Austrian GP 2022 - Qualifying: Verstappen to start Sprint from pole position, Leclerc P2, Sainz P3
Another pole position for Max Verstappen, in very tight battle with both Ferraris, beating Charles Leclerc in P2, by just 0.029s, followed by Carlos Sainz in P3.
Q1: With both McLaren drivers struggling with the car in FP1, Lando Norris was the one of the pair to advance to Q2. Honourable mention to Haas's Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher who managed to get through to Q2, getting P9 and P10, respectively. Eliminated in Q1: Daniel Ricciardo (P16), Lance Stroll (P17), Guanyu Zhou (P18), Nicholas Latifi (P19) and Sebastian Vettel (P20).
Q2: Perfect balance, as two Red Bulls, two Ferraris, two Mercedes, two Haases and two Alpines advance to Q3, with Sergio Perez almost getting knocked out, due to an aborted lap. Eliminated in Q2: Pierre Gasly (P11), Alex Albon (P12), Valtteri Bottas (P13), Yuki Tsunoda (P14) and Lando Norris (P15).
Q3: A message got shown in world feed that Sergio Perez will be investigated after the session, in relation to an incident at T8, allegedly "breaching Article 33.3 - Leaving the track without a justifiable reason", as noted in the official FIA document.
Lewis Hamilton lost the rear and spun at the entry of T8, sending his W13 directly in the barriers, red flagging the session. Hamilton will also get investigated for allegedly blocking Leclerc during Q2.
Quali went underway again, and, with 2:30 minutes left on the clock, George Russell lost control of his Mercedes, entering the last corner of the track, ending up in the barriers as well. Russell jumped out of his car and walked back to the pits, "entering the track without permission", so he will be investigated after the session as well.
Max Verstappen will start tomorrow's Sprint Quali from P1, alongside Charles Leclerc in P2, with Carlos Sainz in P3.
Sergio Perez in P4, followed by George Russell in P5, who, despite crashing towards the end of Q3, was able to keep his previously earned position.
Just behind them, the two Alpines, splitted by the two Haases, with Esteban Ocon in P6, followed by Kevin Magnussen in P7, Mick Schumacher in P8 and Fernando Alonso in P9, with Lewis Hamilton in P10, completing the top 10.
Full Qualifying Classification:
