Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Sprint Qualifying at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, held at his team’s home circuit of the Red Bull Ring.
But it was very close at the front, with the McLaren boys finishing P2 and P3, less than a tenth behind Max. Here’s how Sprint Qualifying played out, and the drivers’ reactions.
SQ1
The first segment of Sprint Qualifying saw pretty much all the cars leae the pits around 3 minutes in to the 12 minute session. The Red Bull Ring, with its fast corners and technical sections would immediately prove to be a challenge with the newly introduced gravel strips at Turn 6.
Lewis Hamilton had his initial lap time deleted for exceeding track limits after a slide. His teammate, George Russell, then topped the timesheets with his opening lap.
However, Russell’s position at the top was short-lived as Verstappen clocked the fastest time. The elimination zone saw some big names at risk, including Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, and Hamilton due to his deleted lap.
Most drivers returned to the track later on in the session to put in a second lap time and hopefully secure their spot in SQ2. Both Alonso and Hamilton improved their times but could only manage P11 and P12 respectively on a busy track. Logan Sargeant moved himself out of the danger zone into P14, while Yuki Tsunoda narrowly advanced in P15 despite a significant spin on his final lap. Unfortunately, Ricciardo was eliminated in P16.
Alex Albon, initially safe, was pushed into the elimination zone, concluding the session in 19th, while Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear in 20th for Kick Sauber.
Knocked out: Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Albon, Zhou
SQ2
As the session moved into SQ2, teams and drivers focused on securing a spot in the top 10 to advance to the final qualifying segment.
Verstappen and Perez were the first to hit the track. Verstappen wasted no time setting the pace, clocking in a fastest lap of 1m 05.186s, which put him a tenth ahead of Russell, who was in second place.
Initially, only eight drivers recorded a lap time, all on the new medium tyres mandated for this segment. The remaining seven drivers joined in during the final minutes, with those at risk of elimination including Sargeant, Alonso, Gasly, Magnussen, and Tsunoda.
Gasly managed to move up to 10th, positioning himself just behind his Alpine teammate Ocon, who was ninth. However, Stroll, who had previously seemed secure in the top 10, was pushed into the danger zone following a wild moment at Turn 10.
Magnussen narrowly missed out on advancing to SQ3, finishing 11th and just under a tenth behind Gasly. Stroll also failed to progress, ending up 12th, which capped a challenging day for Aston Martin, as Alonso could not advance either, placing 13th.
Knocked out: Magnussen, Stroll, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sargeant
SQ3
As the final eight minutes of SQ3 commenced, the session began quietly with all drivers remaining in the pits, strategically waiting for the right moment to hit the track. With only three minutes left, the Mercedes duo was the first to break the silence, making their way out onto the circuit.
They were soon followed by a line of cars, all equipped with the soft compound tyres mandated for this segment. Russell received a cautionary message from his engineer, highlighting the tight timing as everyone prepared for a single crucial lap.
Drama unfolded for Charles Leclerc when his Ferrari stalled in the pit lane. Although he managed to restart, he couldn’t reach the chequered flag in time to set a lap, resulting in his exclusion from the top-10 shootout, much to his frustration.
At the sharp end of the grid, Lando Norris appeared strong, initially setting the fastest time in his McLaren. However, Max Verstappen continued his dominance by clinching P1 with a lap of 1m 04.686s, narrowly beating Norris by 0.093 seconds.
Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren secured third place, followed by Russell in fourth. Carlos Sainz placed fifth, while Lewis Hamilton completed the top six.
Sergio Perez took seventh, just ahead of the steadily improving Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, who finished eighth and ninth respectively. Leclerc, having failed to log a timed lap, will start from 10th.
Reaction
Afterwards, Verstappen said “The car felt really strong coming in to qualifying and I felt like I could push. A positive day, I’m happy, we started the day well”.
Lando, after finishing less than a tenth of a second behind Verstappen, said “I think I did reasonably good, I never got quite comfortably until my final lap. I’m happy with that; close, as it has been the whole year, so no difference. But yeah, must have been a nice lap by Max, good position for the race tomorrow.”
His teammate Oscar Piastri who starts P3 said “The position is quite good, obviously, but yeah last lap there were a couple of corners I could have tidied up. But yeah it’s nice to know where the time is after rough one last weekend, I feel like we’re back on the pace, the new front wing was working well. Excited for the rest of the weekend.”
Hamilton, starting P6, was obviously dejected: “I wasn’t in the mix at all, the whole session was pretty disasterous from my point of view. We didn’t have the pace to be on pole. Very bad laps.”
