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
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
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
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
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Austrian GP FP2 results
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 31 | 1'04.523 | |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 34 | 1'04.712 | 0.189 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 35 | 1'04.740 | 0.217 |
4 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 33 | 1'05.139 | 0.616 |
5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 37 | 1'05.268 | 0.745 |
6 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 37 | 1'05.356 | 0.833 |
7 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 38 | 1'05.379 | 0.856 |
8 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 34 | 1'05.393 | 0.870 |
9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 34 | 1'05.466 | 0.943 |
10 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 32 | 1'05.511 | 0.988 |
11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 39 | 1'05.516 | 0.993 |
12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 36 | 1'05.527 | 1.004 |
13 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 37 | 1'05.620 | 1.097 |
14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 33 | 1'05.624 | 1.101 |
15 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 32 | 1'05.698 | 1.175 |
16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 33 | 1'05.708 | 1.185 |
17 | George Russell | Williams | 36 | 1'05.819 | 1.296 |
18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 35 | 1'05.911 | 1.388 |
19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 38 | 1'06.014 | 1.491 |
20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 35 | 1'06.173 | 1.650 |
View full results |
Austrian GP FP1 results
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 37 | 1'05.143 | |
2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 33 | 1'05.409 | 0.266 |
3 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 33 | 1'05.431 | 0.288 |
4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 31 | 1'05.445 | 0.302 |
5 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 35 | 1'05.474 | 0.331 |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 28 | 1'05.586 | 0.443 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 32 | 1'05.709 | 0.566 |
8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 31 | 1'05.726 | 0.583 |
9 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 36 | 1'05.726 | 0.583 |
10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 28 | 1'05.880 | 0.737 |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 30 | 1'05.980 | 0.837 |
12 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 31 | 1'06.181 | 1.038 |
13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 30 | 1'06.203 | 1.060 |
14 | Guanyu Zhou | Alpine | 29 | 1'06.414 | 1.271 |
15 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 28 | 1'06.444 | 1.301 |
16 | Callum Ilott | Alfa Romeo | 23 | 1'06.564 | 1.421 |
17 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 29 | 1'06.583 | 1.440 |
18 | Roy Nissany | Williams | 34 | 1'06.683 | 1.540 |
19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 36 | 1'06.978 | 1.835 |
20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 30 | 1'07.316 | 2.173 |
View full results |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Related video
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments