Max Verstappen Slams Lewis Hamilton Rule Change Request
Max Verstappen’s crushing dominance of Formula One continued at the Austrian Grand Prix after he put his Red Bull on pole position.
The world champion, a winner at six of the first eight races, saw off his rivals at the Red Bull Ring to seal his fourth pole on the spin for Sunday’s 71-lap grand prix. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc provided Verstappen with a late scare, but the Monegasque had to settle for second place, crossing the line 0.048 seconds shy of the Dutchman.
Carlos Sainz took third in the other scarlet car, while Lando Norris impressed in his revamped McLaren to take fourth spot. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, 0.428 sec adrift. Sergio Perez’s torrid time continued after all three of his laps in Q2 were deleted for track limits. He lines up a lowly 15th on Sunday.
On Friday, Verstappen clinched pole for Sunday’s grand prix with Charles Leclerc alongside him on the front row, while Sergio Perez and George Russell both struggled.
Follow live updates from the Austrian GP with The Independent – the sprint shootout started at 11am (BST).
F1 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX – SPRINT
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Max Verstappen after claiming pole:
“Track was drying up, lap-after-lap improving, I think we did well. Very happy to be first.
“Car is quick, today let’s see over a stint how we will perform. Track limits is difficult, even in the race it will be quite hard to manage.”
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:57
Max Verstappen on pole position for the sprint race in Austria!
A cruise of a morning, really, for Max Verstappen – he’s on pole position by a huge margin of 0.493 seconds to his team-mate Sergio Perez!
A Red Bull one-two. And Lando Norris will start in third!
4-10: Hulkenberg, Sainz, Leclefc, Alonso, Stroll, Ocon, Magnussen
Kudos to Nico Hulkenberg in fourth for Haas too!
(Getty Images)
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:46
Max Verstappen fastest out of first hot laps
With a 1:04:613, Max Verstappen is quickest out of the early hot laps – with the McLaren of Lando Norris in second, four-tenths back!
Perez 3rd, Sainz 4th, Hulkenberg 5th.
6-10: Alonso, Ocon, Magnussen, Stroll, Leclerc
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:42
SQ3 is underway!
So just eight minutes – can all 10 drivers get in two hot laps in this quickfire final qualifying session?!
Ten drivers involved: Verstappen, Ocon, Perez, Sainz, Norris, Magnussen, Alonso, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Leclerc
Any tyre choice is optional, by the way, given the varied conditions – not the usual mandatory soft.
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:39
Alex Albon also out in SQ2!
Alex Albon misses out on SQ3 to Nico Hulkenberg by six-hundredths of a second!
Bottom-five (11-15) and out in SQ2: Albon, Gasly, Tsunoda, De Vries, Russell
Max Verstappen fastest; Sainz 2nd; Ocon 3rd.
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:32
George Russell confirmed to be out in SQ2!
George Russell will not take to the track in this session – he’s out and will start P15!
P15 and P18 for Mercedes, what a nightmare!
Current bottom-five (11-15): Leclerc, Tsunoda, Gasly, De Vries, Russell
(Getty Images)
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:29
Max Verstappen quickest early on but George Russell in trouble
Max Verstappen fastest, with Carlos Sainz second and Fernando Alonso third.
Current bottom-five (11-15): Albon, Tsunoda, Gasly, De Vries, Russell (no time)
Problems for George Russell who has a hydraulics issue. The team are working frantically to fix the issue, but it’s looking a bit forlorn right now!
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:26
Lewis Hamilton, after being knocked out in SQ1:
“Timing was not right. Sprint race doesn’t really matter anyway, just have some fun at the back. Don’t really feel any way about it
“Nothing to say. We’ll focus on our job today, could’ve easily been much further up there but will just have fun at the back.”
(Getty Images)
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:23
SQ2 underway!
Now just 10 minutes for the second session of sprint qualifying…
Who will make the top-10?!
Kieran Jackson1 July 2023 11:22