Austrian Grand Prix: F1 Sprint Qualifying Results

Austrian Grand Prix: F1 Sprint Qualifying Results

Drivers have had just an hour of practice beforehand; can they put it together for an entire lap and secure an optimal grid slot?

James Fiorucci 3 min read

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The starting grid for the Sprint race was decided in a short Qualifying session; who claimed pole position?

Austrian Grand Prix: F1 Sprint Qualifying Results
Max Verstappen topped the timings in the earlier free practice session (Image Credit: @F1 on X)

As the 2024 Formula One World Championship inches ever closer to its halfway point, its the pre-season favourites Oracle Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen who lead both Standings.

However, their hold on first place hasn’t looked quite as comfortable in 2024 as it has in previous campaigns. McLaren’s Lando Norris has been Verstappen’s closest competitor in recent races, as the former came mighty close to snatching his second ever F1 victory at the most recent Grand Prix in Spain.

In the sole practice session of the weekend earlier in the day, Verstappen went quickest with a 1:05.685 despite running into engine issues midway through the session.

With gravel placed on the outside of several corners where penalties were dished out for track limits in previous editions of the Austrian Grand Prix, drivers will have to take more care than before to stay on the tarmac. Whether this will affect lap times remains to be seen.

Taking place at the Red Bull Ring, Red Bull will be hoping to win at their spiritual home as they did last year. But with reports stating that the Milton Keynes-based outfit no longer have the fastest car, can they really expect to extend their lead in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Standings? Sprint Qualifying will give a solid indication of relative performances for the rest of the weekend; who will set the fastest time of all?

SQ1

With air temperatures soaring near 30 degrees Celsius and the sun bearing down on the circuit, drivers would have their work cut out keeping their tyres from overheating during a Qualifying hot lap.

All 20 cars were on the Medium tyre, as per the regulations in SQ1. It took a few minutes for the first cars to come out on track, at the head of which was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. He duly set the first representative time of a 1:06.416, although he almost lost his W15 through the first corner. This was subsequently deleted for a track limits infringement later on in the lap.

Teammate George Russell claimed the top spot with a 1:05.764, with Carlos Sainz a few hundredths of a second behind in P2. With five minutes to go, Norris was the only other driver to set a time in the 1:05s, before Verstappen went quickest with a purple final sector and a 1:05.690 lap time.

With three minutes left, Hamilton and Zhou Guanyu were yet to get a time on the board. Fernando Alonso, Alexander Albon and Daniel Ricciardo completed the bottom five.

Hamilton got himself out of the elimination zone and up to P11, as did Albon and Alonso. However, Albon’s time wasn’t good enough to hang on as others continued to improve. A surprise SQ1 exit for Nico Hulkenberg, while RB’S Yuki Tsunoda survived a spin at the final corner.

Eliminated:

16. Daniel Ricciardo

17. Nico Hulkenberg

18. Valtteri Bottas

19. Alexander Albon

20. Zhou Guanyu

SQ2

Just ten minutes for SQ2, also on the Medium tyre. Verstappen was eager to get going, and got an early banker lap on the board with a 1:05.186. His teammate Sergio Perez was almost half a second down, while Sainz moved into P2 with a time just under a quarter of a second behind the Dutchman. Leclerc dipped his rear left wheel into the newly-laid gravel on the outside of Turn 9.

Only eight cars went out in the opening half of SQ2, with Russell claiming P2 ahead of Oscar Piastri. With three minutes remaining, both Aston Martins and Alpines headed out onto the Red Bull Ring followed by the rest. Lance Stroll made a mistake in the final corner which cost him valuable tenths; Esteban Ocon moved ahead while Tsunoda couldn’t go quicker than the Canadian.

As the clock ticked down to zero, both Alpine cars made it through while the Aston Martin pair by contrast missed out on the top ten.

Eliminated:

11. Kevin Magnussen

12. Lance Stroll

13. Fernando Alonso

14. Yuki Tsunoda

15. Logan Sargeant

SQ3

The remaining ten drivers could now use the Soft tyre for the all-important final part of Sprint Qualifying: SQ3. Well over half of the eight-minute session passed without any action out of the pits, they would only have a single flying lap to try for pole position.

Leclerc encountered trouble in the pitlane and came to a stop, and he subsequently ran out of time to set a flying lap.

Both Mercedes were the first to make their mark, with Russell ahead of Hamilton with a 1:05.054. Lap times came in one after another, but in the end it was Verstappen who claimed his career eighth Sprint pole with a 1:04.686 lap time. Norris claimed second position just under a tenth behind while Piastri was P3.

Final classification

TBA

Feature Image Credit: @F1 on X

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