Norris claims pole as late yellow flag scuppers Piastri and Verstappen

Lando Norris ended Max Verstappen’s run of pole positions at the Red Bull Ring as a late yellow flag in Q3 thwarted his rivals’ chances of beating him.

Verstappen was nearing the end of his only run on fresh tyres in Q3 when he backed off due to a yellow flag ahead of him. The same yellow flag prevented Oscar Piastri from being able to start his final lap.

Charles Leclerc therefore claimed a place on the front row of the grid alongside Norris. Their team mates will line up behind them.

Q1

Max Verstappen was the first of the front runners to set a competitive time but Lando Norris was following not far behind and immediately beat it. Oscar Piastri, however, ran wide at turn four and spoiled his first lap. He needed another run to join his team mate at the front, displacing Verstappen for second place.

The Williams pair struggled from the word go and Carlos Sainz Jnr fell to last place as drivers headed out with six minutes to go. He then made a mistake at turn four which cost him valuable time and left him 15th. Alexander Albon, meanwhile, produced a strong middle sector and clawed his way up to fifth.

Sainz had time to make a final run on softs but still couldn’t find the time he needed and was eliminated in 19th place. After the session he said the team had found his car’s floor was damaged.

George Russell had a narrow escape when he fell to 16th place as he completed his final run. He escaped the drop zone by jumping up to 11th with his final run.

Yuki Tsunoda complained of a lack of front grip but managed to lap within three tenths of a second of Verstappen. That wasn’t enough, however: the pair were separated by 12 cars, Tsunoda eliminated in 18th place.

A late improvement by Fernando Alonso saw him go through, though Lance Stroll missed the cut by five hundredths of a second. Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg also dropped out, the latter almost half a second off his rookie team mate.

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Q1 result

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Q2

The Ferrari drivers went out early in Q2 and set benchmark times. Liam Lawson was the first driver to beat them, but second later Verstappen displaced his former team mate from the top of the times.

Verstappen was unhappy with his car’s balance, however. He told race engineer Simon Rennie – who is standing in for Gianpiero Lambiase for this weekend – his car was “undriveable”.

He fell to fifth place as the Ferrari drivers improved their times and the McLaren duo moved the benchmark much further ahead. Norris put up a 1’04.410 which Piastri got within two tenths of a second of matching, but everyone else was more than twice as far behind.

Albon had just begun his lap when the session was red-flagged. Hamilton ran wide at the final corner and bounced along the grass, which then caught fire. The session was suspended while the fire was put out.

Once it resumed, Albon’s slightly worn tyres weren’t up to carrying him into Q3. He dropped out ahead of Hadjar, who abandoned his last run, Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman. Gabriel Bortoleto secured his place in Q3 with a superb lap for fifth place, while Fernando Alonso was the last driver to drop out.

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Q2 result

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Q3

As the drivers left the pits to begin their first laps, Russell caused consternation among the Ferrari drivers by almost pulling into the fast lane in front of them. Russell told his team he had been unable to see as he left his garage, while the stewards announced they would investigate him for joining the fast lane incorrectly.

Piastri’s first flying lap wasn’t clean and Norris beat it comfortably. Not only that, Leclerc split the two McLaren drivers to take second place. Hamilton backed him up in fourth.

Verstappen did not have a fresh set of tyres for his first run and had to use a scrubbed set of tyres, which left him six tenths of a second off the pace. But he was among the first to set a time on fresh rubber at the end of the session.

However as Verstappen came around to finish his lap, Gasly ahead spun at the final corner, triggering yellow flags. The Red Bull driver had to abandon his final effort, which left him eighth on the grid.

The yellow flag also compromised Piastri’s start to his lap, leaving him third on the grid behind Leclerc. Norris was able to improve his lap and lowered his best time to a 1’03.971. Hamilton took fourth ahead of Russell, while Lawson improved to take sixth off Verstappen. The reigning world champion will share the fourth row of the grid with Bortoleto.

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Q3 result

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