Verstappen takes pole at the Austrian GP but faces investigation after pit lane incident · RaceFans

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix, but is under investigation for driving too slowly when leaving the pit lane.

The winner of the sprint race stormed to pole position with a lead of over four tenths over Lando Norris, while George Russell secured third place for Mercedes.

However, the race stewards announced that Verstappen would be investigated for “unnecessarily slow driving” when exiting the pit lane in Q3.

Question 1

Friday’s sprint qualifying and Saturday’s sprint race had shown that Verstappen was the driver to beat in qualifying. Almost as if to underline this point, the championship leader was the first driver on track at the start of the first phase.

Verstappen set a time of 1:06.054 on used soft tyres to set the first record, but several of his rivals, including Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari and the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, easily beat it. Red Bull fitted a second set of slightly used soft tyres to the world champion’s car and he improved to 1:05.336, temporarily fastest, before being beaten by Carlos Sainz Jnr and Piastri, who both had fresh tyres fitted.

In the final minutes of the session, the gap between the entire field was less than nine tenths of a second. Lewis Hamilton was in danger in 16th place, but managed to improve and move up to sixth. Sergio Perez seemed to be no longer in the relegation zone in the final minutes, but managed to improve slightly and escape.

At the chequered flag, Alexander Albon failed to make it into Q2 and was eliminated in 16th place. Lance Stroll was unable to follow his teammate Fernando Alonso and only just finished in 15th place. Valtteri Bottas also retired in 18th place. Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu were the slowest.

Race control announced that an incident involving Nico Hülkenberg was being investigated after qualifying. The Haas driver had turned into the overtaking lane in the pit lane before his final run ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.

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Q1 Result

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questionnaire

Although some drivers, notably Fernando Alonso, complained about the accumulation of gravel on the track surface in turns six and seven, there was no delay in clearing the track before the second phase of qualifying began.

The two Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc were first out on track, with Leclerc setting the better time of the duo to secure first place on the timesheet. When the Ferraris returned to the pits, Verstappen came out on a fresh set of soft tyres and comfortably set the fastest time of 1:04.577 – almost five tenths faster than George Russell and Piastri’s first attempts of the session.

On his second attempt with a new set of soft tyres, Sainz was quicker than Russell and the two McLarens, but still more than four tenths slower than Verstappen’s best time. Alonso, who was in 15th place, reported he “almost crashed” as he struggled for grip in his Aston Martin at turns seven and eight.

As the drivers lined up at the end of the pit lane to begin their final runs of Q2, Pierre Gasly had time to see if he could join his Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon in the top ten. Unfortunately, he exceeded the track limits on the exit of turn six by hitting the gravel, causing him to lose his time and retire.

Ocon managed to force his way into Q3 in 10th place, upsetting Daniel Ricciardo who was just 0.015s off the top ten in 11th. Magnussen also retired in 12th place, failing to make Q3 with teammate Hülkenberg. Gasly had to settle for 13th. Yuki Tsunoda was just over a tenth slower than his teammate, but three places behind in 14th. Alonso was the slowest to retire in 15th.

For the second year in a row, Hülkenberg was criticised for not following the race director’s instructions to move into the overtaking lane in the pit lane, this time queuing up ahead of Perez. The Haas driver will be investigated for both incidents after qualifying.

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Q2 Result

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Third quarter

The amount of gravel on the track in turns six and seven had reached such a point that marshals were sent out to sweep the track before the final top ten races began.

As the session began, Hamilton was released from his garage by Mercedes, but was apparently sent off with a device still attached to his car, which wrapped around the rear jack and was pulled out of the pits as Hamilton drove off. Although Hamilton was able to continue and continue his drive, race control announced that Mercedes would be investigated after the session for an unsafe release.

Leclerc and Perez were the only drivers from the top teams who did not put on fresh softs for their first runs in Q3. Verstappen drove the provisional pole time of 1:04.426 on new softs, three tenths ahead of Lando Norris, with Russell in third place.

In the final run, Verstappen improved his provisional pole time to 1:04.314 minutes, which none of his competitors could match. Norris took second place but was still four tenths of a second slower than the pole winner, while his teammate Piastri set the third fastest time with his final performance.

However, after the chequered flag, Piastri had his final lap cancelled for exceeding the track limits, dropping him to seventh and Russell moving up to third. Sainz finished fourth ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, who slid into the gravel trap at turn nine on his final flying lap. Piastri finished seventh and his time was cancelled. Perez only managed eighth place, Hülkenberg was ninth and Ocon tenth.

In the final moments of Q3, the stewards announced that they had reprimanded Verstappen for an incident in which he drove unnecessarily slowly at the exit of the pit lane. After the chequered flag, the stewards confirmed that they would investigate Verstappen over the incident.

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Q3 Result

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