Vestappen takes Austrian pole as Norris puts up a challenge

F1 Grand Prix, GP Austria, Red Bull Ring

Lando Norris made qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix exciting and tense, though in the end, Max Verstappen still emerged fastest, albeing with just 0.048s in hand over the McLaren younster. Sergio Perez was third fastest, recording another strong qualifying for Red Bull Racing.

Contrary to the threat of rain in last week's qualifying at the same circuit, this weekend's qualifying and race are expected to be dry, which is in fact how last week turned out to be as well.

Haas's Nikita Mazepin was the first to take the track and set a time soon after the session started. Others waited a bit with a lot of cars venturing out on track after the Haas driver had started his first flying lap.

Stroll was the first to take over the top of the timesheet from Mazepin, but he was soon topped by Norris and Verstappen. Neither Mercedes driver managed to equal those times. Fernando Alonso did better and slotted in between Noris and Hamilton. Sainz, Giovinazzi and Perez were 6th to 8th and seemed safe for the last-minute flying laps.

The second Alpine driven by Esteban Ocon ended up being eliminated in Q1, just like last week. Daniel Ricciardo only just managed to save himself, at the expense of Kimi Raikkonen. George Russell got through into Q2 thanks to a very late improvement, leaving Latifi and the Haas drivers to fill the final three spots on the grid.

Sergio Perez was apparently the only man eager to go out in Q2. On medium tyres, he had the track all for himself, recording a 1:04.554 while everybody else was calmly watching their monitors. In fact, by the time Perez was pulled back into the pits, there was still no action from anyone else.

A few moments later, suddenly everybody went out on track. Both Ferraris, Norris and both Mercedes opted for the medium tyres compared to others continuing to prefer the soft. Perez also rapidly re-joined the track after having noted after his first run that "the only thing missing there was a tow".

Verstappen again emerged on top, nearly 3 tenths faster than Norris and Perez. Vettel and Hamilton in 4th and 5th followed less than 3 tenths off the pace as well. Slowest after the first runs was Antonio Giovinazzi, 0.875s off of Verstappen, albeit with used soft.

For the second runs, Alonso was out first, followed by Tsunoda and Giovinazzi. The Spaniard was up more than two tenths before being badly hampered by Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel, resulting in a failure to improve his previous lap. The Spaniard was furious on the radio and very expressive when he passed Vettel on the main straight. The latter apologised, but for the Alpine driver, it meant 14th on the grid, versus a possible position in Q3.

Russell on the other hand enjoyed a great lap to get into Q3, resulting in the elimination of both Ferraris.

The final part of qualifying was sprung to life by Lance Stroll, followed by Vettel, Gasly and just about everybody else. Unsurprisingly, Verstappen ended up fastest, followed by Norris who continued to impress, both Mercedes and Perez. Lance Stroll had a dismal first lap and was 1.7s off the pace.

Williams's Russell remained in the box during the first laps and only joined the action after everybody else's second out-lap.

Verstappen didn't improve on his second outing, enabling Norris to have a good shot at pole, only to end up at 0.048s of the pole sitter. Sergio Perez had a solid final lap and improved to third, dropping both Mercedes another position. Their strategy to reduce downforce compared to last week didn't really pay off yet, as both drivers are instead now losing time in the corners.

Gasly and Tsunoda managed a great result for AlphaTauri as George Russell managed to beat Stroll for 9th.