SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — Defending Formula One champion Max Verstappen continued his dominant form when he qualified in first place for the sprint race which takes place later Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The runaway championship leader, who had already secured pole position for Sunday's GP, was .49 seconds quicker than his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and .57 ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris. Nico Hulkenberg qualified in fourth place ahead of Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc.
“It was good, the track was drying up,” Verstappen said. “I think we did well. We got the car in the right window.”
The shortened qualifying format — known in F1 as the “sprint shootout” — set the grid for a 17-lap sprint race later, where seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton starts from 18th place after being knocked out of the first part of sprint qualifying. Hamilton looked pensive as he walked back through the paddock to rejoin his team's garage.
Charles Leclerc just squeezed into Q2, where Mercedes' bad day continued. Mechanics frantically worked on George Russell's steering rack due to a hydraulic problem, but could not get the car ready in time. He will start from 15th in the sprint race, if his car is repaired in time.
The Austrian GP is the second of six F1 events with a format featuring a sprint race on the Saturday, where the winner gets eight points, and the second driver gets seven, down to one point for the eighth-place finisher. Perez won the sprint race in Azerbaijan, with Verstappen finishing third.
Verstappen and other drivers were annoyed with the race stewards on Friday for being too strict about staying within track limits during qualifying for Sunday's race, where Verstappen starts from the pole position for the fourth straight race, sixth time this season and 26th overall.
He will start ahead of Leclerc and Sainz on Sunday.
FERNLEY TRIBUTES
F1 president Stefano Domenicali has paid tribute to Bob Fernley, the former deputy team principal of Force India, who died at the age of 70. His death was announced by F1 on Friday night. No further details were given.
“He was such an important part of Formula 1 and his love and passion for the sport will live forever," Domenicali said.
Fernley worked briefly with McLaren as president of its Indianapolis 500 return project until he was fired in 2019 when Fernando Alonso failed to qualify. He replaced Domenicali as chairman of the FIA's single-seater Commission from 2020 to 2022.
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon, who joined Force India in 2017, called Fernley “a great person and leader” on Twitter.
Fernley left the team when it was sold to the Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll in August 2018. Stroll changed the team’s name first to Racing Point and then Aston Martin.
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