Max Verstappen claimed first place on the grid for the Austira Sprint. After setting the best time in SQ1 and SQ2 with the Medium compound, Verstappen also set the best time (1:04.686) in the decisive SQ3 on the Soft compound. The two McLaren drivers were just behind in second and third. Mercedes were just behind, showing better pace than Ferrari.
Lando Norris (+0.093) will start in second position, while Oscar Piastri (+0.301) qualified in third. It was fourth place for George Russell, at +0.368, followed by Carlos Sainz (+0.440) and Lewis Hamilton (+0.584).
Leclerc wasn’t even able to set a lap after facing an engine issue in the pitlane. Ferrari said the problem was with the anti-stall system, preventing the Monegasque from setting a fast lap.
“I do not know what happened. I was in the pitlane, and then the anti-stall came in, and everything shut down,” Leclerc explained.
“Today, however, we were not very strong. But certainly better than tenth place, so it was a slightly disappointing qualifying. We will analyse what happened, and then we will try to have a good sprint race tomorrow. Trying to move up the grid and get back to the front.”
FERRARI, THERE’S A PROBLEM: THE SF-24 LIMITED BY BOUNCING ALSO IN AUSTRIA
Ferrari’s performance on Friday confirmed they are amidst a problematic period. The upgrade package introduced in Spain last week is not performing as the technicians expected.
This has seen the Scuderia lose ground, especially against McLaren. The deficit could grow larger as McLaren brings a new front wing to the MCL38 this weekend.
Combined with the fact that Ferrari struggles to generate heat in their tyres during qualifying, their performance is hardly surprising.
The real problem is that Verstappen and Norris were four tenths ahead of the Scuderia. Considering a lap in Spielberg is barely over a minute, this is a substantial deficit. Bouncing returned to the SF-24, limiting performance in turns 6-7 and 9-10. Sainz lost a whopping three tenths in the final sector alone – practically an alternative in Austria.
Sainz was 10 km/h slower than Max Verstappen in Turn 1. “I had a good qualifying. I managed to do three very clean laps,” said Sainz after qualifying.
“Unfortunately, we already saw during the first free practice that we were a little slower with the soft tyres than with the medium ones or hard.”
VERSTAPPEN SUPER IN TURN 7, MERCEDES DISAPPOINTING
As in Spain, today’s qualifying was a battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, with the former taking revenge after losing pole at Montmelo by a few hundredths of a second. Verstappen took first place in tomorrow’s Sprint, especially at Turn 7, where he managed to increase the gap on his current fiercest rival and then took it to the finish line.
According to Helmut Marko, Verstappen’s excellent result is due to the quality of the work done in Milton Keynes. The RB20 took to the track in FP1 with a good base setup, which the world champion himself also confirmed.
“Today, I’m happy because we started the day well, and the car already had a good balance. The car was really strong, and I could push,” said Verstappen at the end of qualifying.
“We were very fast at high speeds, which is important here, and we hope to be able to continue like this tomorrow.
“Looking ahead to tomorrow’s Sprint race, this will give us an early indication of what the pace of the car will be for the race.”
Mercedes expected better qualifying, both in terms of positions and lap time compared to Pole Position. Russell and Hamilton were about five-tenths off the pace, a significant deficit.
“The Sotyreyre seemed very good to me, and my lap was very good. So I was a bit surprised by the gap, but I probably pushed too hard on the out lap,” said Russell post-session. Hamilton gave similar comments, reflecting on a generally scrappy session. Hamilton made a mistake at turn 3, costing him a vital two tenths.
“We were hoping for something better than fourth and sixth place, but our performance with the Soft compound was not strong enough to be able to fight for better,” said Andrew Shovlin.
“Lewis had some floor damage and wasn’t happy with his laps, while George felt he needed a bit more grip at high speeds to go quicker. So we’ll try to make some improvements overnight.”
