Verstappen, vintage pole but the Ferraris remain stuck

F1 in Austria: on the Red Bull home circuit ahead of Leclerc and Sainz

history

SENT TO SPIELBERG

It’s called the Red Bull Ring, it’s the Verstappen house: starting from the name of the circuit, from the property, from the invasion of its fans to the results, of course, here in the woods of Styria everything is colored orange. The Dutch driver has hit the second pole position of the season, the third on this track where he has already won four times.

Ferrari has deluded itself that it has broken the spell of a particular circuit, just one minute long, which will be remembered for hosting the first race under the Covid regime and two Grand Prix in the same year in 2020 and 2021. In the last two corners the Dutch driver made up for the delay accumulated in the first part of the circuit. And like a sprinter who throws himself head-on on the finish line, he snatched the best time by 29 thousandths. Leclerc has to be content with a front row seat, Sainz is third by less than a tenth. The other Red Bull, Perez’s, set the fourth fastest time, but the Mexican driver made an irregularity: he went off the track during Q2.

The commissioners noticed it late and sanctioned him at the end of qualifying: his best time was canceled, he will start 13th. A curiosity: Verstappen’s first pole of the season also arrived on Friday, linked to the Imola sprint race. Today, as then, eight points are up for grabs (decreasing) for the first eight. The order of arrival will then draw the starting grid for tomorrow’s traditional GP. But it wasn’t a minor qualification. The emotions were concentrated in Q3, when Hamilton clumsily hit the wall at turn 7, at a point where the cars pass at 260 kilometers per hour. The oranje in the stands, who bought 50,000 of the 300,000 tickets sold for the weekend, rejoiced even before knowing that the driver was unharmed. Upon returning to the track after the red flag, Russell crashed with the other Mercedes at turn 10. New stop, restart and Verstappen’s enterprise. Russell keeps fourth place ahead of Ocon, Hamilton is tenth. No illusions for the others: Ferrari and Red Bull race ahead of Mercedes and the rest of the group.

«The interruption was long, the tires cooled down. It wasn’t easy »says the world champion -. We have a great car, but qualifying is not our strong point. We hope to take advantage of the pole position ». Leclerc is desperate for points to get back into the fight in the World Championship, after the last five unlucky races: «I had understeer and my lap was not perfect. It’s a shame, but it’s Sunday that really counts ». –

© breaking latest news