Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at the Red Bull Ring

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen edged out Lando Norris by just 0.093 seconds to take pole position for the sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen, the last of the front-runners to cross the line, despite being unhappy with his tyres as a result of a chaotic end to the session and crowded track.

Oscar Piastri made it a McLaren two-three, 0.301secs off the Dutchman, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

The Spaniard’s team-mate Charles Leclerc failed to get around to the line in time before starting his flying lap at the end of the session and will start 10th.

Read the full report here

That's it for your Friday in Spielberg. Max Verstappen will line up alongside Lando Norris for tomorrow's sprint race, which gets going at 11:00 BST.

Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, folks, and we'll be back up and running at 10:45 BST on Saturday.

See you tomorrow!

Image source, Getty Images

Any questions you might have for BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson as we go along on this Austrian Grand Prix journey then please, don't hesitate to send them through for our Q&A.

Have a look at this week's column here, which includes questions about Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli for 2025 and the possibility of seeing an all-British podium at Silverstone next week.

And then any thoughts from this weekend send them through using this link here

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen who is on pole for Saturday's sprint race: "It's great to be first here, in front of basically my home fans, my home grand prix. It's been a good day so far. It's been nice to drive the car, immediately the car was well balanced, you make adjustments going into sprint qualifying and everything has been working well. It's a good start to the weekend. There's still things to do but it's been a good day.

On battling Lando Norris, who was just 0.093 seconds behind Verstappen, in the sprint race tomorrow: "I mean we'll find out tomorrow, I'm not stressed about it. I'm going to enjoy my evening and we will try again tomorrow."

Charles Leclerc says he hasn't spoken to his team yet, as he got out of the car and went straight to an interview. If he finishes the sprint in the same position (P10), he won't be picking up any points Saturday.

Charles Leclerc instantly questions his Ferrari team on what happened in SQ3.

The Monegasque driver is told "we took the anti-stall" by his engineer, but Leclerc replies: "Ah, thank you, but the anti-stall cannot stop the engine. The engine switched off - I don't know if you noticed. The ignition went to off, so I had to re-do the whole thing."

His engineer tells him they'll discuss the incident back in the garage...

The gap between Max Verstappen on pole and second-placed Lando Norris in that SQ3 session was 0.093 seconds.

11. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

12. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

13. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

14. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

15. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

16. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

17. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

18. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)

19, Alex Albon (Williams)

20. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)

1. Max Verstapen (Red Bull)

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

7. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

10. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

There's a roar from the crowd and itcan only mean one thing: Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris' time and is on pole position for tomorrow's sprint race!

Lewis Hamilton is first to bank a lap with a 1:05.270 but Charles Leclerc didn't make the chequered flag in time!

Oscar Piastri then goes quickest but Lando Norris beats his McLaren team-mate to go top!

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Live

On one hand you could say surely it is easier because they've got more grip with the soft tyre, surely it's easier but it's not because you're pushing much harder, still taking that tyre to the limit and if you really don't know where the limit of that tyre is. Particularly in the hands of Mercedes who have not ran it yet this weekend. We are going to see lap times tumble as a result of that. This is as quick as a Formula 1 car is capable of going around this circuit. this is some of the best moments in the sport, driver and machine at its absolute limit.

Right, only one flyer for all 10 cars left in this sprint fight!

Charles Leclerc has stopped in the pit lane! Has the Ferrari got a problem? He has the car running again but is it too late for the Monegasque driver?

"This might be tight on time for some people," says George Russell's engineer.

Hmmm.

Sprint qualifying around the Red Bull Ring is the definition of a one-shot lap, but George Russell has had enough, so he tells his pit wall to get cracking, as the traffic is going to interesting.

Not that the spectators are experiencing any track action...

Considering the earlier forecast was for thundery showers at the Red Bull Ring, the fans are getting nice and toasted by the Austrian sunshine this afternoon.

We switch to the soft compound now for SQ3.