Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.
Having won the sprint race, Verstappen continued his momentum into Qualifying as he topped Q2 then Q3 to claim his fourth straight pole position at the Austrian GP and will be joined on the front row by McLaren’s Lando Norris in a repeat of the Sprint’s front row.
George Russell qualified third ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes and Ferrari look to mount a stronger fight for the podium tomorrow (30 June).
Q1
With limited usage of soft tyres left for this session and race, many drivers opted to do their first fliers on used softs as Verstappen was first out on track and set 1m 06.054 as benchmark time.
Russell proved quickest with 1m 05.614 once everyone set an opening lap time come the halfway mark, whilst Valtteri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll sat in the elimination zone.
Some drivers opted for a second flier mid-session which saw Ferrari’s Sainz go top with 1m 05.263 whilst others improved, which left Hamilton, Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, Sargeant and Guanyu Zhou sat in the bottom five with four minutes left.
As the checkered flag fell, Hamilton and Hulkenberg survived as Williams’ Alex Albon was eliminated in 16th position, ahead of Stroll, Bottas, Sargeant and Zhou.
Q2
Sainz and Charles Leclerc were first out on track for Ferrari and the Spaniard set the benchmark time of 1m 05.745, but Leclerc went 0.213 seconds quicker on used soft tyres with Esteban Ocon and Gasly sandwiching the pair.
Verstappen on new soft tyres posted 1m 04.577 to go fastest but once everyone set their first lap times, Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, Alonso, Gasly and Sainz sat in the bottom five and at risk of elimination but Ocon and Sainz improved on their second flying laps.
Gasly meanwhile could only go 11th fastest but ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Hulkenberg as Magnussen dipped to 14th ahead of Alonso prior to the final Q2 runs.
At the checkered flag, Daniel Ricciardo could only qualify 11th following a late flier from Hulkenberg to secure his Q3 spot, with Hulkenberg’s teammate – Magnussen only 12th fastest ahead of Gasly, Tsunoda and Alonso.
Verstappen topped Q2 with 1m 04.469 from Sainz and Russell.
Q3
Hulkenberg and Ocon were first out on track with the German setting 1m 06.004 as the benchmark but his lap was bettered by Ocon and several other drivers.
Verstappen in the fifth minute posted 1m 04.426 to set the pace on provisional pole ahead of Norris, Russell and Leclerc.
Piastri’s first flier put him fifth ahead of Hamilton, Sainz, Perez, Ocon and Hulkenberg as everyone retreated to the pits.
With just over three minutes left, Ocon was first on track but up front, Verstappen cemented his fourth consecutive Austrian GP pole with 1m 04.314.
Norris qualified second ahead of Russell, Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc, with Piastri down in seventh after his final lap was deleted for track limits, as Perez, Hulkenberg and Ocon rounded out the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 04.314 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.404 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.526 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.537 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.589 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.730 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.734 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.888 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.071 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.569 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1m 05.289 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.058 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.070 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.123 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.350 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1m 05.736 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.083 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 0.111 |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.120 |
| 20 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 0.325 |
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