Max Verstappen (Red Bull) will start in the lead on Saturday in the sprint race which will determine the grid for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix after setting the fastest qualifying time on Friday.
The reigning world champion and current leader of the provisional classification, who signs his third pole position of the season, was ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the two Ferrari drivers.
The two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were both victims of road trips in the 3rd and final phase of qualifying, but Russell will start 4th and Hamilton 9th for the sprint race at 4:30 p.m. French hours thanks to the times achieved before their respective accidents .
“It’s been a long wait between the two breaks, which is never good,” Verstappen said, referring to the two consecutive red flags after the Mercedes crashes.
‘We will have to think about the points on Saturday and Sunday,’ he added to the cheers of the crowd all won over to the Austrian Red Bull team and its star driver.
The Austrian GP, which starts on Sunday at 3:00 p.m., is the second of the three races of the season to offer a sprint race on Saturday, a format inaugurated last season and already used this year during the Emilia Grand Prix -Romagna, in Imola in April.
The top eight in the sprint race receive additional world championship points and its outcome determines the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Leclerc stressed the qualifying result had been ‘very close’ after falling 29/1000 behind Verstappen. “We had to warm up the tires again after the interruptions,” said the Monegasque driver, currently 3rd in the world championship 43 points behind the Dutchman.
The Mercedes at the barriers
Ferrari won the British Grand Prix last Sunday but it was Carlos Sainz who crossed the line in the lead, Leclerc only finishing 4th after a questionable strategic choice by his team in terms of tire changes.
“I have just had three races which have been a bit of a disaster for me and I really hope that everything will be better from tomorrow”, underlined Leclerc.
4th position for the start of the sprint race was initially to be occupied by Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s team-mate, but he had all his times from the 3rd phase of qualifying erased after going out of bounds on the track in the 2nd. He will therefore only start 10th.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) will be 5th ahead of the two Haas of Dane Kevin Magnussen and German Mick Schumacher, and the other Alpine of Spaniard Fernando Alonso.
Russell, and especially Hamilton, will have no choice but to attack on Saturday in the 100 kilometer sprint to try to improve their position on the starting grid of the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, had a tough start to the season due to Mercedes’ declining form, but finished third in the British GP last Sunday, showing he has lost none of his fighting spirit. He is currently 6th in the world championship, behind teammate Russell and 88 points behind Verstappen.
‘Everyone works so hard to get this car ready and I don’t like damaging it. I think we were fighting for a place in the top three. But I just lost the rear in turn 7 and couldn’t do anything,’ Hamilton said after his crash.
/ATS