16:20
The conditions
Even before the shootout, rain raised eyebrows in the pit lane, but in the end it stayed largely dry. Now it’s dripping again and the teams have put on intermediates and could maybe switch to rain tires. However, the prognosis is that the rain will decrease and that the tire compounds for dry conditions will be used during the sprint.
16:10
What about Mercedes?
The Silver Arrows had a sprint shootout to forget. Lewis Hamilton fell victim to a tactical error, which allowed all the other drivers behind him to set better times on an increasingly faster track. That’s why the Briton starts from 18th position. Things went a little better for Russell, whose car gave up right at the start of the SQ2. P15 is the result.
16:00
Ferrari, Alpine and the top 10
After the surprisingly competitive qualifying, Ferrari had to back down a bit this afternoon. Although Carlos Sainz showed an excellent SQ1, in which he was only able to drive one flying lap due to technical problems, in the end he only finished P5. Leclerc should have started next to him, but because Monegasse hindered Piastri in the shootout, he had to start from P9. Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon are in front of him. Kevin Magnussen completes the top 10.
3:50 p.m
Hulkster second row
Nico Hulkenberg is allowed to start directly behind a Red Bull. The gap of six tenths was enough for fourth place after it still looked very close for the German in SQ2. However, the increasingly faster track was visibly accommodating to Hülkenberg. Lando Norris, whose McLaren looks much more competitive with new updates, pushed ahead of the Hulkster. At least in Spielberg, the traditional English team seems to be fighting for the points again.
15:40
Dominant Red Bulls
48 thousandths separated Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in qualifying yesterday. Ferrari promised an exciting fight for first place. However, the Italian team could not confirm the strong first impression in the midday sprint shootout. Instead, the Red Bulls achieved a double pole, with Verstappen driving half a second faster than his team-mate. The Dutchman is once again the clear favorite at the top.
15:30
Sprint at Spielberg!
Verstappen continues to rush from success to success. Can he also defend his top spot in the sprint in Spielberg? From 4:30 p.m. we will receive the answer!