SPIELBERG, Austria — Mercedes driver George Russell claimed pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix with a last-gasp qualifying effort that usurped Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton Saturday afternoon at the Red Bull Ring.
Russell’s pole-winning lap came moments after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dramatically crashed out of the third qualifying session.
Drivers were attacking their second and final runs of the pole shootout when Verstappen lost control of his car through Turn 9 and slammed into the barriers, bringing out yellow flags and threatening to derail plenty of laps.
While Kimi Antonelli – who held provisional pole after the first Q3 runs – backed out and failed to improve, teammate Russell navigated the yellows (insisting afterwards that he had lifted) to go a couple of tenths quicker than Leclerc and Hamilton, who were ahead of Verstappen on track.
Russell’s best lap was one minute and 6.113 seconds.
“It was a single yellow as well, not a double, so it should be OK,” Russell said.” It was a tough day, but it was so special to get that lap and everything felt so sweet, so really proud of the job we all did.”
It leaves Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton and Antonelli as the provisional top four on the grid for Sunday’s race, ahead of Verstappen, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar, and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad.
