Verstappen on pole as both Mercedes crash out of 2022 Austrian GP qualifying
Max Verstappen will start alongside Charles Leclerc for the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix sprint race, with Lewis Hamilton tenth after he and George Russell crashed out of Q3
A sea of orange-clad Max Verstappen fans erupted with cheers as their hero clinched pole position in Austria, ahead of tomorrow’s sprint race.
The top three cars were split by less a tenth of a second, with title rival Charles Leclerc starting alongside Verstappen and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz third.
The final qualifying session turned into a shoot-out between the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers after both Mercedes crashed out in Q3, each triggering a separate red flag.
Sergio Perezagain struggled to match Verstappen, qualifying just over four-tenths down in fourth and then demoted to 13th when his best Q2 lap was belatedly deleted for exceeding track limits in a post-qualifying stewards’ inquiry. That promoted George Russell to the second row, thanks to a time set before his premature exit.
McLaren’s misery continued as Daniel Ricciardo was knocked out in Q1 with a tricky-to-handle car. Lando Norris spent much of Q2 running through the Red Bull Ring’s run-offs and gravel traps, with brake problems. “I’m scared to hit the brakes,” came the alarming radio message from car No4.
Earlier in the day, Ricciardo had spent much of the only practice session trying to solve a wobbly rear wing problem. Norris stopped early on, complaining of smoke coming from under his seat.
Also struggling was Aston Martin; both cars being knocked out in Q3
Q1
Another qualifying to forget for Aston Martin’s drivers
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With time advantage to be gained by running wide in Turns 9 and 10, drivers overlapped the white line as much they dared, with plenty nudging the whole car off the track and having their lap time deleted.
Stroll was first to be penalised, followed by Sainz, who had gone top of the timesheet, 0.4sec faster than Leclerc.
With an eye on saving tyres for later in the session, Verstappen and Mercedes left it late to go out, the trio spending around 6min in the pits before leaving to set a time.
As of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a month ago, Sergio Perez was only 4-3 down to Max Verstappen in qualifying, had actually outqualified him in two consecutive races (Monaco and…
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Verstappen first lap was deleted when he ran wide, while Hamilton had a bruising encounter with a yellow sausage kerb. He briefly went top on his second flying lap with a 1min 06.079sec, but was overhauled as Verstappen finally got onto the board to the audible delight of the crowd.
The times continued to tumble: Leclerc moved to the top with a 1min 05.419sec lap, 0.2sec ahead of Sainz and 0.4sec ahead of Verstappen. Those three were already in the pits by the time the chequered flag flew.
At that point, Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi were in the drop zone as the chequered flag was waved. None could improve; a relief to Pierre Gasly who ended Q1 just over two-hundredths of a second out of the drop zone, ahead of the unfortunate Ricciardo.
Vettel’s final time was deleted, consigning him to last place in qualifying, while Leclerc remained on top, followed by Sainz, Verstappen, Perez and Russell.
Q2
The frontrunners set their first times one after another: Leclerc came through fastest for a brief few seconds before Verstappen moved to the top. Russell split the Ferrari and Red Bull and then Hamilton blipped past the timing line fastest of all. His 1min 05.538sec lap was just 0.03sec faster than Verstappen’s.
Behind them, Q2 looked little better for McLaren. Norris began the session by locking up and going wide at the start of the session, then ran off at Turn 1 five minutes later.
Max Verstappen was the fastest driver in FP1, which was stopped twice for a red flag
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In the bottom five with 5min to go were Sergio Perez, who had a lap deleted after running wide in Turn 9, as well as Norris who was still to set a representative time. The McLaren driver continued to run off track, going through the gravel at Turn 7 and radioing: “I’m scared to hit the brakes.”
As Hamilton remained in the pits, Leclerc went back to the top of the timesheet with a 1min 05.287sec lap, ahead of Verstappen, 0.1sec further back.
Perez escaped the bottom five as he took the chequered flag on his final flying lap. And this came at the expense of Gasly whose luck was out. He joined Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas — who will start at the back due to new engine penalties — Yuki Tsunoda and Norris in exiting the session in Q2.
The lap time deletions had the stewards working frantically, and they initially missed Perez cutting Turn 8 on the Q2 lap that got him through to the final stage. An inquiry held after the qualifying session resulted in that lap being deleted. His next best lap would only have been good enough for 13th on the grid, which is where Perez will start in the sprint race.
Q3
Schumacher joined team-mate Magnussen in Q3
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Hamilton abandoned his first flying lap, as Verstappen hit the top with a 1min 05.092sec lap, a tenth ahead of Leclerc, who was followed by Sainz, Perez and Russell.
Ocon followed, the first of both Alpine drivers, who had only run on medium tyres in FP1 to save their softs for qualifying.
Hamilton’s qualifying was only going to get worse as he looked to set a representative time. He lost the rear of the car in Turn 7, turned in to the slide and speared off the track, through the gravel and into the tyre barrier with a hefty thud.
The orange-clad crowd cheered, as a dazed-sounding Hamilton reported in. “I’m so sorry guys, I’m so sorry to damage the car,” he said over the radio before being taken back to the pits in the medical car.
Russell crashed out with just under three minutes remaining
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There were five minutes remaining when qualifying resumed, but the cars wouldn’t be on track for long. For the second time in a session, a Mercedes went sliding wide off the track and into a barrier, George Russell coming to a halt in a cloud of dust, as the red flags waved once more.
The remaining eight drivers had less than three minutes remaining of the session, but the short Red Bull Ring lap meant that they all had time for a final flying lap. Leclerc initially moved to the top but nobody in Spielberg could have been in any doubt as to who ultimately claimed pole, as the orange smoke spouted from the cheering stands.
2022 Austrian Grand Prix qualifying results
Position
Driver
Team
Time (Q3)
1
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1min 04.984sec
2
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1min 05.013sec
3
Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
1min 05.066sec
4
George Russell
Mercedes
1min 05.431sec
5
Esteban Ocon
Alpine
1min 05.726sec
6
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1min 05.879sec
7
Mick Schumacher
Haas
1min 06.011sec
8
Fernando Alonso
Alpine
1min 06.103sec
9
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1min 13.151sec
Q2 times
10
Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri
1min 06.160sec
11
Alex Albon
Williams
1min 06.230sec
12
Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo
1min 06.319sec
13
Sergio Perez
Red Bull
1min 06.458sec*
14
Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri
1min 06.851sec
15
Lando Norris
McLaren
1min 25.847sec
Q1 times
16
Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren
1min 06.613sec
17
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
1min 06.847sec
18
Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo
1min 06.901sec
19
Nicholas Latifi
Williams
1min 07.003sec
20
Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin
1min 07.083sec
*Perez’s fastest Q2 time was deleted for exceeding track limits after qualifying
