s initial benchmark. But the world champion responded with a brilliant final sector to claim pole by just 0.029s ahead of Leclerc.
A hat-trick of Red Bull Ring poles! ? #AustrianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/cOAXS9viPd
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 8, 2022
Sainz was also within a tenth in third ahead of Perez in fourth. Russell remained fifth despite his crash as Esteban Ocon took sixth for Alpine.
Kevin Magnussen led Mick Schumacher as the two Haas’ were seventh and eighth. Fernando Alonso and the stricken Hamilton completed the top 10.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
Not much in it between the top three ?#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/6psE60NFfp
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 8, 2022