Verstappen barely bests Leclerc to notch fourth consecutive pole as track limits penalties wreak havoc; Sainz backs up Ferrari teammate in P3 but Perez’s fast lap deleted in Q2

With another of Formula 1’s fairly gimmicky Sprint Races looming on Saturday, qualifying for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix took place on Friday after only one Practice session. Perhaps that lack of track time showed, because nearly every driver in the field had laps deleted at some point throughout the three quali rounds here at the short and fast Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. That even included the peerless Max Verstappen, who still managed to settle in and set a lap good enough for pole despite having to be slightly more conservative than he would have wished. The Dutch master pipped the very game and hard charging Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by a razor thin 0.048 seconds. Carlos Sainz backed up his Scuderia stablemate in P3, perhaps providing a measure of optimism that the SF-23 might finally be finding the pace to challenge for wins again. But it has been race pace that has been Ferrari’s problem this season, not to mention race strategy, so it remains to be seen on Sunday if the fabled team from Maranello have genuinely conquered the issues holding back their long run performance.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was the most prominent driver to lose his time due to track limits violations. The Mexican veteran came a cropper in Q2 when he had his only fast time of the session deleted with not enough time remaining to make amends. So, while Verstappen earned his fourth consecutive pole, Perez failed to reach Q3 for the fourth race weekend in a row. Starting from a lowly P15 come race day, Perez’s Round 4 win in Azerbaijan seems a century ago and his once optimistic championship hopes are holding on by a thread. McLaren’s Lando Norris was quick all day here in Spielberg at a track he loves and set the fourth fastest time in Q3, besting the P5 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Similarly to Perez, Hamilton’s teammate George Russell also lost his best lap in Q2 for track limits infringements and will be relegated to starting from P11 on the grid. Lance Stroll out-qualified his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso for the first time this year, while Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in P8, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P9 and Alex Albon’s Williams in P10 all benefitted from keeping their cars between the white lines while other, perhaps faster drivers went a little too far over the edge for the stewards’ liking.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The Sprint Race is tomorrow but Sunday’s GP airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Can Leclerc and Ferrari finally step up and challenge Verstappen for victory in Red Bull’s own back yard? I have my doubts but hope to se you then to find out how it all shakes out!