Max Verstappen turns on style for Red Bull to take Styrian F1 GP pole
Verstappen #Verstappen
Max Verstappen took pole for the Styrian Grand Prix with a mighty lap in Austria for Red Bull. He beat Valtteri Bottas into second but the Finn will start from fifth after incurring a three-place grid penalty for dangerous driving in the pit lane during second practice on Friday. His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was in third but will start on the front row alongside Verstappen. McLaren’s Lando Norris was in fourth and will start from third with Sergio Pérez in fifth, to start from fourth.
Looking strong all weekend, when it mattered Verstappen put in two laps that were unmatchable, ultimately having almost two tenths of an advantage over Bottas, with some consistently inch perfect circuits of the Red Bull Ring.
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Hamilton went out early in Q3 with the track to himself and immediately put in his best performance of the afternoon with a time of 1min 4.205sec but it was swiftly bettered. Verstappen was finding time across every sector and took the lead with a 1:03.841 lap, four tenths better. Hamilton tried to come back at him immediately with another lap but could not match the time, albeit improving to 1:04.067.
The world champion had one more set of soft tyres to use, however, and would have a third shot at pole as the clock ticked down. This time the track was full, befitting a showdown finale, that was ultimately disappointing. Hamilton set his time first but his final lap was scrappy and well off his previous pace. Bottas went quicker to grab second and Verstappen’s final run of 1:03.919 made both his laps enough to have secured a dominant pole.
Verstappen is now on an absolute roll. He leads Hamilton by 12 points in the title race, while his team have a 37-point advantage over Mercedes in the constructors’ championship. His sixth career pole is his third this season and his second in a row, the first time he has taken two back to back. He now has one more than Hamilton this season, who has not taken the top spot since the Spanish GP, four meetings ago, a further indication of the edge Red Bull and Verstappen are enjoying.
Having won at the last round in France and with two victories at the Red Bull Ring already under his belt in 2018 and 2019 – neither from the front of the grid – Verstappen is in every position to dominate the race, already knowing well how to win here.
Red Bull had been on fine form all weekend. Verstappen was quickest on Friday in both practice sessions but Hamilton had the edge by two-tenths over the Dutchman in the final session on Saturday morning.
Hamilton and Verstappen now share three wins apiece but the Dutchman has consistently secured podium finishes, giving him a lead which the world champion can ill afford to be extended.
Pierre Gasly was in sixth for AlphaTauri with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in eighth. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was in seventh, Alpine’ Fernando Alonso in ninth and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in tenth.
George Russell was 11th for Williams, with Sebastian Vettel in 12 for Aston Martin. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was 13th, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in 14th and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in 15th.
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Nicholas Latifi was in 16th for Williams in front of the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Kimi Räikkönen was in 18th for Alfa Romeo, with Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in 19th and 20th for Haas.
Meanwhile, F1 has announced that the Igora Drive circuit outside St Petersburg is to host the Russian GP from 2023. The race has been held at Sochi since 2014.