- George Russell second and Lando Norris third
- Horner tries to cool row with Verstappen’s father Jos
Max Verstappen opened Austrian Grand Prix weekend in confident form once more, claiming pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Red Bull Ring. The Red Bull driver was commanding in Spielberg, beating the Mercedes of George Russell into second and the McLaren’s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into third and fourth. Lewis Hamilton was sixth for Mercedes.
In the truncated sprint qualifying, just one lap in Q3 for each driver was to be decisive, with Verstappen having been quickest in the opening two sessions. Hamilton and Russell led the field out as the clock ticked down, with Russell setting the pace but he was edged out by Norris, before Verstappen once more closed it out with no little control in a time of 1min 04.686sec almost a tenth up on Russell, to claim the Dutchman’s eighth sprint pole.