Austrian GP Sprint Qualifying: Max Verstappen holds off Lando Norris challenge for pole

Max Verstappen pipped Lando Norris to pole for Saturday morning's Sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix as 2024's top two continued their increasingly close battle for supremacy in F1.

Verstappen topped all three segments of Sprint Qualifying, the first two from Mercedes' George Russell, at the Red Bull Ring but was pushed all the way by Norris in the decisive SQ3 session with the Dutch driver eventually winning out by 0.093s thanks to a quickest final lap of 1:04.686.

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Russell was eventually shuffled down to fourth by the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who will start third, but Lewis Hamilton experienced what he called a "pretty disastrous" session and is only sixth in the other Mercedes.

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Hamilton only just made it through SQ1 after his opening lap was deleted for a track limits infringement at Turn Six and then suffered from traffic on his sole attempt in SQ3.

But it was worse news for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who wound up only 10th after a problem on his Ferrari meant he ran out of time to set a lap time in the final session.

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With all 10 of the SQ3 runners leaving their exists from the pit lane as late as possible for the sole flying runs, Leclerc pulled over in the pit lane after his SF-24 went into anti-stall and shut down.

Although he was able to swiftly get going again and join the track, he had insufficient time to complete his out lap before the chequered flag fell and was duly timed out from a final attempt by two seconds.

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Carlos Sainz was therefore the lead Ferrari in fifth place - although the 0.440s gap to the front on F1's shortest track will provide the team with cause for concern - ahead of Hamilton in sixth and seventh-placed Sergio Perez, who blamed traffic in the shape of Esteban Ocon on his out lap for his latest disappointing result.

On the back of consecutive points finishes in Grands Prix, improving Alpine though maintained their momentum as both Ocon and Pierre Gasly made the top 10 in eighth and ninth places respectively.

That came partly at the expense of Aston Martin, whose poor run continued with the team missing out on the top 10 completely with both their cars for the second qualifying session running.

Lance Stroll, whose contract extension at the team was announced on Thursday, outqualified team-mate Fernando Alonso by 0.031s, although both were outpaced by Haas' Kevin Magnussen in 11th.

Max vs Lando again in store for Saturday's Sprint

Five days after their close duel for victory at Barcelona, Verstappen and Norris have quickly resumed position at the head of the field in Austria and renewed battle in the first competitive session of F1's latest frenetic Sprint weekend.

Verstappen had earlier topped the weekend's sole practice session - despite briefly causing a red flag and stopping on the pit straight after a sensor issue struck his RB20 - and has quickly appeared in the groove around a short, but challenging circuit on which he has won a record four times.

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Although Russell challenged him closest in the session's first two knockout segments, Norris' emergence in SQ3 suggests that the developing Red Bull-McLaren battle is again likely to be the one that dominates the rest of the Austrian weekend.

"It's really been nice to drive the car," said Verstappen, who is now in position to increase his 69-point title lead over Norris in Saturday morning's 24-lap race where there are eight points on offer for the victor.

"It was well balanced and then you make some little adjustments going into Sprint Qualifying and everything has been working really well.

"It's a good start to the weekend, there are still a lot of things to do, but I'm happy with today."

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Norris, who had been only seventh-quickest in SQ2, said: "I never got quite comfortable probably until my final lap, so I'm happy with that.

"It's close as it has been for the whole year, so no difference, but that must have been a nice lap by Max and it's a good position for the race."

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While less than a tenth again covered the lead Red Bull and McLaren cars, Mercedes finished up three tenths back although Russell felt that gap may have been exacerbated by a quicker-than-ideal out lap as the SQ3 runners rushed to start their final attempts before the flag dropped.

"I was probably surprised at the gap, probably over-egged it on my out lap and took too much life out of the tyres and probably took that peak grip out of it," said Russell.

"That's the only explanation I've got because the lap felt strong, probably the best lap of the session. It was quite a step backwards. P4 is still a great place to be for the fight [on Saturday].

"Definitely fighting for the podium in the Sprint."

Sky Sports F1's live Austrian GP schedule

Saturday June 29
8.25am: F3 Sprint
10am: Austrian GP Sprint (race starts at 11am)*
12.25pm: F2 Sprint
2pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Austrian GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

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Sunday June 30
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP build-up*
2pm: The AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP reaction*
5pm: Ted's Notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

F1's triple-header continues at the Austrian Grand Prix with the Sprint format at the Red Bull Ring. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday's big race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime