Austrian GP final practice and qualifying

By: Geoff Creighton

Summary


	Leclerc takes second F1 career pole ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen
	Car problem means Vettel cannot run in Q3
	Hamilton to be investigated over impeding Raikkonen in Q1 post-qualifying
	Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Albon, Ricciardo, Sainz out in Q2
	Perez, Stroll, Kvyat, Russell, Kubica out in Q1

Status: Stopped

17:23 And that's it from us today! Here's the quali report - and we'll see you tomorrow for the Austrian GP.

Austrian GP qualifying: Leclerc beats Hamilton to pole with lap record

Charles Leclerc claimed his second Formula 1 pole position by topping Austrian Grand Prix qualifying for Ferrari, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel was hit by a mechanical problem in Q3

17:17

17:13

17:12

17:09 Vettel will start P9 tomorrow, as Magnussen's got a five-place penalty for a gearbox change.

17:07 Verstappen: "I'm really happy at the moment, for us it's an amazing result at this track. With the upgrades we brought the car seems to be working better. It's great [the support] and it brings a great smile to my face."

17:06 Hamilton: "Congratulations to Charles, he's been really quick all weekend. Luckily that last lap I was in an okay position, but it was tight and I didn't know if we were going to be able to start the lap or not. It's cool to see three different teams the top three. I get to fight the young 'uns tomorrow!"

17:05 Leclerc: "Yeah, the car felt amazing. In P1 I struggled but after some changes we did quite well. I'm very happy to bring pole position back home, but tomorrow we'll finish the job. We're pretty happy with the [tyre] choice we made."

17:04 Six different cars in the top 7 though, that's pretty fun.

17:02 Raikkonen outqualifies Giovinazzi by just 0.013s, a good result for Alfa.

17:02 Q3 results: 1 Leclerc, 2 Hamilton, 3 Verstappen, 4 Bottas, 5 Magnussen, 6 Norris, 7 Raikkonen, 8 Giovinazzi, 9 Gasly, 10 Vettel.

17:01 A very poor effort from Gasly, who had a mare in the first sector and ends up only ninth, beaten by every other participating car in Q3.

17:01 Verstappen will be on the second row, ahead of Bottas, while Magnussen nabs fifth place - but will start 10th due to his grid penalty.

17:01 But the Monegasque improves to 1m03.003s to secure pole position!

17:00 Hamilton is up to second, 0.054s slower than Leclerc.

17:00 Good first sector from Hamilton, but he remains a tenth slower than Leclerc - who goes faster than anyone in S2.

16:58 With just under two minutes on the clock, Giovinazzi and Raikkonen kick things off again, followed by Magnussen and then the rest of the happy bunch.

16:58 All's quiet again. Somewhere, a landlord's bell rings as last orders are coming up.

16:57 Current Q3 order: 1 Leclerc, 2 Bottas, 3 Verstappen, 4 Hamilton, 5 Gasly, 6 Raikkonen, 7 Giovinazzi, 8 Norris. 9 Magnussen, 10 Vettel.

16:57 Vettel's clambered out of the car - that's qualifying over for him.

16:56 "You have to let me know the gaps, I want to be closer to the other guys" says Verstappen.

16:56 Leclerc has 0.351s in hand over Bottas, who has 0.302s over Verstappen. Those are some big gaps for a track as short as this.

16:56 Hamilton's wasting too much time with gamesmanship and spending too little time on, like, setting good times and stuff. Bottas is three-tenths up on his team-mate, having just done qualifying normally.

16:55 Verstappen is up to third place - half a tenth up on Hamilton - while Gasly now makes up the top five.

16:55 Indeed, Bottas is three tenths quicker than Hamilton - but Leclerc is quicker still, taking provisional pole with a 1m03.208s.

16:54 Hamilton looks a bit out of sorts - he will be slower than Bottas this time around, even as he takes P1 with a 1m03.900s.

16:54 Hamilton's backing the pack up, begging someone to overtake him and give him a tow. That, or he's practicing a safety-car start.

16:54 Bottas is eight tenths up on Hamilton in the first sector - but Leclerc is another tenth and a half quicker through there!

16:53 Still no closer to finding out what Vettel's issue is. Ferrari are hard at work, but it doesn't look like he's going to appear in Q3. A big shame.

16:52 And now the rest of the Q3 runners join the party - all of them, except Vettel. Uh-oh.

16:52 Raikkonen pulls it back over the rest of the lap to beat Giovinazzi by 0.008s, courtesy of a 1m04.734s. Technically accurate to say that's provisional pole for now.

16:51 As Giovinazzi outpaces Raikkonen by a tenth in the first sector, the rest of the teams continue to play the waiting game. Three minutes down now.

16:50 Seems like our earlier "Vettel's problem seems to have abated" proved to be a falsehood, as the engine cover is still very much off of the #5. So, apologies.

16:49 A minute down, no volunteers so far. Then, finally, Giovinazzi and Raikkonen break the silence.

16:48 The clock begins ticking down from 12 minutes, signalling the start of Q3.

16:48 Ferrari had the covers off of Vettel's car, the international sign of all not being entirely well. But he looks ready to run, so whatever's caused the team some grief seems to have abated...

16:47 Charles Leclerc looks absolutely on it. His trait through 2018 of not peaking in Q3 needed work, and true to form he's been learning how to better approach qualifying in a top car. Mega so far. This is a great chance to avenge Bahrain – there's bit of that weekend about this performance so far. But he's got to produce now.

Scott Mitchell

16:47 Two Ferraris, two Mercedeses, two Red Bulls, two Alfas, a McLaren and a Haas. That's your lineup for Q3.

16:45

16:43 Seems to be a bit of a pickle down at Ferrari, with intense work going on at the sidepod. There's an FIA technical delegate too, so it seems pretty serious.