F1 Austrian GP: Russell avoids investigation to take pole after Verstappen crash

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, benefitting 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" under single-waved yellow flags and not double, so he kept his 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 set 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 by 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.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing crash

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

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.

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 still gradually slipped from seventh to 10th, 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 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.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT Images via Getty Images

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.

F1 Austrian GP - Qualifying results

Grid

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	1'06.113		235.560
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.236 1'06.349		234.722
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.295 1'06.408		234.513
4	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.301 1'06.414		234.492
5	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.362 1'06.475		234.277
6	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.389 1'06.502		234.182
7	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.398 1'06.511		234.150
8	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.519 1'06.632		233.725
9	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		RB	Red Bull	+0.842 1'06.955		232.598
10	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	+0.894 1'07.007		232.417
11	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.110 1'07.223		231.670
12	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		Audi	Audi	+1.180 1'07.293		231.429
13	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+1.410 1'07.523		230.641
14	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		Audi	Audi	+1.498 1'07.611		230.341
15	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+1.704 1'07.817		229.641
16	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Mercedes	+2.058 1'08.171		228.449
17	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+2.139 1'08.252		228.177
18	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+2.396 1'08.509		227.321
19	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		Cadillac	Ferrari	+2.832 1'08.945		225.884
20	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		Cadillac	Ferrari	+2.917 1'09.030		225.606
21	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Honda	+3.829 1'09.942		222.664
22	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Honda	+4.250 1'10.363		221.332
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