Qualifying for F1 Austrian Grand Prix Was Crash-Fest for Mercedes
The Austrian Grand Prix is not home territory for Max Verstappen, but given the sea of orange that dominates the Red Bull Ring this week it feels like one.
The Dutch fans were bouncing in the grandstands, emitting orange flares that blew across the track throughout qualifying, and their man delivered when it mattered.
Verstappen’s lap of 1 minute, 4.984 seconds ensured he narrowly beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pole position by just 0.029, marking his third successive pole position at the picturesque circuit. It means Verstappen and Leclerc will form the front row of the grid for Saturday’s 24-lap Sprint, the outcome of which will set the starting order for Sunday’s 71-lap Grand Prix.
It is the second of three occasions in 2022 that Sprint, which was introduced in 2021, is being run at a Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton crashed out in qualifying on Friday in Austria.
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But while it was a prosperous day for the reigning World Champion, and a positive one for Ferrari, it was a dismal ending for Mercedes. Mercedes had shown encouraging pace during Q1 and Q2 but ended Q3 with damaged cars after separate accidents for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Hamilton had finished third-fastest in Q2 but after abandoning his first Q3 push lap made a mistake next time around into Turn 7. Hamilton got sideways through the medium-speed left-hander and went through the gravel before impacting the barrier with the right-hand-side of the car.
“I’m incredibly disappointed in myself, ultimately,” said Hamilton. “I’m so sorry to the team, everyone worked so hard to put this car together and I never like to damage it or bring it back damaged. We were fighting for a top three I think, and I don’t have an answer—I just lost the back end in Turn 7 and that was that.”
Mercedes’ George Russell also had a forgettable day in Austria on Friday.
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After the session was restarted, teammate Russell made a mistake through the final corner and spun backwards into the barriers, bringing out the red flag once more.
“I was a tenth up on my lap and I went for it,” said Russell. “I could have been on for third but we need to see how much damage is done, so sorry to the team and the garage.”
Russell wound up fifth in the session, behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, while Hamilton finished 10th after being without a representative Q3 lap time. Both, however, moved up one spot in the order after Sergio Perez had his Q3 times deleted for a track limits violations.
Perez, will start 13th. Everyone else from P5 to P13 moved up a place.
It was a good day for Haas, with Kevin Magnussen sixth and Mick Schumacher seventh.
F1 Austrian Grand Prix
Provisional Sprint Qualifying Grid
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas
- Mick Schumacher, Haas
- Fernando Alonso, Alpine
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
- Alexander Albon, Williams
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo
- Nicholas Latifi, Williams
- Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
Keyword: Max Verstappen Qualifies on F1 Pole for Sprint Qualifying Race in Austria