Russell takes pole position in Austria following Verstappen's late crash
- Chloe Buckley
- 9 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session came to a hectic close. As we’ve hit the eighth round in the 2026 Formula One season, George Russell takes his fourth pole start of the year, leading Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the Red Bull Ring.
The Red Bull Ring is a quick circuit, and the shortest by lap time on the F1 calendar. This became very clear in this fast-paced session, which at moments was hectic with the constantly changing leaderboard.
The soaring driver of the session this weekend was Russell as he managed to outpace both Ferrari's who were close to a 1-2 start on the grid tomorrow.
Here’s how qualifying panned out in Austria:
Q1
The lights went green in the pitlane and the battle commenced in Spielburg. Esteban Ocon was the first out onto the track along with the Williams', Aston Martin's and the Cadillac's. Many remained in their garages.
Russell, who was fastest in the final practice, was first to set a competitive time of 1:07:811.
More of the drivers then began to make their way to the track, with Max Verstappen coming out for an early banker lap on his only set of soft tyres for the session. He went fastest with 1:07:407. His teammate Isack Hadjar quickly slotted in behind.
The reigning World Champion, Lando Norris, quickly set his first competitive time with a 1:07:259, putting him in the lead of the other 21 drivers. Hamilton looked quick on track too, going second fastest.
Kimi Antonelli had a flying lap of 1:07:083, taking Norris' spot at the top. Antonelli will look to make up for his DNF in Barcelona by starting towards the front of the grid. So far this weekend, he looks confident in the W17.
Russell then tried another lap but it only pulled him into eighth. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was down in the elimination zone and was unfortunately unable to pull himself out on his quick lap.
Pierre Gasly continued to impress this season by keeping himself in the top 10 in Q1, just ahead of Oliver Bearman in 10th.
With five minutes left to go in Q1, we saw a majority of the drivers keeping reserved in their garages ahead of some last minute laps.
Franco Colapinto managed to improve on his time and moved up into ninth. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz managed to move into 15th and out of the elimination zone. However, it unfortunately wasn't long until Nico Hülkenberg bumped the Spaniard back down into the drop zone.
Liam Lawson had a great lap putting him fourth fastest as he continues his impressive season with Racing Bulls so far.
Ocon also managed to move out of the elimination zone, however, Alonso and Valtteri Bottas were unsuccessful and stayed in the bottom six.
Q1 eliminations
17. Carlos Sainz
18. Alex Albon
19. Sergio Pérez
20. Valtteri Bottas
21. Fernando Alonso
22. Lance Stroll
Q2
Norris was first out in Q2, presumably buying some time following an issue with his car which was being looked at by the mechanics in the latter stages of Q1. He had a lap time of 1:07:321 on his used soft tyres. By this point, most drivers were on their out laps. Verstappen still on his soft tyres went 1:07:183, with Hadjar slotting in behind yet again.
Leclerc had a quick lap time of 1:07:030, positioning himself in the lead. Hamilton wasn't too far off behind his Ferrari teammate and moved into second. Both RB's were looking decent on the track in Q2, with Lawson and Arvid Lindblad managing to keep themselves in the top 10 and progressed to Q3.
Antonelli set the quickest lap of qualifying so far with a time of 1:06:763. Oscar Piastri looked fast too, going second quickest.
Norris got himself back out on track to cement his place in Q3. He went quickest in the middle sector and went third fastest.
With five minutes left of Q2, Russell still hadn't set a lap time. But he got himself out on used tyres and managed to get out of the elimination zone and up into fourth.
Lindblad went ninth fastest, just ahead of Verstappen who was dangerously close to the drop zone. Gasly was the one to watch at this point, who just missed out on progressing into the top 10 and was unable to bump the former champion down.
Q2 eliminations
11. Pierre Gasly
12. Gabriel Bortoleto
13. Oliver Bearman
14. Nico Hülkenberg
15. Esteban Ocon
16. Franco Colapinto
Q3
It was time the final push for the remaining 10 drivers, all scrambling for a front row start at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday. It was a slow start for the drivers, but they began to make their way out a few minutes after the green light, and it made for a hectic Q3. Norris set a lap of 1:06:900, but setting the quickest lap yet at this point of qualifying was Verstappen with 1:06:475.
But then, it was provisional pole for Antonelli with a lap time of 1:06:414. Russell made it a Mercedes 1-2 for the time being.
Piastri was in fourth, with the RB drivers being down in eighth and ninth. Additionally, Hamilton didn't have a time on the board yet after going wide at Turn 3 and aborting his hot lap.
With a couple of minutes left of Q3, all 10 drivers got back out onto the track for their final chance of qualifying the best
Setting the first benchmark in this final part of the session was Hamilton, who had a soaring lap which put him ahead of Antonelli with a time of 1:06:408. However, Leclerc had a time of 1:06:349, putting him ahead of his teammate.
At the very last moments of Q3, Verstappen spun out and crashed into the barriers on his flying lap. Despite the yellow flag, Russell set a time of 1:06:113, claiming pole position. But whether it counts or not is still unknown due to the double waved yellow flags. It was reported to the stewards and the incident still awaits a decision.
Austrian Grand Prix Starting Grid
1. George Russell
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. Max Verstappen
6. Lando Norris
7. Oscar Piastri
8. Isack Hadjar
9. Liam Lawson
10. Arvid Lindblad
11. Pierre Gasly
12. Gabriel Bortoleto
13. Oliver Bearman
14. Nico Hülkenberg
15. Esteban Ocon
16. Franco Colapinto
17. Carlos Sainz
18. Alex Albon
19. Sergio Pérez
20. Valtteri Bottas
21. Fernando Alonso
22. Lance Stroll
