Verstappen qualifies on pole for the Austrian Grand Prix, but more heartbreak for Pérez

Can anyone catch Max Verstappen and Red Bull?

On any given race weekend, that is certainly a tough question to ponder. It might even be tougher to ponder at this week’s Austrian Grand Prix, given that it is held at Red Bull Ring, the home race for Red Bull.

Still, teams like Ferrari and Mercedes are doing everything they can to close the gap to Verstappen and company, and with this weekend being one of the season’s sprint races, using the new “Sprint Saturday” format, we can expect the unexpected.

Under this format, teams will have just one practice session ahead of Friday’s qualifying session for the Grand Prix itself. Then Saturday is a separate event, with the new “Sprint Shootout” qualifying taking place before the sprint race itself.

In the previous format, the results of the sprint race would determine the starting order for the grand prix. As a results, drivers and teams would be hesitant to take chances in the sprint race, for fear of hampering their chances on Sunday.

Now, with the two kept separate, there is hope for even more risks — and overtakes — in the sprint race.

But today is all about qualifying for the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, and we will have you covered all morning long. So check back early and often and follow along as the 20 drivers take their first true cracks at the Red Bull Ring this season. Qualifying for the Grand Prix gets underway at 10:55 a.m. Eastern, so until then check out the storylines for this week, how to watch all the action, and everything else we have for you at our handy F1 hub.

All updates are in ET.

Update 12:21: Here is the classification from qualifying today:

Update 12:15: Sainz calls this a “strong quali” as a team. “Closer to Max, also, maybe than expected,” adds the Ferrari driver. “At least for today we put ourselves in good position for Sunday,” he adds.

Update 12:13: Leclerc calls today a “good step forward” trackside. As to whether he can win, Leclerc states that race pace was good in Montreal, but consistency has been an issue. “Red Bull for now is quicker on race day.”

Update 12:11: Verstappen trackside talks about the difficulties of the track limits. “It’s so hard to judge the white line, really ... it was about surviving. Even in Q3, you just want to bank a lap.”

“It’s still a really long weekend ahead.”

As to whether he can get his fifth win in a row, Verstappen notes that the car is quick. “At least the car is quick,” notes the Championship leader.

Update 12:07: Verstappen comes across 1:04.391. Leclerc comes in just +0.048 behind him. Verstappen on pole yet again.

But he will have the Ferrari duo to contend with at the start, with Leclerc next to him, and Sainz behind him.

Here is the front two rows for the grid on Sunday, at least at the moment:

Verstappen
Leclerc
Sainz
Norris

Update 12:06: Tense moments in Austria as we are in the closing act of Q3.

Update 12:04: Albon goes into P6, but only for a moment. His lap time gets deleted

With five minutes left in Q3 here are your top six:

Verstappen
Leclerc
Sainz
Norris
Hamilton
Alonso

Norris has put on a fresh new set of softs and is headed out to try and improve on his current P4:

Update 12:01: Hamilton is on the track right now and is fastest through the first sector. He is slower through the next two sectors, and only comes across the line in P5.

Update 11:59: Early lap times of Q3 are in, and your current top five:

Verstappen
Leclerc
Sainz
Norris
Alonso

As always, times could be deleted. But Ferrari looks rather strong at the moment, as does Norris.

Update 11:55: Q3 is underway at Red Bull Ring. Albon is the first driver on the track for Q3.

Update 11:52: Norris gets our place of honor for Q3. Good time to plug this from a few weeks ago, my one-on-one with the McLaren driver.

Update 11:52: It is official now:

Update 11:50: Here are the ten drivers into Q3, in order:

Verstappen
Sainz
Norris
Leclerc
Stroll
Alonso
Hamilton
Gasly
Hülkenberg
Albon

Albon did see a time get deleted, but it was not his fastest lap time, so the Williams driver gets through.

Update 11:49: Russell, Ocon, Piastri, Bottas, and Pérez are the five at the bottom. Barring a reprieve in the form of a deleted lap time from someone above them, those five drivers are eliminated.

Update 11:48: Pérez sees his time deleted. Yet again he fails to advance to Q3, now for the fourth race in a row.

Update 11:47: Pérez gets the lap he needed, vaulting into P2.

For the moment at least, he has had two laps deleted for exceeding track limits.

Update 11:45: Two minutes left and it is Stroll, Piastri, Bottas, Russell, and Pérez in the bottom five.

Update 11:43: Pérez has another lap time deleted, which drops him into P15. With just over three minutes remaining in Q2, he might have just one shot at a push lap to get into Q3.

Update 11:41: With five minutes left in Q2, here are the five drivers facing elimination:

Russell
Ocon
Stroll
Piastri
Bottas

Update 11:39: The Alpine duo goes into the top five, with Gasly into P2 and Ocon into P5. While those times could be deleted, that is a strong showing.

Something their new Hollywood bosses might appreciate.

Verstappen is on the radio expressing frustration with the track limits, and the times getting deleted.

Update 11:37: Stroll sees his time deleted as well. The new top five is:

Norris
Hülkenberg
Alonso
Sainz
Hamilton

Update 11:35: Norris goes into P3, and then into P2, as Verstappen’s initial lap time is deleted.

Then into P1 as Pérez sees his time deleted.

Also of note? Stroll is just ahead of Alonso, at least in the early running.

Norris
Stroll
Hülkenberg
Alonso
Sainz

Update 11:34: Verstappen and Pérez are on their push laps, and while Pérez was faster in Sector 1, it was Verstappen faster in Sector 2.

Update 11:30: Gasly gets the photo of honor thanks to his P4 in Q1. Drivers are already queuing up for Q2, with the Red Bull duo at the front.

Update 11:28: At the moment, here is the top ten:

Verstappen
Pérez
Sainz
Gasly
Leclerc
Norris
Alonso
Hamilton
Albon
Piastri

Interesting to see both McLarens in the top ten, with Norris in front. The team brought upgrades to Austria, but only have them on Norris’s MCL60 this week.

Update 11:26: Bottas gets into Q2 for the moment by just +0.021 over Tsunoda. The five eliminated drivers — for the moment — are Tsunoda, Zhou, Sargeant, Magnussen, and De Vries.

However, race officials are still deleting times, so things could change.

Update 11:24: We seem to have some traditions around here. One is the playing of the F1 Opening Titles as a session begins. The other? As soon as I start to raise concerns about a driver or a team, they put in a good performance.

Seconds after raising such concerns about Pérez, he puts in a strong lap and jumps to P2.

In the closing seconds here and Bottas, Sargeant, Magnussen, Zhou and De Vries are the bottom five.

Update 11:22: Jolyon Palmer on F1TV notes that Pérez is only in P13 right now, even on the soft compound. Even more worrying? He is just a few tenths faster on the softs than he was on the mediums during FP1. With the softer compound, and the track starting to “rubber in,” that could be a bad sign for Pérez.

Update 11:20: Under five minutes left in qualifying and the bottom five are now: Hülkenberg, Albon, Ocon, Sargeant, and De Vries.

Update 11:17: Right now the five drivers at the bottom are De Vries, Tsunoda, Gasly, Sargeant and Hülkenberg.

Update 11:15: Nine minutes to go and the top five are:

Verstappen
Sainz
Leclerc
Norris
Alonso

Update 11:11: Race officials note that qualifying will resume at 17:12 local time (11:12 ET).

While we are under the red flag just a reminder that today’s qualifying sets the grid for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. As this is a sprint weekend, tomorrow we will see the “Sprint Shootout,” as well as the F1 Sprint race itself. For more on this format we have you covered here.

Also, Verstappen had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, so we have a new driver atop the timing sheets: Oscar Piastri.

Things are now back underway in Austria.

Update 11:07: Bottas’ spin has brought out a red flag.

Update 11:05: Some of the first lap times are in, and here is the current top-five:

Verstappen
Piastri
Pérez
Magnussen
Stroll

Some drives, such as Lando Norris, have seen lap times deleted due to “exceeding track limits.” It is also notable to see Magnussen up in the top five, as Haas is viewing this week as something of a test session.

A yellow flag comes out as Bottas spins in Turn 1.

Update 11:03: Traffic and track position are going to be an issue today. We talked about that earlier this morning, wondering if we will see a return of one-shot qualifying in the future. Plus we have also seen some penalties for impeding handed down recently.

Update 11:01: Green lights in Austria as Q1 gets underway.

Update 10:55: Q1 is about to begin, which means just one thing around these parts.

Opening titles!

Update 10:51: On the pre-qualifying show Lawrence Barretto of F1.com outlines that the door really seems open for Ricciardo to return to the grid next year with AlphaTauri, and points to the upcoming test at Silverstone as a key moment.

Silly season seems upon us.

Update 10:42: F1TV airs a segment with Horner, who shares that Ricciardo’s upcoming test at Silverstone will be a good opportunity for the driver, and calls him a “great option” for AlphaTauri.

Horner also notes that while Pérez was ill on Thursday, he looked pretty good in FP1.

Update 10:22: Just about 45 minutes until qualifying gets underway, and since there is a bit of hope in the air around Ferrari after FP1, Leclerc gets the image of honor for Q1.

Also, we’ll just leave this here:

Update 8:42: And the full classification from FP1:

We’ll see you back here in a few hours for quali!

Update 8:32: Vintage Verstappen. As the clock hits zeros Leclerc jumps to P2 on a set of softs, giving Ferrari P1 and P2.

That lasts for mere seconds, as Verstappen comes across in P1. And he does it on a set of mediums.

Your top ten from FP1:

Verstappen - Mediums
Sainz - Softs
Leclerc- Softs
Hamilton - Softs
Pérez - Mediums
Stroll - Softs
Magnussen - Softs
Alonso - Mediums
Russell - Softs
Zhou - Softs

Update 8:31: Worries at McLaren as Norris — currently in P20 — is out of the car with just over a minute left. McLaren brought some upgrades to the track this week but things are looking shaky near the end of the one practice session.

Update 8:30: The current top five and compounds:

Sainz - Softs
Verstappen - Mediums
Leclerc - Softs
Hamilton - Softs
Pérez - Mediums

Certainly advantage Red Bull, given they posted those times on the mediums, but again some signs of life from Ferrari, especially in comparison with Hamilton, given all three drivers posted their best times on the same compound.

Update 8:29: F1TV just showed the Red Bull pit wall and it looked like Team Principal Christian Horner was scrolling his phone. Something you can do when you have Verstappen.

Update 8:27: Sainz gets both Verstappen and Leclerc, going fastest on a set of softs.

Update 8:25: And just like that, Scuderia fans breathe a sigh of relief as Leclerc goes to the top of the table on the softs. Verstappen almost immediately nips him on a set of mediums, but Ferrari at least has some positives to take from the single practice session.

Update 8:23: With under ten minutes left in FP1, here is the current classification, along with the compound used by each driver:

Hamilton - Hards
Stroll - Softs
Verstappen - Hards
Alonso - Mediums
Russell - Softs
Pérez - Hards
Albon - Softs
Piastri - Softs
Sargeant - Softs
Zhou - Softs
Tsunoda - Mediums
Ocon - Mediums
Bottas - Mediums
Gasly - Softs
Norris - Mediums
Magnussen - Mediums
De Vries - Mediums
Leclerc - Hards
Sainz - Hards
Hülkenberg - Mediums

Um ... Ferrari?

Update 8:05: At the halfway point of FP1 here is your top five:

Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen
Fernando Alonso
Sergio Pérez
Alex Albon

Pérez is back after missing Thursday’s media sessions due to illness.

Hamilton has also been given a £100 find for speeding in pit lane:

Update 7:53: McLaren has brought some upgrades to Red Bull Ring for this week, and what does that mean during practice?

Flow-vis. And lots of it, apparently: