At home, Max Verstappen starts from pole position for the third time this season. Mercedes had accidents with its two drivers and Sergio Pérez was punished for going over the track in Q2
Formula 1 heads into the 11th round with the second sprint race of the 2022 season at the Red Bull Ring. After qualifying practice on Friday (8), Max Verstappen confirmed his favoritism and took pole position with a time of 1min04s984.
Beside him, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, just 0s029 behind the season's leader, will start from the second row. On the second row will be Mercedes' Carlos Sainz and George Russell, who was fourth despite the accident he suffered during Q3.
Further back, Esteban Ocon, in a great Alpine performance during qualifying. In sixth came Kevin Magnussen, for Haas. In seventh place, another great qualifying session from Mick Schumacher, also for Gunther Steiner's team.
In eighth place, Fernando Alonso starts. In ninth place, Lewis Hamilton, who did not complete Q3 because of the heavy crash he suffered on the Austrian circuit. Rounding out the top ten is Red Bull's Sergio Pérez, who was punished by the race direction for exceeding the track limits at the end of Q2.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of the weekend's Austrian F1 GP. On Saturday, the second free practice session opens the day at 7:30am (GMT-3). The sprint race starts at 11:30 AM.
Check out everything that was said by the drivers on the first day of the Austrian GP:
Max Verstappen, pole-position: Verstappen celebrates pole in "challenging" Austria and highlights "orange sea": "Incredible
Charles Leclerc, second: Leclerc aims to break sequence of "disasters" and chase away bad phase with Austrian GP
Carlos Sainz, third: Sainz highlights tight fight in Austria and says he is "happy to be close to pole
George Russell, fourth: Russell sees Mercedes "certainly in contention" for victory in Austria despite accident
Esteban Ocon, fifth: Ocon says Alpine "came alive" to go 6th in the standings in Austria
Kevin Magnussen, sixth: "It was a good Friday. We went on track in TL1 and the car looked competitive. I was pretty confident for qualifying, and it was a strong day. I feel like we didn't even make the most of it, I think we had more lap time. It's funny, I'm seventh, but I'm not super happy. But it's a very good position to be in."
Mick Schumacher, seventh: "We were pretty close to the Q3 cut-off line, but we were lucky since we didn't improve our lap. Overall, it was good, but not the cleanest of sessions. Trying to force the tires to warm them up again is never good, there was definitely more lap time. If we maintain the position tomorrow, we'll add points; if we move forward, we'll gain even more, so I hope to look for the option to add more points."
Fernando Alonso, eighth: Alonso blames broken floorboards for 9th place on the grid in Austria: "Could be top-5"
Lewis Hamilton, ninth: Hamilton says he has "no answer" after crash in Austria and regrets: "We were fighting for top-3"
Pierre Gasly, 10th: "I'm pretty happy with the day. We haven't had any updates in the last few races, so we know that compared to the other cars we've been struggling more. It's always frustrating to be out of Q3 by so little, but I must say I was happy with my lap. It was round and round and I was able to get everything right. Starting so close to the top-10 for the sprint race is a good position to advance and, who knows, maybe finish Sunday in the points. We need to work harder, because you can't really be satisfied with the overall performance, but we know the updates are coming. If we can improve what we have now, then the tendency is to be competitive in the next races."
Alexander Albon, 11th: "I'm very happy. First of all, the team did a great job after all the damage at Silverstone. They worked right in the factory and here on the track, so to be able to pay back with this 12th place is great. Obviously we brought updates and it's good to see the performance improve because of that. Hopefully we can go further each weekend. We were only 0s1 behind. It's almost frustrating because you start to think about where you could improve. But I'm very happy. Everything is on the line tomorrow."
Yuki Tsunoda, 12th: "I'm very disappointed today. I was happy with the balance of the car and how we improved throughout qualifying, but unfortunately on my last attempt in Q2, my tires were cold, I got away at turn one and ruined my lap. I couldn't go any further. I think the pace of the car was pretty good and we had chances to go to Q3, so it's a shame really."
Sergio Pérez, 13th:
Lando Norris, 14th: Ricciardo admits "lack of pace," but sees sprint as chance to regain positions
Daniel Ricciardo, 15th: Ricciardo admits "lack of pace," but sees sprint as chance to regain positions
Lance Stroll, 16th: "It's always a challenge here in Austria with the limits of the track. Nevertheless, we didn't have the pace to advance to Q2 today. Of course we will try to recover some positions in the sprint race - and our pace is ok after free practice earlier, so there is a lot to fight for this weekend."
Guanyu Zhou, 17th: "It was a pretty frustrating day for me. I struggled with the tires on the first attempt. On the second lap, the tires were much better, but even though I improved, I didn't have the grip I wanted, and that resulted in our elimination in Q1. The car was rebuilt, and with only one free practice session to adapt it's not the easiest thing either. Still, the car felt good, just lacked a little performance. It's my second weekend with a sprint race overall, as in Imola I abandoned on the first lap, but hopefully tomorrow will be good and we can move up grid positions and fight for points. I think everything is open, we just have to figure out what went wrong today and improve from there."
Nicholas Latifi, 18th: "Even though the position and the final lap were not good, I still felt good in the car, just like at Silverstone. I made a mistake in turn three, but with that and how much the updates should give [Albon], I actually should have been even slower compared to the other car. I'm kind of where it's real, so for me it's two good classifications in a row. Honestly, I'm happy with that because I know the difference is there and where we should be. The car is struggling here, but I'm happy and I feel improvement in the driveability. I'm more optimistic about the sprint race, even with the lack of pace. I hope to have more opportunities tomorrow."
Sebastian Vettel, 19th: Vettel regrets disallowed lap, but sees "many chances" for Aston Martin in Austria
Valtteri Bottas, 20th: "The feeling with the car was not bad, but of course this is not where we want to be. We lacked grip and top speed, those were the main problems in terms of lap time. Still, they were good laps, and I'm confident in the pace for the race. I'll start at the back of the grid on Sunday, but there are still points to be had tomorrow, and we'll do our best to bring some home."