In the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have secured the top two positions on the Formula 1 grid for the second consecutive Sunday at the Austrian Grand Prix. However, this time there has been a role reversal, with Verstappen claiming a dominant pole position at the Red Bull Ring. He finished qualifying four tenths of a second faster than Norris, who had previously secured pole position at the Spanish GP. George Russell managed to secure third place on the grid, benefiting from Oscar Piastri having his final Q3 laptime deleted due to exceeding track limits.
McLaren made an attempt to challenge the decision to delete Piastri’s laptime, but their efforts were unsuccessful due to technicalities. This was just one of several post-session stewards’ decisions that did not result in any changes to the grid. Verstappen faced no action for “driving unnecessarily slowly” to create a gap between himself and the cars ahead, as he did not impede anyone. Haas received a reprimand for not following the race director’s instructions regarding entering the fast lane in the pits, while Mercedes was fined €5000 for an unsafe release, as Lewis Hamilton left the garage with a jack and exhaust extractor still attached.
As a result of the upheld lap deletion, Piastri dropped from third to seventh place on the grid. Carlos Sainz, Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc moved up to fourth, fifth, and sixth place respectively. Leclerc had an off-track moment during his final flying lap of the session. Pierre Gasly, who initially qualified in twelfth place, had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 6. This means he will start the race from thirteenth position, just behind Kevin Magnussen.
Qualifying was a disappointing affair for Aston Martin, with both cars struggling for pace. Fernando Alonso will begin the grand prix from fifteenth place, while Lance Stroll will have to make a recovery from seventeenth on the grid after failing to progress beyond Q1. The bottom five positions on the grid were filled by the Williams and Sauber drivers. Alex Albon managed to secure sixteenth place, while Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu will start from the back row.
The final grid positions are as follows:
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
11. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
12. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
13. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
14. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
16. Alex Albon (Williams)
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)
19. Logan Sergeant (Williams)
20. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)