The Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring is a home race for Red Bull Racing, and a quasi-home race for the team’s superstar Max Verstappen.
However, his weekend is not getting off to a great start after a massive crash in qualifying.
The crash sparked a controversial end to qualifying that saw Mercedes’ George Russell claim pole position.
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Verstappen made it into Q3, the final round of qualifying, with a gutsy strategy call, and that gave Verstappen a shot at starting up front in Sunday’s race.
However, he was giving it everything he had on his final lap when the Dutchman lost the rear of his car on entry into Turn 9, the circuit’s penultimate corner, a quick-flick, high-speed right-hander.
He skidded off through the gravel and made heavy contact with the barrier.
The four-time champ commented that the car had felt loose on that lap, but what was really interesting was that his engine, er, Gianpiero Lambiase, said something about a “delay on the rear wing,” which seems to imply that the team’s flipping rear wing didn’t close in time, leaving Verstappen without enough downforce to get through the corner.
But, while the crash was dramatic in itself, it created more drama. That’s because the Ferraris and Mercedes were battling for pole, with the Ferraris up front and Charles Leclerc on conditional pole.
Verstappen’s crash at the final pair of corners brought out yellow flags, which Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli erroneously thought were double-waved yellow flags and aborted his lap.
However, his teammate George Russell — who must have been on the lap of his life — noticed that it was just a single yellow and lifted through the yellows.
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Despite that, he still put down a lap fast enough for pole.
There were complaints from drivers, including Antonelli, about Russell improving his time under yellows, but the stewards decided not to investigate, and the results held.
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Russell will start from pole alongside Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton behind in P3 alongside Antonelli in P4.
Verstappen’s first lap was fast enough that, barring any grid penalties for parts that could need to be replaced on his car, he will start P5.
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