Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at the Red Bull Ring

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen put in an imperious performance to take pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix from McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Fresh from winning a fight with Norris and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint race earlier on Saturday, Verstappen beat the Briton by 0.404 seconds.

Mercedes’ George Russell qualified third, 0.526secs behind Verstappen, after Piastri had a time that had put him third deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Six.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start fourth ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Read the full report here

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Can anyone get the better of this fella at the Red Bull Ring?

Lando Norris has the best chance lining up alongside Max Verstappen in P2 but remember George Russell's start last weekend in Spain?

If he keeps hold of that third place - McLaren are far from happy with Oscar Piastri's deleted lap time in Q3 - then he'll start on the clean side of the Spielberg grid.

Thanks for joining us, folks. The rest of Saturday is yours to enjoy.

We'll be back from 13:00 BST for Austrian Grand Prix build-up. Lights out are at 14:00 BST.

See you then!

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Mercedes' George Russell, who will start P3 on the grid tomorrow: "The car is feeling really great at the moment and the team has worked really hard in bringing in these upgrades. It feels like we've got a real fight on our hands, especially with Ferrari. I think we are still a little bit behind McLaren, and Max and Red Bull were flying today.

"But it is definitely going in the right direction for us."

On the team becoming more competitive: "We definitely changed a few things. We changed the wing level, which helped with tyre degradation for tomorrow, so happy to be in P3 because I think we compromised qualifying a little bit to help the race tomorrow.

"The fact is McLaren still have that edge on us but like I said, three races in a row we're in the top three and that feels really great.

"I will sit back and watch (Norris and Verstappen) do their thing and try and sneak through but realistically they've got the pace on us.

"Realistically, the race is probably going to be behind us unfortunately and hopefully we don't comprise our race too much battling with these guys."

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McLaren's Lando Norris, who will start P2 on the grid tomorrow: "Pretty much what we could do today. As you said, Max was in a league of his own, so I'm happy.

"Tricky conditions, a little bit more difficult than it was yesterday - a lot closer, more difficult to get the laps in and to perfect the the laps. But I'll take it."

On starting a race alongside Verstappen again: "It's tough. When you look at the pace today, it's clear that we're going to have to give it a lot and we'll need something extra in order to beat the pace of Max and the Red Bulls. I'll try. I'll do a better job than I did this morning, that's for sure. I'm excited."

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who qualified in pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix: "The qualifying went really well.

"We tried to adjust the car a little bit after the things we earned this morning and I think it went really well, The track was a bit warmer than it was yesterday which made it a bit tricker to drive but the car felt a lot better for me today.

"I could attack the corners a bit more and every run was on point and was very enjoyable out there.

"It’s been a while that we've actually been on pole so it’s a great feeling. The team has been working really hard to make the car a bit more competitive and I think this is a great statement and it will be a great fight.

"It is always nice to race (Norris) and it ill be a tight battle but I’m not thinking too much about that. I am just happy how the car was performing today and hopefully it will translate tomorrow in race pace."

There are contrasting emotions over the team radios following the pole fight in Austria. George Russell is delighted to be in the top three after Oscar Piastri's deleted lap time, while over at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc says he tried too much and apologises to his team, adding he should've been around P3 or so today.

Let's have a look what the top three had to say...

The margin Max Verstapen took pole position by was 0.404 seconds. He had a flawless weekend in Spielberg last year, taking the sprint win, main race pole and the grand prix victory, so can he do the same again tomorrow?

11. Daniel Ricciardo (RB)

12. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

13. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

14. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

18. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)

19. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

20. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

3. George Russell (Mercedes)

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

"I think I broke everything under the car," said Charles Leclerc after his huge slide at the end of qualifying.

Oscar Piastri has been done for track limits at Turn Six! The McLaren will have to move down to P7 on tomorrow's grid.

Lando Norris is second and now George Russell will start in third.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Verstappen ominously has gone quicker in a sector that was a Lando Norris sector.

This is looking more and more like a Verstappen pole position.

But Lando Norris does improve! The Briton is on to the front row with a 1:04.718.

Meanwhile, the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc is all over the place! He takes a slide at Turn Nine and ends up in the gravel.

Oscar Piastri goes into second and will start on the front row alongside Max Verstappen if Lando Norris can't improve on his time.

And now Max Verstappen goes even quicker! The new provisional pole time is 1:04.314.

The time to beat is a 1:04.426.

The stewards are going to investigate the earlier incident of Lewis Hamilton coming out of the garage and clipping the equipment for an unsafe release after the session.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Max Verstappen is maxing everything on this lap and has gone quicker than he has done all weekend, Lando has been quicker in sector one and sector three with sector two being absolutely Max’s territory.

This is where it really matters. I have still got hope that Lando can put a real fight to Max Verstappen.

This is how the top 10 looks after those opening runs in Q3.

1. Max Verstappen

2. Land Norris

3. George Russell

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Oscar Piastri

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Carlos Sainz

8. Sergio Perez

9. Esteban Ocon

10. Nico Hulkenberg

Lando Norris goes into second place. over three-tenths back on the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, with George Russell placing his Mercedes third on the grid for now.