It’s back-to-back for poles for Max Verstappen after a stormer of a lap during the Styrian Grand Prix qualifying.
Championship leader Verstappen was the only driver to get his car into the one minute, three seconds times all weekend, and he cemented his place on top with two laps good enough for pole position in Q3.
Q1 – Haas Out Again
Nicholas Latifi still hasn’t been able to outqualify Williams Racing team-mate George Russell. Yet again, Russell got through to Q2, but Latifi just missed out in sixteenth. However, the Canadian was less than seven-tenths of a second behind the best lap of the session.
Esteban Ocon was the surprise omission of Q1. The Alpine F1 Team driver had looked fast all weekend and a Q3 entry was looking promising, but he struggled and could only get seventeenth.
Antonio Giovinazzi was able to not only outqualify his Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team-mate, but he also pushed his car into Q2. Kimi Räikkönen couldn’t follow him and is starting eighteenth. His session was hindered when he went off at Turn 4 during a flying lap.
Uralkali Haas F1 Team brought up the rear of the field. Nikita Mazepin will start the race in twentieth. His first lap was deleted due to exceeding track limits, and his best legal lap was nearly two seconds slower compared to Verstappen, who topped the session. His team-mate Mick Schumacher, who made it through to Q2 last weekend in France, will be starting just in front of him in nineteenth.
Despite setting a purple opening sector, Daniel Ricciardo was the man in danger, just scraping through in fifteenth.
Q2 – Ferrari and McLaren Fall
Russell was just 0.008 off reaching Q3. The young Brit driver has gone from strength to strength this year and if he can keep his qualifying pace, he’ll be surely gunning for some points. He will be starting eleventh.
In the battle for third in the constructor championship between McLaren F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari, we saw two drivers fall out at Q2. Carlos Sainz Jr. and Ricciardo just haven’t been as good as their team-mates. Sainz Jr. is starting twelfth with Ricciardo behind him in thirteenth.
Sebastian Vettel has set a lap that saw him qualify twelfth, but the time deleted for exceeding track limits. He moves down to a starting position of fourteenth.
The final driver omitted from Q2 was Giovinazzi who will be starting fifteenth. Sergio Pérez was the fastest at the end of the session after opting to set his fastest time on soft tyres.
At one point, it looked as if the session could be dangerous for Lewis Hamilton. He locked up at Turn 3 during a flying lap but was still able to get through to Q3.
Q3 – Verstappen Does It At Red Bulls Home Race
The man battling Verstappen for pole all weekend was Hamilton, but he couldn’t throw the Dutchman from his throne.
Valtteri Bottas qualified in second, but he will be starting in fifth after obtaining a three-place grid penalty for a spin in the pit-lane during Fridays second practice session. Hamilton qualified in third but will be promoted to second on race day.
Lando Norris was able to pull out a flier of a lap to put him fourth fastest. He started in fourth at the Styrian Grand Prix last year and went on to gain a podium. I’m sure the promotion to third due to Bottas’ penalty will help his podium chances.
Pérez is the last man on the grid to benefit from Bottas’ penalty. He qualified fifth but will start the grid fourth.
Pierre Gasly will be starting sixth with his Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in eighth. However, Tsunoda is under investigation for impeding Bottas when he was on a flying lap at Turn 4 so his starting point could change.
Finishing off the top ten, Charles Leclerc will be starting seventh, Fernando Alonso in ninth and Lance Stroll in tenth, who only set one flying lap time in Q3.
Styrian Grand Prix Qualifying Results
| Pos | # | Driver | Nat. | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:04.489 | 1:04.433 | 1:03.841 | 19 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:04.537 | 1:04.443 | 1:04.035 | 22 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:04.672 | 1:04.512 | 1:04.067 | 24 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1:04.584 | 1:04.298 | 1:04.120 | 17 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | MEX | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:04.638 | 1:04.197 | 1:04.168 | 21 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:04.765 | 1:04.429 | 1:04.236 | 18 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1:04.745 | 1:04.646 | 1:04.472 | 21 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | JAP | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:04.608 | 1:04.631 | 1:04.514 | 21 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Alpine F1 Team | 1:04.971 | 1:04.582 | 1:04.574 | 18 |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:04.821 | 1:04.663 | 1:04.708 | 18 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | GBR | Williams Racing | 1:05.033 | 1:04.671 | 14 | |
| 12 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1:04.859 | 1:04.800 | 15 | |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1:05.142 | 1:04.808 | 14 | |
| 14 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:05.051 | 1:04.875 | 15 | |
| 15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1:05.092 | 1:04.913 | 17 | |
| 16 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1:05.175 | 9 | ||
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1:05.217 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1:05.429 | 8 | ||
| 19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:06.041 | 8 | ||
| 20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | RUS | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:06.192 | 9 |