Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen secured pole position at Red Bull’s home game in Spielberg with a wafer-thin lead over the two Ferraris. Mick Schumacher was again the best German driver, for Mercedes the sprint qualifying ended with another disappointment.
On Friday (July 8th, 2022) Verstappen was almost a tenth of a second faster than Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and thus secured pole position for the sprint on Saturday (4.30 p.m.). The starting grid for the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday (3 p.m. in the live ticker) will be determined in the sprint.
Verstappen: “There are points at the weekend”
“We all know that the points are only awarded at the weekend“, said Verstappen, and there are particularly many: Since the top eight of the sprint are also rewarded, a maximum of 34 points can be gained in Austria. So there can be a lot going on in the classification, which is currently clearly led by Verstappen. The Dutchman ( 181 points) is ahead of his teammates Sergio Perez (147) and Leclerc (138).
“For now” said Leclerc, “I just want to experience a clean race. I’ve had five disasters in a row now.” Because he was deprived of good results five times due to technical problems and mistakes by his team.
Schumacher surprises in the Haas
Mick Schumacher arrived in a completely different mood; last Sunday he finally scored his first Formula 1 points at Silverstone. The next ones could follow in Austria: He placed his Haas in eighth place and thus has chances of counting in the sprint and also in the Grand Prix. “I think there was more to it than that“said Schumacher after qualifying.
The race control then came to his aid: Sergio Perez, who was initially fourth in the second Red Bull, was moved to 13th place as a penalty, which meant that Schumacher even slipped to seventh place.
Mercedes after a double crash in the gravel bed
Mercedes had to cope with a curious double crash: First, record world champion Lewis Hamilton landed in the gang, the car had to be recovered from the gravel bed – and immediately after qualifying continued, George Russell also slipped into the barriers. Ultimately, it was enough for Russell and Hamilton to start fifth and tenth. “I’m incredibly disappointed in myself, we fought for the top 3“said Hamilton, who had recently shown a clear upward trend with two podium finishes.
For Sebastian Vettel, however, the weekend seemed ruined on Friday. Even with his fastest lap he would have failed in the first section, but this was canceled because he disregarded the track limitations – in the end the Aston Martin driver was 20th and last place. “If we are honest, we are too slow“He said on “Sky” with a view to the sprint: “We will probably not plow through the field.”