Max Verstappen opened his Red Bull team’s home race account with clinical execution to take pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix. At Formula One’s second sprint race meeting of the year the serious business remains ahead but on this form, on a track that plays to the strengths of his car and in front of swathes of Dutch fans, every expectation is that Verstappen has far more to come at the Red Bull Ring, even as Charles Leclerc finally brought a fight to the home team.
The Dutchman was imperious in beating Ferrari’s Leclerc and Carlos Sainz into second and third place in qualifying, after the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez failed to make Q3. Yet Ferrari will take heart in pushing the Dutchman hard, the Scuderia’s upgrades in Austria delivering a long hoped-for fillip.
