Max Verstappen dominated Qualifying to take pole position for 2021 Austrian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Verstappen was dominant throughout Saturday as he topped FP3 as well as all three individual qualifying sessions, to take pole by just 0.048s from Norris as Sergio Perez qualified third ahead of both Mercedes drivers.
Now here is a full roundup of Saturday’s F1 action around the Red Bull Ring.
FP3
Several drivers in a surprise move opted to focus on prototype tyre testing in the opening half hour with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda setting the initial pace in a tight battle with Norris, with the Brit eventually going quickest on 1m 05.700.
Verstappen meanwhile spent the opening half hour sat in his garage before going out on soft tyres and setting a 1m 04.941 just after the 32nd minute mark, putting him top from Charles Leclerc and Norris once everyone had set their first flying laps.
Qualifying simulations soon followed with Verstappen finding 0.350 seconds to go quicker with a session topping 1m 04.591, which was 0.538s quicker than Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas with Hamilton finishing 0.148s behind his teammate in third as Gasly and Antonio Giovinazzi completed the top five.
Some drivers meanwhile encountered various off-track moments with the biggest moment coming from Tsunoda who went sliding sideways downhill at Turn Nine, yet the Japanese driver was able to keep his AlphaTauri away from the barriers.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 04.591 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.538 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.686 |
| 4 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.689 |
| 5 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 0.754 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.756 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.805 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.843 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.893 |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 0.951 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.955 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.970 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.083 |
| 14 | George Russell | Williams | + 1.103 |
| 15 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.109 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.134 |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 1.156 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 1.487 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 1.514 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 1.698 |
Qualifying
Q1
A quiet start saw Haas’ Nikita Mazepin lead Mick Schumacher out onto track but it was the German who initially went quickest by 0.979s from his Russian teammate, as Verstappen set a Q1 topping 1m 04.249 whilst Gasly had his opening lap time deleted.
Once opening laps were completed, the bottom five compromised of; Nicholas Latifi, Esteban Ocon, Gasly, Schumacher and Mazepin, yet only Gasly escaped as Ocon outqualified Latifi in 17th place with Kimi Raikkonen a surprise Q1 exit in 16th place.
Q2
Sergio Perez was the only driver straight out on track on mediums and posted a 1m 04.554 which was quickly bettered as the rest of field headed out, with Verstappen posting 1m 04.208 to go top from Norris and Perez who were both 0.275s off the Dutchman.
Once everyone completed their opening Q2 laps, the bottom five contained: Carlos Sainz, Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Giovinazzi.
Come the checkered flag, none of the bottom five were able to escape although Alonso was outqualified by Ricciardo in 14th and 13th place respectively, after the Spaniard was impeded out of the final corner by Sebastian Vettel.
Williams’ George Russell meanwhile reached Q3 for the second time in his F1 career and for the first time in a Williams car, having previously reached Q3 at 2020 Sakhir GP when he made an one-off switch to Mercedes last December.
Verstappen meanwhile topped Q2 with a 1m 03.927 and was the only driver to dip below the 64s barrier.
Q3
A quiet start saw no drivers venture out in the opening three minutes until Lance Stroll was unleashed with everyone but Russell following suit immediately afterwards.
Verstappen continued his momentum as he posted a 1m 03.720 to take provisional pole on his first lap ahead of Norris by 0.238s with Mercedes locking out the second row, as Hamilton edged out Bottas by 0.035s after the first runs.
Various drivers struggled to improve on their second runs but Norris consolidated his first front row start in second by qualifying 0.048s behind Verstappen who failed to improve, whilst Perez outqualified both Mercedes drivers in third with Gasly qualifying sixth and just 0.387s off pole.
Tsunoda was seventh quickest before Russell split the Aston Martin pair of Vettel and Stroll in ninth in a huge achievement for the Brit and Williams.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 03.720 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.048 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.270 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.294 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 0.329 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.387 |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.553 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 0.850 |
| 9 | George Russell | Williams | + 0.871 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.898 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m 04.559 |
| 12 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.041 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 0.160 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.297 |
| 15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 0.524 |
| 16 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1m 05.009 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.042 |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 0.186 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 0.418 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 0.942 |
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