Max Verstappen takes pole for sprint race in Austria: 'Very happy'

Published on 01 July 2023 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen has claimed pole position During the sprint shootout in Austria. On a wet track that was drying up fast, Max put down a lap of 1:04.440, almost half a second faster than his teammate Sergio Perez, who will start the sprint race from P2. Lando Norris finished in a good third position.

After the sprint shootout, Max says: “It was good. The track was drying up, so lap after lap we were improving. You had to be on the track at the right time. Of course today we didn’t have a lot of laps in every segment of qualifying, but I think we did well. The car was in a good window, good balance, so I’m very happy to be first.” 

On Friday, during the regular qualification session, the Ferrari’s were a lot closer to Verstappen, but today during the sprint shootout they finished P5 and P6. Max does not have an explanation for the difference: “I don’t know why it’s a bit different today, but I’ll say that the track is still not fully dry. The car is great, that’s the most important. Let’s see today over a whole stint how we will perform.”

Just like yesterday, the track limits were also a topic for discussion today: “It’s quite difficult,” Max explains. “During qualifying you of course try to go to the limit, so naturally it’s a bit more difficult in qualifying. But I think that even in the race it will be quite hard for all the drivers to manage them around here.”

Last night and this morning it rained quite hard on and around the Red Bull Ring, but when the sprint shootout starts, the rain has stopped. The sprint shootout determines the starting grid for the sprint race, which is held later this Saturday. For the first twelve minutes of sprint shootout Q1, both Williams’ drivers leave their garages on the intermediate tyre, whereas all other drivers decide to go on slicks. The track is dry enough, so after one lap, Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant pit and switch to slicks as well. Max joins the track on the medium compound, on which he drives at the same pace as all the drivers that are on the softer compound. The track keeps drying up, and keeps getting faster. Max eventually clocks the second time with 1:06.236, after Carlos Sainz.
Eliminated in SQ1 are: Zhou Guanyu (P16), Oscar Piastri (P17), Lewis Hamilton (P18), Valtteri Bottas (P19) and Logan Sargeant (P20).

SQ2 only lasts ten minutes, and Max switches to the soft tyre for this part of the sprint shootout. In his first flying lap he puts down a time of 1:05.624, which at that moment is good enough for first place. When the chequered flag falls, Max improves his time to a 1:05.371 with which he finishes SQ2 as fastest.
Eliminated after the second part of qualifying are: Alexander Albon (P11), Pierre Gasly (P12), the two AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda (P13) and Nyck de Vries (P14), while George Russell has hydraulic problems on his Mercedes. The British driver does not leave his garage in SQ2, which means that he has to start the sprint race in fifteenth place.

The remaining ten drivers battle in the eight minute session of SQ3 for the best starting positions on the grid for the sprint race. Max clocks a time of 1:04.613 on his first flying lap, which again puts him in first place. In the last minute of SQ3, Max again improves his time to 1:04.440, with which he takes pole position for the sprint race. Perez takes P2, and the team of Oracle Red Bull Racing locks out the front row. Lando Norris and Nico Hulkenberg will start from the second row, after  having performed great in these shootout sessions. The Ferrari’s of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finish on P5 and P6. Right behind them, on P7 and P8 are the Aston Martin’s of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen complete the top ten of this afternoon’s sprint race.

The sprint race on the Red Bull Ring in Austria will start at 16:30 Dutch time. 

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Results sprint shootout Austria: