Max Verstappen opened the Austrian Grand Prix weekend in confident form once more, claiming pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Red Bull Ring. The Red Bull driver was commanding in Spielberg, beating the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into second and third. Mercedes’ George Russell was fourth and Lewis Hamilton was sixth.
In the truncated sprint qualifying, just one lap in Q3 for each driver was to be decisive, with Verstappen having been quickest in the opening two sessions. Hamilton and Russell led the field out as the clock ticked down, with Russell setting the pace but he was edged out by Norris, before Verstappen once more closed it out with no little control in a time of 1min 04.686sec almost a tenth up on Russell, to claim the Dutchman’s eighth sprint pole.
