- Championship leader quickest at Red Bull Ring in Austria
- Bottas second fastest but penalty puts Hamilton on front row
Max Verstappen took pole for the Styrian Grand Prix with a mighty lap in Austria for Red Bull. He beat Valtteri Bottas into second but the Finn will start from fifth after incurring a three-place grid penalty for dangerous driving in the pit lane during second practice on Friday. His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was in third but will start on the front row alongside Verstappen. McLaren’s Lando Norris was in fourth and will start from third with Sergio Pérez in fifth, to start from fourth.
Looking strong all weekend, when it mattered Verstappen put in two laps that were unmatchable, ultimately having almost two tenths of an advantage over Bottas, with some consistently inch perfect circuits of the Red Bull Ring.
Related: Lewis Hamilton fears allowing 140,000 fans at F1 British GP is ‘premature’
Related: Mercedes’ Toto Wolff expects ‘hungry’ Lewis Hamilton to stay with F1 team