A late crash from Max Verstappen upended Austrian Grand Prix qualifying: George Russell grabbed pole from Charles Leclerc, while Lewis Hamilton missed out after a Q3 mistake and the top order tightened dramatically in the final runs.
The qualifying session flipped on one high-speed moment.
Max Verstappen lost control going into the high-speed downhill right-hander and spun across the gravel into the barrier. The impact of that incident changed what drivers believed they could still take from the session. and it turned the final minutes into a race for a place that suddenly looked reachable.
Ferrari and McLaren had completed their runs early enough to finish their laps before Verstappen’s crash. But the Mercedes drivers had been running behind the Dutchman on track. and once the session’s rhythm was disrupted. it left their late timing exposed. Until George Russell’s unexpected improvement. the crash had seemed to secure a front row for Ferrari—who had not looked like pole contenders until the end.
When the dust settled, Charles Leclerc ended up 0.059 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton. though. had been the quicker Ferrari driver all weekend—and he still couldn’t convert that advantage on the decisive run. On his first attempt in Q3. he made a mistake by locking a brake at Turn Three. forcing him to abort the lap. With that setback. the risk-reward balance for his final attempt looked different. and he didn’t have enough pace to beat his team-mate.
Russell’s leap forward kept the pressure on everyone who still had to find time. Antonelli backed off completely on his final lap on the approach to Turn Nine, and the result showed up clearly: he was nearly two seconds slower than his final run.
Verstappen’s first lap. which was third fastest behind Antonelli and Russell. was still good enough for fifth place—an outcome that underlined how much the session was being rewritten minute by minute. After that, the McLaren drivers pushed hard on their final runs, but it wasn’t enough to clear the gap. Norris finished just 0.027 seconds slower than Verstappen, and Piastri was 0.009 seconds further behind.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, along with the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, completed the top 10.
The sequence of qualifying had started to look like it belonged to Ferrari until Verstappen’s crash altered the timing stakes for everyone on track. In the final laps. a blocked lap from Hamilton. Antonelli backing off on the approach to Turn Nine. and Russell’s late improvement all turned what should have been one clean fight for pole into a scramble shaped by survival and timing.
Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying pole position George Russell Charles Leclerc Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Q3 Norris Piastri Antonelli Isack Hadjar Liam Lawson Arvid Lindblad
So Verstappen just ate it and basically saved Russell?? lol
I didn’t even realize qualifying could change that much from ONE crash. Hamilton locking a brake at Turn Three sounds like a simple mistake but it cost him everything. Also Leclerc was “faster” but still didn’t get pole? NASCAR rules confuse me I guess.
Wait, did Verstappen crash because he was trying to get Hamilton out of the way? Like I know it says he lost control downhill but it feels sus. And why was Antonelli backing off?? scared or just bad setup? Either way Russell stealing pole is the most random thing.
Pole changing on the last runs is exactly why I hate qualifying. One second it’s Ferrari cruising then the whole timing gets messed up. Hamilton already had “the quicker Ferrari” all weekend and still bungled Q3 with a locked brake, that’s brutal. And Norris only 0.027 behind is basically nothing but still not pole… motorsport math is wild.