2024 Austrian GP Sprint Qualifying: Max Takes Pole

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Sprint in Austria, topping the timesheets in a thrilling Sprint Qualifying session. The McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri followed close behind, with Verstappen clocking a time of 1m 04.686s in his Red Bull, just 0.093s ahead of Norris.

All drivers in SQ3 had just one flying lap to make their mark in the final minutes, and Verstappen rose to the occasion. Piastri secured third place, while George Russell placed his Mercedes fourth, ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari in fifth. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes starting from the third row in sixth, sharing it with Sainz.

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Sergio Perez positioned his Red Bull seventh, followed by Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in eighth and ninth. Charles Leclerc had a frustrating session. He failed to set a time and ended up in tenth after stopping in the pit lane before his final lap. He was then unable to cross the start/finish line on his out lap before the chequered flag dropped to post a qualifying lap, leaving him in P10.

Kevin Magnussen narrowly missed SQ3, placing eleventh in his Haas. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso qualified twelfth and thirteenth, respectively. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda took fourteenth, with Logan Sargeant in fifteenth for Williams, out-qualifying teammate Alex Albon.

Daniel Ricciardo failed to progress beyond P16 in the RB, and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas ended his day in seventeenth. The Kick Sauber pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu start eighteenth and twentieth, respectively, with Albon between them in nineteenth. The team, still chasing their first point of the year.

“It’s great to be first here in front of, basically, my home fans, my home Grand Prix,” Verstappen said. “It was a good day so far.

“It’s really been nice to drive the car, immediately the car was well-balanced and then you make some little adjustments going into the Sprint Quali. Everything has been working really well so a good start to the weekend. Still a lot of things to do but I’m happy with today.”

Austrian GP Sprint Qualifying Results

2024 Austrian Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying, 28 June 2024

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:05.690	1:05.186	1:04.686	11
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:05.786	1:05.561	1:04.779	13
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:06.081	1:05.379	1:04.987	14
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:05.764	1:05.325	1:05.054	9
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:05.781	1:05.435	1:05.126	12
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:06.504	1:05.539	1:05.270	13
7	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:06.256	1:05.612	1:06.008	14
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:06.343	1:05.686	1:06.101	12
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:06.465	1:05.757	1:06.624	12
10	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:06.149	1:05.526	DNF	12
11	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:06.387	1:05.806		8
12	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:06.037	1:05.847		8
13	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:06.487	1:05.878		9
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	1:06.557	1:05.960		9
15	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	1:06.518	DNF		9
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	1:06.581			6
17	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:06.583			6
18	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:06.725			6
19	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:06.754			6
20	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:07.197			6

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.