F1 Austrian GP: George Russell avoids investigation to…

George Russell has taken pole position for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix after avoiding an investigation for setting his lap under yellow flag conditions following Max Verstappen’s crash.

The Red Bull driver spun into the barrier at the penultimate corner, benefiting those who’d already set their lap or Russell, who was just behind Verstappen as it happened.

Russell confirmed "I lifted at the entry into that corner” and that he “lost a lot of time”, while under single-waved yellow flags and not double, so he kept a fourth pole of the season.

The Mercedes driver did so with a 1m06.113s, meaning he will share the front row with Charles Leclerc, who benefited from setting his 1m06.349s before Verstappen’s crash.

The Ferrari driver pipped team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.059s and the seven-time world champion is set to share the second row with Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli lost out the most due to Verstappen’s crash, as he was on provisional pole with a 1m06.414s, but the championship leader aborted his final lap to take fourth.

Verstappen had produced a brilliant opening tour with a 1m06.475s, which put him third behind the Mercedes pair, but his crash dropped him to fifth ahead of sixth-placed Lando Norris.

The reigning world champion qualified 0.009s ahead of McLaren stablemate Oscar Piastri in seventh, with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completing the top 10.

Max Verstappen brought an early end to qualifying in Austria (Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Verstappen had already survived a scare in Q2, having not left his garage for a second push lap based on Red Bull projections that his 1m07.183s was good enough to progress.

That was also done to save an extra set of fresh softs, but the four-time world champion gradually slipped from seventh to 10th, with Hadjar and the Racing Bulls pair jumping ahead of him

As he dropped into 10th, Verstappen could do nothing but hope for survival and Pierre Gasly was the one to watch, being up in the middle sector, but he ended up 0.040s shy to take 11th.

That put him ahead of 12th-placed Gabriel Bortoleto, who was 0.110s off the cut, with Oliver Bearman subsequently qualifying 13th and point-less Nico Hulkenberg in 14th.

The under-pressure Esteban Ocon avoided a fourth, consecutive Q1 exit to take 15th, while Franco Colapinto qualified 16th to round out a Q2 session topped by Antonelli.

Carlos Sainz suffered from a snap of oversteer at the final corner to only take 17th, one spot ahead of team-mate Alex Albon in the first Williams double Q1 elimination since China.

Debutant outfit Cadillac once again showed signs of progress as both cars qualified a second ahead of Aston Martin, with Sergio Perez in 19th and Valtteri Bottas taking 20th.

That resulted in Aston occupying the back row for the third, consecutive qualifying session, as Fernando Alonso claimed 21st ahead of Lance Stroll, who was three seconds off Antonelli’s Q1 benchmark.