Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen edged out Sergio Perez and Lando Norris to top Formula 1’s second sprint shootout qualifying, as Mercedes suffered Q1 and Q2 nightmare.
The day started in rainy conditions at the Red Bull Ring and sprint qualifying being declared wet meant the strict slick tyre requirements for the compacted session were suspended and drivers could use whatever compound they wanted throughout.
In the end, other than the Williams completing early Q1 laps on intermediates, the drivers ran slicks throughout.
Verstappen made full use of the new softs he had saved progressing smoothly in Friday qualifying to lead the way on the first runs in Q3 with a one minute, 04.613 seconds ahead of Norris and Perez, with Carlos Sainz fourth and at that stage running new mediums because of his lack of new softs.
Several drivers switched compounds for the final Q3 runs, where Charles Leclerc led the charge having not headed out immediately in Q3 to save his single set of new softs.
But these were not enough to make an impression on the leaders, as he could not replicate his Friday evening near pole-clinching pace and at that stage could not even beat his teammate’s time on the harder compound.
Verstappen then again went even faster to set the quickest time in all three sectors to claim pole for the sprint race, going quicker by 0.173 seconds to post a one minute, 04.440 seconds.
Perez slotted into second while Norris was shuffled down to third and Nico Hulkenberg brilliantly shot into fourth despite running the mediums at the end.
Sainz switched to new softs for his second Q3 go and although he improved could only manage fifth, with Leclerc completing a second run on the same set of softs that was a personal best but only quick enough for sixth.
Then came Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who also found time switching to the mediums for the final Q3 runs.
Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen completed the top ten for Alpine and Haas respectively.
In Q2, which Verstappen topped, Leclerc faced a late battle to progress while just running used softs as he ran P11 ahead of the final times, but he did enough to progress – unlike Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries.
Like Leclerc, Gasly and Tsunoda produced their best right in the final moments, but could not climb into the top ten.
Tsunoda lost an earlier time that was even faster to a track limits violation, but it was not quick enough to get into Q3 ahead of Hulkenberg in any case.
George Russell was also eliminated at his stage as he suffered a hydraulic failure at the end of Q1 and, despite Mercedes mechanics being spotted working on his car during the middle segment, he did not take to the track.
In Q1, both the Ferrari drivers had contrasting fortunes as Sainz spent most of the shortened 12-minute segment in the pits as his team had to solve a brake-by-wire problem on the rear of his car that left him with only the mechanical system working and so the rear brakes heated up and began smoking.
Sainz emerged with one minute, 40 seconds remaining on the clock and then brilliantly blasted to the top of the pile in the opening segment.
Leclerc was able to circulate and made a late change trip to the pits, after which he struggled to build tyre temperature compared to those that stayed out.
He improved on his last effort enough to jump clear of the drop zone but as the flurry of final improvements came in, he was shuffled back down the order and only progressed by 0.001 seconds – quicker by a fraction ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu.
Zhou had spun early in Q1 clipping the still wet inside kerbs at Turn 9 and was eventually eliminated ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who will go to see the stewards now sprint qualifying as ended as he appeared to be impeded by Leclerc at Turn 9 as the Ferrari made its late dive into the pits.
Hamilton was Q1’s major casualty as he ran too wide at the exit of Turn 10 and lost a time that would have got in through amongst the leading times in the opening segment.
He then found himself in traffic and in a bizarre clash with Verstappen running down the pit straight and the Briton could not get a final effort in, leaving him stranded in 18th.
Also eliminated in Q1 were Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant.
So a fantastic Red Bull effort with this front row from both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. It’s the sprint race so bonus points is available but the main event is still the Austrian Grand Prix. Hopefully Mercedes will do better in Sunday’s race.
Austrian Grand Prix, sprint shootout results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:04.440
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:04.933
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:05.010
4 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:05.084
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:05.136
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:05.245
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:05.258
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:05.347
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:05.366
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:05.912
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:06.152
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:06.360
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:06.369
14 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:06.593
15 George Russell Mercedes No time
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:07.062
17 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:07.106
18 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:07.282
19 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:07.291
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:07.426
Austrian Grand Prix sprint qualifying review as reported by Formula1.com.
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Sprint Shootout at the Austrian Grand Prix with a stunning display at the end of a damp-dry session, heading Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Verstappen delivered two lap times quick enough for P1 in the SQ3 phase, which did not include Lewis Hamilton after a shock SQ1 exit, the Dutchman initially clocking a 1m 04.613s before getting down to a 1m 04.440s, with Perez – recovering from his Friday woes – ending up almost half a second adrift.
Norris and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg (despite being one of only two drivers to run mediums, not softs, for his final lap) were also stars of qualifying as they landed spots on the second row of the grid for the Sprint race that follows later today, getting the better of Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Aston Martin also ran line astern in seventh and eighth positions, Fernando Alonso just ahead of Lance Stroll (who also opted for mediums), with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen rounding out the top 10 places.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.verstappen-charges-to-p1-over-perez-and-norris-during-sprint-shootout-in.6lc2wNOjKYh4k9L6cLUu7A.html
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc hopes the special sprint race DRS rule will help him take on Max Verstappen for victory in the opening race of Formula 1’s 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.
Ferrari and Red Bull being closely matched on one-lap speed this weekend has raised hopes of a possible race-long battle between them in the sprint event, if Leclerc and Verstappen repeat their qualifying result in the shootout session.
Should that happen and Verstappen heads his 2022 title rival on the grid for Saturday afternoon’s race, Leclerc is hoping that DRS becoming active on the second lap of sprint races rather than the third in a grand prix will aid Ferrari in sticking close to Red Bull.
“There’s this new rule that after the first lap now we can activate DRS during the sprint, if I’m not wrong, which obviously helps us a little bit as with DRS here you can stay within one second a little bit easier,” he said after qualifying second for the GP.
“But again, they’ve got a lot of pace, so it’s going to be difficult anyway.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/leclerc-hopes-to-exploit-special-f1-sprint-race-drs-rule-against-verstappen/10489843/
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has hailed a “heroic lap” in Q1 for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix sprint shootout after being hit by brake problems.
Sainz was stuck in the garage until the final minutes of the session after reporting brake-by-wire problems on his Ferrari.
He came back out in time to attempt one flying lap, which propelled him from last to first.
“It was a very stressful Q1 in these conditions,” Sainz smiled. “Obviously, not ideal to be able to do only one lap in Q1 and to put it on P1 was a pretty heroic lap.
“Without knowing how the track was at the time, having no idea how much grip to find, to put it there with only one lap was a pretty good feeling.”
Sainz ran out of fresh soft tyres for Q3 and had to settle for fifth on Saturday afternoon’s sprint grid.
“I was quite quick in Q2 on the used tyres and also in Q3, but just due to the problem we had yesterday in Q2 we didn’t have any softs left, which we know around here is three to four tenths, so that’s why we are P5,” Sainz added.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sainz-hails-heroic-lap-to-p1-after-q1-brake-issues-in-austria-f1-shootout/10490004/
Fernando Alonso wants the Formula 1 sprint format rules to change after he reckoned mixed conditions in Austria created an unlevel playing field to make Aston Martin’s result a “miracle”.
The two-time world champion will start the shortened Saturday afternoon race at the Red Bull Ring from seventh place on the grid, one spot ahead of his Silverstone team-mate Lance Stroll.
Alonso reckoned that one-lap result from the Aston Martin duo was “kind of a miracle” since an extra qualifying shootout for a sprint round and a drying session had exposed a flaw in the rules.
Ordinarily, drivers must use a new set of medium tyres in the SQ1 and SQ2 sessions before switching to set a of new or scrubbed softs for SQ3. But morning rain – despite the emergence of a dry line – left the session to be declared wet, which freed up tyre choice for teams.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-miracle-aston-result-shows-f1-sprint-rules-need-changing/10490010/