Red flags, both Mercedes ended up in the wall! Who won the crazy qualifying session at the Austrian GP?

The sprint weekend in Austria offered an unusual qualifying battle on Friday. Both Haas surprised in Q3 at the Red Bull Ring and both Mercedes were to be seen crashing. Current world champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the sprint race, with both Ferrari monoblocs behind him at the start.

The first part of qualifying was the first major indication of the real speed of the cars for the spectators, who exceptionally only had one free practice session under their belts. Track limits were a big issue, as these meant a number of deleted times. And so the drivers had to try to go not only fast but also clean.

The Ferraris looked great, but the battle in Q1 was on the other side of the field. The difference between 15th-placed Pierre Gasly and 16th-placed Daniel Ricciardo was just 24 thousandths of a second.

Due to the penalty for Valtteri Bottas for a new power unit, the last six at the start of the sprint will look as follows: 15th Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 16th Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 17th Guangyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 18th Nicholas Latifi (Williams), 19th Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 20th Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo).

Q1 was won by Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari with a time of 1:05.419. Once again, the red car showed great qualifying speed. His teammate Carlos Sainz finished behind Leclerc. Then Max Verstappen came in behind the pair from Maranello.

In the middle section, Lando Norris was in big trouble, reporting brake problems. It was the Briton who eventually finished last in Q2. He was joined by 11th-placed Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), 12th-placed Alexander Albon (Williams), 13th-placed Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and 14th-placed Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo). Júki Cunoda (Alpha Tauri).

The 15-minute block in the middle of qualifying was again won by Leclerc in the Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton’s performance in the Mercedes was a surprise, finishing third behind Verstappen. The winner’s time this time stopped at 1:05.287.

The third part of qualifying began with Ferrari and Red Bull battling it out. After most of the drivers set their fast time, the Mercedes were the stars on the track. And while George Russell was finishing, all eyes moved to turn seven. That’s where seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton flew off the track.

The crash had badly damaged the right side of his car and he may need to replace the gearbox. After the crash, the battle for pole position was about five and a half minutes away. And after the restart, the tactical work began.

But that was literally shattered by Russell, who flew off the circuit in the last corner. The time on the clock at the second red flag was 2:31. The sprint for pole position could begin. Before it started, Verstappen was in the lead with a time of 1:05.092.

And despite both Leclerc and Sainz taking pole position for a while on quick attempts, the Dutch darling of the Austrian crowd eventually snatched back the top spot. With a time of 1::04.984, the Red Bull driver was the only one to get under the one minute and five second mark.

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 4. Sergio Pérez, 5. George Russell (Mercedes), 6. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 7. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 8. Mick Schumacher (Haas), 9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 10. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

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