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.
The increasingly under-pressure Mexican looked to have sealed his spot in Q3 in the closing seconds only for the stewards to scrap his lap after he drove all four wheels on his Red Bull beyond the white line at the final bend.
“Can we go again?” asked Perez over the radio. “No, that is the chequered flag,” said his race engineer, Hugh Bird. “What a f****** joke,” replied a furious Perez.
George Russell was also subjected to an early bath after he failed to make it out of Q2. The Englishman, who retired at the last round in Canada after he crashed into the wall, missed out on progressing to the final phase by just 0.041 sec and qualified 11th.
For Verstappen there were no such concerns, and the Dutchman is on course to extend his 69-point lead at the summit of the standings following another commanding performance.
His qualifying triumph was greeted with a number of his travelling Dutch fanbase lighting orange flares.
“It was very difficult because of all the track limits,” said Verstappen. “We don’t do this on purpose, but with these speeds and the high-speed corners it is so hard to judge the white line and that is why a lot of people got caught out.
It was about surviving. My first lap in Q3 was just a banker lap which takes out the joy but we still did a good enough lap and I am happy to be on pole.”
Verstappen’s countryman Nyck de Vries’ place on the grid appears uncertain after Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko said Christian Horner was right to question whether he should have been signed.
The 28-year-old was brought into the Red Bull junior stable at the beginning of the year, but he has struggled to get up to speed at AlphaTauri, and he did little to help his cause here after he qualified last for Sunday’s race.
Earlier, qualifying was delayed by half-a-dozen minutes after Valtteri Bottas stopped in his Alfa Romeo.
Bottas spun on the exit of the opening corner and was left stranded on the track as he failed to engage neutral.
The red flags were deployed but Bottas was able to get going again and made his way back to the pits. The Finn made it through to Q2 and qualified 14th.
Spielberg is hosting the sport’s second sprint event of the year with a shortened race on Saturday to come before Sunday’s main event.
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