F1 Austrian GP live commentary and updates - qualifying
Follow along for Formula 1 qualifying updates at the Austrian Grand Prix
Live Commentary
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
And that's it! We've got a tantalising couple of rows at the front, and a relatively mixed order in the top 10 as Verstappen starts between Lawson and Bortoleto.
Tomorrow, then, should be pretty fun! We'll see you then.
Austrian GP grid order
1. Norris
2. Leclerc
3. Piastri
4. Hamilton
5. Russell
6. Lawson
7. Verstappen
8. Bortoleto
9. Antonelli
10. Gasly
11. Alonso
12. Albon
13. Hadjar
14. Colapinto
15. Bearman
16. Stroll
17. Ocon
18. Tsunoda
19. Sainz
20. Hulkenberg
Piastri on third place: "I had Gasly spin at the first corner so I didn't even open my second lap. Lando's been very quick all weekend so it would have been a tough challenge, but we easily had enough pace to be on the front row. But we can still have a good race from there."
Leclerc on claiming second: "I'm very pleased. It's been a long time since we started on the front row, and it's been a difficult season overall but the team has kept pushing. We brought some new parts this weekend which for sure made a difference. We know we have a better car in the race than in qualifying, so I hope we can put more pressure on the McLarens."
Norris, on securing pole for the Austrian GP: "It was a good lap, that's for sure. I guess just little bit by little bit, I felt that Q1 was good but I knew there were a few places I could get more time. I did what I planned to do!"
Piastri didn't get the chance to improve on his lap either, which allowed Leclerc to join Norris on the front row.
Leclerc cements second as Piastri's had to back out of his lap - and Norris finds a mighty 1m03.971s to lock down pole position!
Gasly caused the yellow flag as he spun, which prompted both Piastri and Verstappen to bail on their laps.
Lawson got sixth place, as Verstappen didn't get a chance to improve on his opening run.
Verstappen's going to be first up. But he's had to back out - there's a yellow flag!
Here comes the final charge for the late-session runs. Who's got a pole lap in their pockets?
Top 10 after first runs
1. Norris
2. Leclerc
3. Piastri
4. Hamilton
5. Russell
6. Verstappen
7. Antonelli
8. Bortoleto
9. Gasly
10. Lawson
Russell gets up to fifth on a used set, going almost a tenth faster than Verstappen.
The Briton has an unsafe release noted by the FIA for that earlier moment in the pitlane.
Piastri then sets a 1m04.554s, but Norris states his intention with a 1m04.268s.
Verstappen gets his opener in, and it's a 1m04.929s on used tyres - 0.661s off the pace, as Leclerc moves up to second to split the McLarens.
Piastri begins his lap, but he's already lost a bit of time in the opening sector.
Gasly opens his account with a 1m05.649s, but Antonelli does a 1m05.276s.
The track now bursts into life - and Russell almost nerfs a Ferrari on exiting the pitlane. Gasly, Antonelli, and Piastri are first to hit the track.
Q3 - the fight for pole begins
It's time to set the top 10 places on the grid. Can Norris keep the momentum, or will Piastri snatch it at the death? Is there more in Verstappen's car? Is Bortoleto about to claim a maiden pole? We'll find out.
Verstappen felt he was impeded by a Ferrari, which he noted was "a bit naughty, super unnecessary".
An investigation into a potential impeding incident between Norris and Leclerc has also been waved off.
Q3 contenders for pole
1. Norris
2. Piastri
3. Leclerc
4. Verstappen
5. Bortoleto
6. Gasly
7. Russell
8. Hamilton
9. Lawson
10. Antonelli
Eliminated in Q2
11. Alonso
12. Albon
13. Hadjar
14. Colapinto
15. Bearman
Antonelli only up to eighth, which becomes ninth when Russell moves up to fifth. This pushes Hadjar into the bottom five, as the Frenchman pits.
Gasly fires his way up to sixth, Lawson backs out but he's done enough, as Colapinto only hits 13th. Albon then goes 12th.
Lots of final improvement here; Bearman goes eighth - then Bortoleto gets up to third place!
Is that good enough for a first Q3 appearance for the Brazilian? Verstappen goes just 0.01s faster than Bortoleto on his tour.
There's a bit of a lull - then the clock ticks with four minutes to go and everyone pours out of their garages. Here comes the flurry of final runs.
Q2 resumes
The fire is out and the session starts again with a little over five minutes on the clock. We've got a fair few drivers who need to go again - I'd say only the McLarens are really safe here...
Q2 to resume at 16:47 local time
Just a few minutes, as the grass fire is presumably out. Whoever's been in charge of grass-watering this year is slacking.
Maybe the FIA watering can decided to leave...
Bottom five at Q2 red flag
11. Albon
12. Bearman
13. Alonso
14. Bortoleto
15. Colapinto
Session paused
We have a red flag - and there's a fire! We saw Hamilton run across the grass at Turn 10, and it's caught fire. It's just like Japan!
This hasn't affected too many people, although Albon was on a lap and had to abort.
"No grip, it's worse than before" Verstappen reports, "I don't know what to say, no grip low speed, medium speed, high speed..."
He's 0.693s off Norris in this session thus far.
Russell crosses the line to go third, on used softs. That becomes fourth when Piastri does a 1m04.556s to go top.
Norris then finds even more time, and does a 1m04.410s. The McLarens have a big gulf to the rest of the field.
Hadjar posts a 1m05.557s, but Lawson goes top for now with a 1m05.248s. Both Racing Bulls drivers have the use of new tyres for this.
Verstappen posts a 1m05.103s to take top spot from his former team-mate.
Leclerc and Hamilton get laps in on used softs - a 1m05.446s for the Monegasque and a 1m05.651s for the Briton. Albon also does a run on used softs, but it's not particularly quick.
Q2 begins!
Hamilton and Leclerc are first on the road - the Ferraris didn't look too troubled in Q1, so we'd expect to see them reach Q3 unless disaster strikes.
The Mercedes are slightly more unknown, as the track temps remain at 47C. Squeaky-bum time in the Merc garage.
Sainz on the radio, after finishing 19th: "There is damage in the car. The car is undriveable. When I say undriveable, it's pulling under braking, no load in high speed, undriveable."
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images
Eliminated in Q1
16. Stroll
17. Ocon
18. Tsunoda
19. Sainz
20. Hulkenberg.
Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
We've got the entire field within a second, and the top 18 within 0.7s. Tsunoda was only 0.25s off Verstappen - but that's the difference between sixth and 18th.
Lawson, Gasly, and Hadjar found their way into the top five as they were well ahead of the drop.
Colapinto gets up to 12th, which puts Russell into the dropzone! The Briton just about finds enough to go 11th, dumping Stroll out by just over a tenth.
Sainz can't improve, Tsunoda can't improve, and Hulkenberg can't improve - they're all out.
Alonso fires his way up into eighth, as Bearman gets ninth. Ocon drops back into the bottom five as Stroll goes 13th.
We've got a queue in the pitlane as the bottom half of the order (plus a few more) are trying to get a final lap in.
Ocon gets up to 13th, using all of the track to try to make it into Q2.
Bottom five with three minutes remaining
16. Hulkenberg
17. Ocon
18. Stroll
19. Bearman
20. Alonso
Sainz extracts himself from the bottom five and goes 14th, but Albon seems to find some safety with his own run up to fifth.
That puts Sainz on the cusp. The Spaniard took a snap through Turn 4, so he's surely going to have to go one more time.
Colapinto breaks out of the bottom five to go 12th, so perhaps the Alpines are fine. Hulkenberg improves but stays 13th, while Bortoleto fires his Sauber up to fifth in the timing boards. Good work.
Top Comments
Trending
Latest news
Winners and losers of IndyCar Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250
'We don't want a chess game' - FIA responds to claims F1’s 2026 cars are too complex
Denny Hamlin fires back after Mamba Smith's Daytona prank in viral X social media exchange
