2022 Austrian Grand Prix qualifying report and highlights: Verstappen beats Ferraris to pole in Austria as each Mercedes drivers crash out of Q3

Max Verstappen took pole place forward of the Dash in a dramatic Friday night qualifying session – with each Mercedes drivers crashing out – on the Crimson Bull Ring.

Sunny skies welcomed the drivers after rain within the morning and a drenched lead-up to the Austrian Grand Prix, with qualifying setting the grid for Saturday’s Dash – which in flip will set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Mercedes entered Q3 maybe hoping for pole seeing as Lewis Hamilton was third within the earlier session, however the seven-time champion went into the boundaries at Flip 7 to convey out a purple flag in the midst of the top-10 shootout to depart him a provisional 10th.

Group mate George Russell (P5) adopted swimsuit minutes later with a spin then crash on the closing nook, capping off a depressing afternoon for the Silver Arrows.

Following the second stoppage of Q3 got here a shocking combat for pole, Verstappen elevating the proverbial roof off the Crimson Bull Ring together with his closing flying effort, leaving Leclerc second by simply 0.029s and Carlos Sainz third by 0.082s.

Sergio Perez took fourth for Crimson Bull by 0.420s, with Russell fifth regardless of crashing out.

Subsequent on the board was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon; his workforce mate Fernando Alonso was ninth. Between them have been Kevin Magnussen in seventh and Mick Schumacher eighth in a shocking displaying for Haas.

AlphaTauri suffered a double elimination in Q2, with Pierre Gasly lacking out by beneath a hundredth of a second and Yuki Tsunoda livid to qualify a provisional 14th. Alex Albon took 12th for Williams forward of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in P13, whereas Lando Norris was 15th for McLaren having had quite a few Q2 laps delete for exceeding observe limits.

Daniel Ricciardo will begin behind his workforce mate within the Dash having been eradicated in P16. Lance Stroll was subsequent on the board, 17th for Aston Martin as he shares the penultimate row with Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo on Saturday.

Williams’ Nicholas Latifi certified 19th for the Dash, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel final and 20th having additionally had a lap chalked for observe limits.

Q1 – Ferrari set the tempo as Ricciardo and Aston Martin bow out

Groups wasted no time rising for Q1, the observe abuzz with exercise beneath clear, blue skies.

With eight minutes left on the clock, Verstappen briefly went prime however had his lap chalked off, leaving workforce mate Perez first – forward of Alpine’s Alonso and Ferrari’s Leclerc in a top-three cut up by simply 0.057s. Sainz was fourth having additionally had his first flyer struck off for observe limits.

With Verstappen and Hamilton but to set a time by that time, and with observe situations nonetheless set to ramp up, there was loads of time on the desk – each Williams (Albon going broad at Flip 9) and Aston Martins within the drop zone together with the championship chief.

Verstappen received his time in with 5 minutes to go prime due to a lap of 1m 05.852s. Nevertheless, the Ferraris bumped him down the order quickly after, Sainz going second and Leclerc first by 0.433s to the third-place Crimson Bull driver.

Alonso took fourth forward of Hamilton, whereas Crimson Bull’s Perez completed sixth in entrance of the opposite Mercedes of Russell.

With a brand new engine (a part of his present pool) after his FP1 stoppage, McLaren driver Norris ended up eighth in Q1 forward of the Haas duo (led by Magnussen over Schumacher in P10) and Bottas in 11th for Alfa Romeo.

Tsunoda of AlphaTauri and Ocon within the Alpine have been subsequent within the order, behind them the Williams of Albon.

AlphaTauri driver Gasly was the final man to make it to Q2 by 0.024s over McLaren’s Ricciardo in 16th. Neither Aston Martin progressed to the following session both, Vettel 20th with a deleted lap time whereas Stroll fared higher in P17.

Between them have been Alfa Romeo’s Zhou, 18th, and Williams driver Latifi in P19.

Knocked out: Ricciardo, Stroll, Zhou, Latifi, Vettel

Q2 – Leclerc and Verstappen maintain Hamilton at bay

Mercedes’s Hamilton topped the charts early in Q2, his workforce mate Russell third, whereas Verstappen cut up the pair, 0.033s off the tempo. That left the Ferraris in P4 and P5 however there was nonetheless time on the clock, time to search out, and 7 drivers but to show a flying lap.

With 5 minutes remaining, Bottas was the motive force in danger in P10 with Crimson Bull’s Perez 0.139s behind having gone broad at Flip 9, and Norris having had two lap occasions deleted due to separate excursions at Flip 1 and Flip Four to sit down final. Albon and the AlphaTauri pair have been the opposite drivers prone to elimination. In the meantime on the prime, Hamilton had improved to maintain Verstappen 0.093s behind… in the intervening time.

Leclerc and Verstappen improved, the previous 0.087s forward of the latter, whereas Hamilton was third by a margin of 0.188s to maintain Sainz fourth. Russell rounded out the highest 5 and Perez made it out of the drop zone in sixth.

Each Haas drivers moved into Q3, Magnussen seventh and Schumacher 10th, with Ocon and Alonso making it a double Q3 look for Alpine in eighth and ninth respectively.

Gasly improved however solely to 11th (lacking out on Q3 by 0.009s), with Albon up subsequent, and Bottas 13th. Tsunoda received tail-happy at Flip 1 and his frustration was audible as he took a provisional P14 for the Dash – with Norris final having had three laps struck off. “I’m scared to hit the brakes,” mentioned the McLaren driver.

Knocked out: Gasly, Albon, Bottas, Tsunoda, Norris

Q3 – Each Mercedes crash out earlier than Verstappen pole

Nobody rushed out to set a time in Q3 nevertheless it quickly turned obvious that Perez might have gone broad at Flip eight in his profitable effort to emerge from Q2 – main him to be summoned to the Stewards after the session.

Leclerc led Russell and Ocon early on whereas Hamilton backed off his second effort (nearly backing right into a fast-moving Leclerc) regardless of a purple first sector – earlier than a roar from the raucous orange sea of followers welcomed Verstappen. And the Dutchman delivered, taking provisional pole by 0.091s over Leclerc, with Sainz third for Ferrari forward of Perez in P4 for Crimson Bull.

Then got here the purple flag and pause – for Hamilton. A snap of oversteer at Flip 7 noticed him go skating into the gravel, the right-hand facet of his W13 hitting the boundaries. He walked away, however will begin a provisional 10th for the Dash.

After a prolonged stoppage, the session resumed with round 5 minutes left. However there could be one other purple flag. And this time for the opposite Mercedes driver – Russell strolling away from this one – who spun and crashed on the closing nook to pause proceedings with two-and-a-half minutes on the clock.

What adopted was a shocking battle for pole, Sainz taking pictures to the highest, Leclerc bettering to take provisional pole, after which Verstappen beating each Ferraris to prime spot, leaving his Monegasque rival simply 0.029s behind and the Spaniard 0.082s again.

Perez was 0.420s – investigation forthcoming – behind his workforce mate in P4, Russell a provisional fifth, after which Ocon sixth for Alpine. Haas’s pair placed on an excellent present, Magnussen seventh forward of Schumacher in eighth – to depart Alonso ninth within the different Alpine.

Cue scenes of jubilance within the Crimson Bull storage (and within the grandstands) – whereas Mercedes’s crews could have an extended night time forward of them earlier than FP2 and the Austrian Dash on Saturday.

Key quote

Max Verstappen: “It was a really lengthy wait between the 2 runs and that’s by no means nice, when you’re within the rhythm, it’s good to only carry on going. Additionally, you realize the observe temperatures have been dropping, the wind was altering somewhat bit, however on the finish, it was a really tight qualifying, and it’s a very difficult observe as nicely to get all the pieces proper. There aren’t that many corners, however the corners you will have are fairly difficult, it’s very easy to make a mistake. However in fact very proud of pole; however I additionally know that tomorrow and Sunday, you will get the factors.

“I feel now we have an important automotive. Usually… qualifying isn’t our strongest level, so I simply hope in fact to have a clear Flip 1, getaway. From then on, something can occur however I really feel assured with the automotive now we have.

“It’s unimaginable to see the group right here and see a lot orange and the help I get now for a couple of years already right here. It undoubtedly brings a smile on my face and I hope we are able to make it an important weekend.”

What’s subsequent?

The second Dash of 2022 takes place on Saturday at 1630 native time – after FP2 at 1230 native time – with Verstappen to steer the sector within the 100km sprint. Head right here to see how one can catch the motion on F1 TV.