This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.
That concludes out live coverage of qualifying – here’s the grid for tomorrow’s race plus the full report on the session.
The stewards have noted Russell for a potential unsafe release.
Piastri is a bit scruffy at turn one and Norris punishes him, going almost three tenths of a second faster. Leclerc takes advantage too in the Ferrari, splitting the McLarens. Hamilton grabs fourth. Russell is fifth ahead of Verstappen.
Mercedes appeared to release Russell into the path of the two Ferrari drivers. Wouldn’t be a surprise to see an investigation for an unsafe release.
Q3 has begun but no driver has gone out yet.
The stewards noted a potential impeding incident involving Norris and Leclerc but ruled it does not need to be investigated.
Q2 is over and the following drivers are eliminated: Fernando Alonso, Alexander Albon, Isack Hadjar, Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman.
Alonso pits which secures Antonelli in Q3.
Gasly nabs sixth, Colapinto drops out in 13th. Albon only 12th.
Verstappen takes third off Bortoleto. Hadjar and Bearman are eliminated.
Bortoleto goes third! Remarkable lap by the Sauber driver.
The FIA have said the fire wasn’t caused by sparks, as was the case with previous fires, but because a car went off. That appears to have been Hamilton’s.
Q2 will restart at 4:47 local time.
The red flag appears to be for a grass fire at the exit of turn 10 which happened after Hamilton went wide there.
Currently in the drop zone: Alexander Albon, Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto.
Red flag.
Verstappen is unhappy: “The car is completely undriveable. I have no grip. It’s even worse than before.” He’s fallen to fifth behind the two Ferrari drivers.
Piastri produces a quick lap to go top but Norris immediately pips it by a tenth of a second, going top with a 1’04.410.
Mercedes seem not to be happy with the hotter track temperatures – the surface now 48C. Russell goes third.
Verstappen takes the top time off him with a 1’05.103. Piastri is on a quick one now.
Liam Lawson goes quickest with a 1’05.248. The track is busy now.
The Ferrari pair are quick to put up times in Q2, Charles Leclerc on a 1’05.446, two tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Tough break for Tsunoda who’s within three tenths of a second of Verstappen but 12 places behind him.
A huge scare for Russell who falls to 16th but recovers to 11th with his last lap. Q1 is over and the following drivers are eliminated: Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Nico Hulkenberg.
Tsunoda doesn’t improve and the Red Bull driver is eliminated in Q1.
Ocon improves which puts Sainz in the drop zone. Stroll goes 12tha and that puts Tsunoda in danger, he needs to improve.
Sainz goes wide at turn four which cost him. He’s 15th, Albon jumps to fifth with his lap.
A fine lap by Gabriel Bortoleto puts him fifth in the Sauber.
Antonelli goes fourth, George Russell is only seven-hundredths of a second slower but three places behind.
Oscar Piastri spoiled his first lap by dropping a wheel in the gravel at turn four.
Verstappen picks up a slipstream from aAndrea Kimi Antonellis he started his first lap and goes quickest by 0.575 seconds from Nico Hulkenberg. But Lando Norris is not far behind and immediately beats Verstappen’s time by four tenths of a second.
Sauber are in good shape this weekend and both their drivers beat the Williams pair, as does Esteban Ocon.
Alexander Albon puts up the first time with a 1’06.015. Stroll goes four-hundredths off that, Sainz a further tenth behind.
Q1 has begun at the Red Bull Ring. Williams, Aston Martin, Haas and Alpine send their drivers out immediately.
Qualifying will begin five minutes later than planned, at 4:05pm local time.
The start of qualifying has been delayed. The start time has not been announced.
Tiny margins are going to make an enormous difference in this session, however, as this track tends to see the shortest lap times of the season. Two separate pairs of drivers set times which were identical to within a thousandth of a second of each other in final practice.
Ferrari looked in better shape in the final practice session too. The team did not look particularly quick on Friday as they tested their new floor for the first time but Charles Leclerc was only a few hundredths of a second slower than Verstappen.
McLaren have led the way so far in practice but Max Verstappen has not been far behind in the Red Bull. His record at this circuit is excellent, he’s taken pole position for the last five consecutive races at the Red Bull Ring, and he is definitely in contention for a sixth.
Qualifying for the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix is coming up next.
2025 Austrian Grand Prix
- Norrsi felt more confident in 2025 car than ever after ‘close to perfect’ pole lap
- Russell avoids grid drop penalty for pit incident after ‘accidentally slipping clutch’
- Tsunoda mystified by car’s sudden change in balance before Q1 exit
- Red Bull told Verstappen yellow flag cost him third on the grid
- Norris claims pole as late yellow flag scuppers Piastri and Verstappen
