Austrian GP 2023
JUNE 30, 2023
Qualifying Report - Verstappen takes pole in Austria
© Red Bull
By Peter Habicht
Max Verstappen took his fourth consecutive pole in Austria followed by the ungraded Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in a session with dozens of lap times deleted for exceeding track limits. Every driver except Williams' Logan Sargeant had times deleted (most multiple times) for crossing the white lines at turns nine and ten. Struggling with a lack of running time ahead of a push for grid position in this weekend's race format, drivers had difficulty balancing a quick overall lap with the final corners around the Spielberg circuit.
Farther back, McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes Lewis Hamilton qualified ahead of the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, with Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Alex Albon making up the top ten finishers.
Noticeably absent from the front were Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Esteban Ocon who suffered deleted laps late in the round that would have had them in Q3. McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas were in 13th and 14th ahead of a disappointed Sergio Perez, who has now failed to make it to Q3 for Red Bull in his fourth race weekend this season.
Perez has been recovering from a brief illness and felt that his final attempt at a fast lap was hampered by Albon who was blocking him through the final corner.
Frustrated by his result, he shared: "There are so many things I can control and unfortunately this one . . . you are closing a good lap and all of the sudden you are blocked. You have a penalty, I think the system is wrong."
Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda, Alfa Romeo's Guanyu Zhou, Williams Logan Sargent, Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Alpha Tauri's Nyck de Vries will make up the back of the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.
Tomorrow's Sprint Shootout starts at noon, and the Sprint race will start at 4:30p.