Max Verstappen on pole for Sprint as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crash in Q3
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ByEurosport
Updated 08/07/2022 at 20:53 GMT
It was an eventful qualifying session, with both Mercedes cars causing red flags and crashing out during the final session. In the end it was the defending world champion who made it through to lead the session which that means that he will be the leader for the Sprint session which will take place on Saturday.
Verstappen snatches sprint race pole from Leclerc as Mercedes pair crash
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start on pole for the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint on Saturday after topping Q3 on Friday. It was a bad day for Mercedes as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell crashed in the final session.
Verstappen set the initial fastest time a few minutes into the final session, moving ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Moments later Hamilton crashed out, spinning and going into the barriers. Seconds after the restart his team-mate Russell went, capping a terrible session for Mercedes. Hamilton finished in 10th after missing most of the session, and Russell was able to take fifth.
After the second restart Verstappen secured Sprint role in dramatic fashion, coming in just seconds after the Ferrari duo to beat their time.
The track evidently posed a problem for a number of drivers as early attempts were regularly struck off after a focus on exceeding track limits and Sergio Perez, who finished in fourth, could be penalised for the offence at the end of Q2.
It was a painful session for Aston Martin as for the third consecutive weekend their saw both their drivers fail to make the initial cut, joined by Zhou Guanyu, Daniel Ricciardo and Nicolas Latifi.
In the second round, Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris were out, with Norris complaining that he was, 'scared to hit the brakes' on his car, on a difficult track with an unusual camber and strong winds.
Carlos Sainz, who won his first Grand Prix last week at Silverstone, took third.
Tomorrow will begin with free practice two before the Sprint race, with those results offering both championship point as well as deciding the running order for Sunday's full race.
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