© Getty ImagesMax Claims Pole At Home RaceStyria sees the Team claim our first Pole Position in Austria and the first time we’ve claimed back-to-back poles since 2013.
MaxtookhisthirdpolepositionoftheseasonandhisfirstattheRedBullRingwithablisteringopeningruninQ3thatsawhimgrabtopspotonthegrid,twotenthsofasecondclearofMercedes’ValtteriBottasandLewisHamilton.
With Bottas set to take a three-place grid drop for a spin in the pit lane on Friday, it means that once again Max and Hamilton will line up on the front row to battle it out at the race start.
Checo, meanwhile, put in a good final flying lap to improve to 1:04.168. But McLaren’s Lando Norris also found time in the final moments of the session and he managed to beat the Mexican to P4 by 0.048s. However, with Bottas dropping to fifth, Checo is set to start from the rear of row two.
Max Heads Out On Soft Tyres© Getty Images
In Q1 Max was quickly into the groove, with the Dutchman jumping to top spot with his first flying lap of 1:04.4989. Bottas slotted into second place just half a tenth behind, while Norris was third ahead of Hamilton.
After a cool down lap, Max made a second attempt but he failed to find an improvement. Checo matched the run plan but after setting an opening time of 1:05.359 he only managed to improve by two tenths on his second attempt, so while the top four remained in the garage for the final runs, Checo was sent out again on a fresh set of soft tyres.
As the final lap times came in, Checo slid to P15, one place above the elimination zone, but with a time of 1:04.608, he vaulted to P5 and safety, just behind AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and ahead of Hamilton.
There was no escape for Renault’s Esteban Ocon, however. The Frenchman’s final flying lap jumped him to P11 but as other times came in, he dropped down the order and was a surprise elimination in P17. Also ruled out after the first segment were Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in P16 with Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in P18 followed by the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Checo Waits To Roll Out© Getty Images
Max again seized an early advantage in the second segment, using medium tyres to work his way to 1:04.433 across a single run, featuring two flying laps. Sergio also looked good early on, taking P2 with a soft tyre lap of 1:04.583.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly then put in a good lap on softs to dislodge Max from top spot as McLaren’s Lando Norris bumped Checo to fourth place, which became fifth as Bottas vaulted from P9 after his first laps to third place behind Max.
The order forced everyone bar Gasly to undertake a final run and Checo found a good improvement to take top spot with a lap of 1:04.197, ahead of Norris and Gasly. Max went through in fourth place after backing out of his final lap, with Bottas in P5 ahead of Hamilton.
Eliminated after the second segment were Williams’ George Russel in P11 ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
Creating Sparks In Quali© Getty Images
Hamilton was first across the line in Q3 as he ran to a plan for three final-session flying laps and he established an early target of 1:04.205.
Max powered past that with his opening lap, however, setting a blistering time of 1:04.841, as Checo slotted into P4 with a lap of 1:04.324. Hamilton then made a second attempt and found time but he only managed to reach 1:04.067 and the battle for pole would come down to the final runs.
But when Hamilton failed to improve and Bottas could only find enough time to nudge his teammate out to third place, Max’s third pole of the season was sealed.
Styrian Grand Prix 2021: Qualifying
"Simply Lovely" In Styria© Getty Images
Pole In Front Of Our Fans© Getty Images
Holding His Pole Position Pirelli© Getty Images
On His Way To Pole© Getty Images
Pulling Into The Pit Box© Getty Images
Checo To Line-Up P4 In Styria© Getty Images
Setting A Soft Lap Flyer© Getty Images
Catching Checo On Track© Getty Images
Sergio To Start On Softs© Getty Images
Checo In His Home Race Helmet© Getty Images
All Eyes On Entry© Getty Images
Reaction Ready For Quali© Getty Images
On His Way To Top Spot In Quali© Getty Images
Behind the top three, Checo also found an improvement on his final flying lap, setting an impressive time of 1:04.168. But Norris improved too and claimed P4 by the narrow margin of 0.048s. However, with Bottas set to drop to fifth on the grid due to his penalty, Checo will start from P4 ahead of the Finn.
Behind the top five, Gasly took an excellent sixth place for AlphaTauri ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
It is of course a great result to take the Team’s first pole position at our home track and I feel very good about that.
“It is of course a great result to take the Team’s first pole position at our home track and I feel very good about that. We made a big step forward in qualifying this year and although the car has been competitive and pretty easy to set-up all weekend we still made some good changes for qualifying. From my side, the first lap in Q3 felt pretty good. Around here you don’t have many corners but it is actually quite hard to nail the lap because of the braking up to Turn 3 and 4 where it is easy to lose a tenth if you make a tiny mistake.
It will be very close tomorrow, which I think is also good for the fans and the way everyone likes it. "When I started driving in F1 this was always one of the tracks that I felt good at and as there aren’t many corners the driver can make a big difference, which I like. Some tracks are pretty straight forward on how you take corners but here there are a few options for that which makes it more enjoyable. I expect it will be super tight again tomorrow. We know Mercedes have a strong race car and they are pretty good on the tyres so it will be very close, which I think is also good for the fans and the way everyone likes it.”
“I’m a bit disappointed with qualifying today, especially Q1, as I think it really compromised our session. We had to use a second set of tyres for the second run in Q1 as I wasn’t totally happy with the balance on the first run. Then for my first lap in Q3 I was on used tyres and it was looking pretty good but when we went on to the new tyre it was a very complicated lap and I did not improve as much as I hoped. We just have to analyse what happened there on the first run and go from there, especially as the margins are extremely tight here and the midfield are also right up there.
"We still have a very good strategy in place for tomorrow, starting on the softs, and there’s a long race ahead and still plenty to play for so I’m looking forward to it. I believe we can have a good solid race. Well done to Max today too, he’s done a great job.”
Max did a great job once again, completing two laps in Q3 that were quick enough for pole.
“It was another great Team performance today, securing our first pole position at the Red Bull Ring. Max did a great job once again, completing two laps in Q3 that were quick enough for pole and achieving his first back-to-back pole positions. After a clean run for Max in Q1 we elected to put him on the medium tyre in Q2 and he made it through with ease.
Checo needs to get past Lando quickly, which I think he can, and then we need to try and put pressure on Lewis. "Checo found more and more time each session, electing to take the soft tyre for Q2 which gives us a strategic difference between cars for the race tomorrow and an optimal starting strategy. A strong run on Checo’s first set of scrubbed soft tyres in Q3, and an improvement on his new set means he will now start P4 tomorrow after Valtteri’s grid penalty is applied. Checo needs to get past Lando quickly, which I think he can, and then we need to try and put pressure on Lewis in order to maximise the race result. One thing is for sure, it will be a closely fought battle at the front.”
StyrianGrandPrixQualifyingTop10
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Max Verstappen | Valtteri Bottas | Lewis Hamilton | Lando Norris | Sergio Pérez | Pierre Gasly | Charles Leclerc | Yuki Tsunoda | Fernando Alonso | Lance Stroll |
| Red Bull Racing Honda | Mercedes | Mercedes | McLaren | Red Bull Racing Honda | AlphaTauri | Ferrari | AlphaTauri | Alpine | Aston Martin |
| 1.03.841 | 1.04.035 | 1.04.067 | 1.04.120 | 1.04.168 | 1.04.236 | 1.04.472 | 1.04.514 | 1.04.574 | 1.04.708 |
