Russell on controversial pole after Verstappen crash

George Russell took a contentious pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix after setting his fastest time under double waved yellow flags at the penultimate corner.

The flags were waved for Max Verstappen, who flew off the road at Turn 9 at the end of his final lap after reaching for pole position, having just set the fastest time in the middle sector. Russell's Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who had been quickest after the first runs and ahead of Russell on the road, abandoned his lap upon seeing the yellow flags.

The stewards noted the incident immediately after qualifying but concluded that there would be no further investigation.

The flags looked set to benefit Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton rocketing to the top of the order with their final laps, the scarlet pair separated by only 0.059s after Leclerc set the benchmark at 1m06.349s. Russell, however, contended that he lifted around 110 yards before Turn 9, which he and Mercedes suggested was enough to avoid a penalty for setting pole position during double waved yellows with a best time of 1m06.113s, beating Leclerc by 0.236s.

“I saw the yellow – I had a big lift into the corner,” he said. “I was 0.5s up and I came out of the last corner 0.25s up.”

Russell also argued that “it was a single yellow as well, not a double, so it should be OK.”

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Russell's final sector was only 0.027s slower under the yellow flag than it had been for his first flying lap of Q3.

“I feel incredible,” he said. “It was such an amazing lap. It was a tough day, but it was so special to get that lap, and everything felt so sweet, so I’m really proud of the job we all did.

“Tomorrow there’s going to be a big fight … it’s game on for everyone.”

Leclerc was pleased with a front row start after a scrappy and crash-strewn run of grands prix.

“I’m relatively happy about today,” he said. “Of course the last few weekends have been quite tough, so I just wanted to have a clean weekend and, most of all, a clean qualifying to start well for tomorrow.

“If I’m completely honest, I didn’t think we’d be starting on the front row until qualifying, really, so it’s a good surprise that we are so far.”

Hamilton’s Q3 was less smooth, the Briton losing his first lap overshooting Turn 3, leaving him with one attempt at pole that left him fractionally behind his teammate.

“My mistake,” he said. “I didn’t get the first lap, and that always affects the second lap; but nonetheless, even just to be still that close given I didn’t get the first lap, I’m really happy for that. To have the two Ferraris in second and third I think is fantastic, and it’s just a reflection of the amazing work everyone’s doing back at the factory.”

Antonelli qualified fourth, his lowest qualifying result for a grand prix this season. He had been provisionally on pole position after the first runs, though he was down on Russell by around 0.1s at the end of the second sector before abandoning the lap upon sighting the yellow flags.

Verstappen held fifth place despite crashing out of the session, the Dutchman 0.362s off the pace.

Both McLaren drivers completed their second laps but were well adrift of Russell. Lando Norris qualified sixth, 0.389s off the pace, with Oscar Piastri 0.009s further back.

Isack Hadjar qualified eighth in the second Red Bull Racing car ahead of Racing Bulls teammates Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad for the team’s first double Q3 appearance since the Australian Grand Prix.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly missed out on a chance to dump Verstappen out in Q2 by just 0.04s and instead qualified 11th. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was 12th, a further 0.07s off the pace.

Oliver Bearman led the way for Haas in 13th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon in the second Haas and Audi cars respectively, while Franco Colapinto was 0.4s off the back of the Q2 group on his way to 16th for Alpine’s second consecutive double Q2 knockout and third failure to reach Q3 with either car for the season.

A snap exiting the final corner almost certainly cost Carlos Sainz a spot in Q2; instead the Spaniard missed out on progression by just 0.021s. With teammate Alex Albon 0.257s behind him in 18th – the Thai driver made a mistake at the first turn but battled understeer throughout the lap – Williams suffered its second double Q1 elimination of the season and its first since the Chinese Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez beat Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas by 0.085s in 19th and 20th respectively, the new team less than half a second off the Williams times with its updated car.

Fernando Alonso won the Aston Martin battle at the back, the Spaniard 2.9s off the pace and a second adrift of Cadillac in P21, with Lance Stroll bringing up the rear a further 0.4s off the pace in 22nd.

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