Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

F1 Austrian GP qualifying - Start time, how to watch & more

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 at the top of the Friday practice times for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix. Here’s how and when to watch qualifying.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, and Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, and Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M

Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Aiming to bounce back after Max Verstappen dominated last weekend’s Styrian GP at the Red Bull Ring, both Mercedes drivers demonstrated eye-catching practice pace in FP2 with Hamilton topping the times with a 1m04.523s to edge team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.189s. 

Hamilton, who did suffer a scare in the second practice session after going off the track and across the gravel at Turn 4 just as intermittent rain was falling, is looking for his first F1 victory since early May at the Spanish GP. Despite calling his Friday a “small progress” for Mercedes, he isn’t confident it is enough to overhaul Red Bull at the Austrian GP.

Fresh from wins at the last two rounds at Paul Ricard and the Red Bull Ring opener, Verstappen kept Red Bull in touch having topped first practice and taking third place in FP2.

The afternoon session turned into an impressive hour of running for Aston Martin, with Lance Stroll taking fourth place ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel in fifth on the soft tyre runs, while further back Ferrari’s late run on the C5 tyres left Carlos Sainz Jr 13th and Charles Leclerc 16th.

AlphaTauri also had a solid FP2 with Yuki Tsunoda in sixth place and Pierre Gasly in seventh place, pushing Alpine’s Fernando Alonso back to eighth.

Despite a late spin on the exit of Turn 1, Lando Norris maintained his positive form with ninth place in FP2 for McLaren as Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi rounded out the top 10.

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

What time does qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix start?

Qualifying for the Austrian GP starts at 3pm local time (2pm BST), using the regular Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.
Date: Saturday 3rd July 2021
Start time: 3pm local time - 2pm BST

How can I watch qualifying?

In the United Kingdom every F1 practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with Austrian GP qualifying coverage starting at 1pm BST.

Autosport will be running a live text coverage of qualifying here.

When can I watch the highlights of Austrian GP qualifying?

In the United Kingdom Channel 4 is broadcasting highlights of qualifying for the Austrian GP at 6:30pm BST on Saturday. The full programme will run for 90 minutes, covering both qualifying and wrapping up the major talking points of the race weekend so far.

For the entire 2021 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race on the Saturday and Sunday of each event. The highlights will also be available on Channel 4’s on demand catch up services.

Channel: Channel 4
Start time: 6:30pm BST

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21

Photo by: Erik Junius

Will Austrian GP qualifying be on the radio?

Live radio coverage of every practice, qualifying and race for the 2021 F1 season will be available on the BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC 5 Live Sports Extra or via the BBC Sport website.

Coverage of Austrian GP qualifying will start at 2pm BST on the BBC Sport website.

What's the weather forecast for qualifying in Spielberg?

Sunny and cloudy conditions are forecast for Saturday afternoon at the Red Bull Ring, with a low chance of rain. Temperatures are set to be 26 degrees Celsius at the start of qualifying – around the same conditions for qualifying for the Styrian GP.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Austrian GP FP2 results

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 31 1'04.523  
2 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 34 1'04.712 0.189
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 35 1'04.740 0.217
4 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 33 1'05.139 0.616
5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 37 1'05.268 0.745
6 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 37 1'05.356 0.833
7 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 38 1'05.379 0.856
8 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 34 1'05.393 0.870
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 34 1'05.466 0.943
10 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 32 1'05.511 0.988
11 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 39 1'05.516 0.993
12 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 36 1'05.527 1.004
13 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 37 1'05.620 1.097
14 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 33 1'05.624 1.101
15 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 32 1'05.698 1.175
16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 33 1'05.708 1.185
17 United Kingdom George Russell Williams 36 1'05.819 1.296
18 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 35 1'05.911 1.388
19 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 38 1'06.014 1.491
20 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin Haas 35 1'06.173 1.650

Austrian GP FP1 results

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 37 1'05.143  
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 33 1'05.409 0.266
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 33 1'05.431 0.288
4 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 31 1'05.445 0.302
5 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 35 1'05.474 0.331
6 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 28 1'05.586 0.443
7 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 32 1'05.709 0.566
8 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 31 1'05.726 0.583
9 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 36 1'05.726 0.583
10 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 28 1'05.880 0.737
11 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 30 1'05.980 0.837
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 31 1'06.181 1.038
13 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 30 1'06.203 1.060
14 China Guanyu Zhou Alpine 29 1'06.414 1.271
15 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 28 1'06.444 1.301
16 United Kingdom Callum Ilott Alfa Romeo 23 1'06.564 1.421
17 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 29 1'06.583 1.440
18 Israel Roy Nissany Williams 34 1'06.683 1.540
19 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 36 1'06.978 1.835
20 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin Haas 30 1'07.316 2.173

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation

Related video

Previous article Hamilton: "Small progress" not enough to overcome gap to Red Bull in Austria
Next article Aston Martin wants to make F1 livery "pop" more on TV

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe