In extremely contentious and confusing circumstances, George Russell took pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen’s crash at the end of Q3 appeared to hand a front-row lockout to the Scuderia, until Russell went quickest by two tenths. The contention is whether double yellow flags were being waved, raising questions about whether the lap should have been stood.
Q1 - Antonelli the early pace setter, as both Williams are knocked out
George Russell continued his blistering pace from practice to open his qualifying with a 1:07.8. A 1:07.4 was enough for Max Verstappen to go quickest, with his teammate Isack Hadjar 0.001 behind.
Lando Norris then went to the top of the timings with a 1:07.2, with Lewis Hamilton slotting into P2 by 0.031.
The defending World Champion was then replaced at the top by current championship leader Kimi Antonelli by just under two tenths. Antonelli was the favourite coming into qualifying, having topped both Friday practice sessions, and finishing P2 in final practice on Saturday morning.
Looking towards the crucial elimination zone, Aston Martin's struggles continued, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll sitting in P21 and P22, respectively, and almost two seconds off Alex Albon in P15.
With two minutes and 30 seconds remaining, everyone began to crawl out of the pits for their final run, apart from the Ferrari pair, Verstappen, and Norris, who stayed in the garage.
Esteban Ocon pulled his Haas from P20 to P13, which might not have been enough, as many were on personal bests. Carlos Sainz had a moment at the final corner, which left him in P14, though Nico Hulkenberg improved on his lap to knock the Spaniard out of qualifying alongside his Williams teammate Albon.
It was a case of two by two, as Alonso and Stroll’s Aston Martin, and Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, and Valtteri Bottas were also eliminated in the first part of qualifying.
Q2 - Verstappen survives huge scare to avoid early elimination
Norris opened up the second part of qualifying with a 1:07.3, beaten quickly by the pair of Red Bull and Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc’s 1:07.0 giving him a 0.009 advantage over Hamilton. Antonelli and Oscar Piastri were the first drivers into the 1:06s, the Italian driver’s 1:06.7 putting him a tenth clear of the McLaren.
While Antonelli’s confidence grew, Russel’s seemed to be diminishing. A lock-up into turn three on his first lap in Q2 saw the British driver essentially waste a new set of soft tyres, and put heavy pressure on himself to get his second lap right; it was a set of used tyres for this second run, though.
During his outlap, an interesting message came over the radio from Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, asking Russell to “just drive’. Despite a poor first sector, the middle and final were solid to put him into P4 with a 1:06.9, just over two tenths off his teammate.
Norris set a 1:06.7 to move into third, with his first run of the session using a set of new tyres.
Verstappen chose to stay in the pits, which seemed to be a bold decision from Red Bull as he was sat in P7, and when Hadjar improved, alongside both Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson, and Arvid Lindblad, then it started to get a bit techy, however one by one they tried to dislodge the Dutchman from P10, and could not, with Pierre Gasly coming closest in P11 by 0.040.
However, for Red Bull, their gamble to leave Verstappen from a final run had paid off, as they now had a pair of softs in the fight for pole position.
Gasly would be joined for an early exit by both Audis of Gabriel Bortoleto and Hulkenberg, both Haas cars of Ollie Bearman and Ocon, and his Alpine teammate, Franco Colapinto.
Q3 - Russell takes pole in controversial circumstances after Verstappen’s crash.
Verstappen was in the fight for pole heading into the final corners, but lost the rear at turn 10, and any chance of P1 with it. Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images
Norris started the fight for pole with a 1:06.9, which was slightly slower than his Q2 lap, but Verstappen blitzed that completely with a 1:06:4, which seemed a mega lap until both Mercedes jumped over him, with Antonelli taking provisional pole with a 1:06.414, four hundredths ahead of Russell. The top three were separated by just 0.061 seconds.
Hamilton would have wanted to be in the fight for pole, but on his first lap, he also locked up at turn three, leaving him a final lap to try and get anywhere near P1. He took provisional pole off Antonelli by 0.006 seconds, before Leclerc claimed top spot by 0.046.
Verstappen was also in play, but heading into turn 10, he lost the rear end of his Red Bull, spinning into the wall, and it was hugely costly for Kimi Antonelli, who had to lift for Verstappen.
Russell, however, seemed to take pole position by two tenths; however, because it was a double yellow, the question is, did he lift enough? He was noted for a yellow flag infringement, but for now, he was on pole for the fourth time this season.
It was not long until Russell had his pole position confirmed, a very important step considering the tough season that he had been dealing with since the first race in Australia.
Elsewhere, the McLaren pair of Norris and Piastri were in P6 and P7, with Hadjar, Lawson, and Lindblad completing the top 10.
Antonelli would start P4, which was his lowest start of the season, but considering his pace across the weekend, a fight for the win could not be ruled out. Verstappen would start P5 despite his crash.
Qualifying results
1 George Russell (Mercedes)
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6 Lando Norris (McLaren)
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
9 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
10 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
11 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
12 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
13 Ollie Bearman (Haas)
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
15 Esteban Ocon (Haas)
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
17 Carlos Sainz (Williams)
18 Alex Albon (Williams)
19 Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
20 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
