Max qualifies third in Austria: 'I am looking forward to the race'

Published on 04 July 2020 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen qualified third for the Austrian Grand Prix. The Dutchman set a 1:03.477 in the third qualifying session, starting tomorrow on the second start row next to Lando Norris (P4). Max will start the race tomorrow with a different strategy then all the others in the top ten, as he set his fastest time in Q2 on the yellow medium tyres. Valtteri Bottas took the first pole of the season with a 1:02.939. Teammate Lewis Hamilton came 0.012 seconds short and starts the race in P2.

“I am happy to be in P3”, says Max after the qualifying. “We start on a different tyre, so it will be interesting. It will be quite a bit warmer tomorrow, hopefully that will play to our advantage. Mercedes was clearly on a different level, let’s see how we can do tomorrow.”

The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver explains the gap to Mercedes: “I was not entirely happy with the balance. Some corners were good, some were not. That makes the gap a bit bigger, but half a second is quite a decent gap. We have never been the quickest over a whole lap on this track, so hopefully during the race tomorrow it will come a bit closer. It is a good start of the season, now we have to work to close the gap.”

Verstappen concludes looking ahead to tomorrow’s race: “Last year we came also short in qualifying, so I expect we will be better in the race. I am the only one starting on the medium tyre in the top-ten, so I am looking forward to it. We have nothing to lose, so I will try to make it as difficult as possible for them.”

It is 15:00 when the first qualifying session of the season starts. Rookie Nicholas Latifi is the first driver to come out on track. The Canadian crashed in the free practice earlier that morning, but nevertheless can start his first qualifying in Formula 1.

Max Verstappen sets a 1:04.326 in his first timed lap on the softs, till that moment his best time of the weekend. After the whole field has finished their first runs, the top six is formed by Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton (+0.109), Carlos Sainz (+0.211), Sergio Pérez (+0.217), Valtteri Bottas (+0.227) and Sebastian Vettel (+0.245).

Max improves his time with more than three tenths in the last seconds of the first qualifying session, to a 1:04.024. He finished the session as fastest, but the gap to Bottas in P2 and Hamilton in P3 is with only two tenths very small. Kevin Magnussen, George Russell, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen and Nicholas Latifi are the first to drop out of qualifying.

At the start of Q2 we see that Verstappen is the only one to come out on a set of the medium tyres. He sets a 1:04.095, but is in eight position. In a second attempt the Dutchman goes to P6 with a 1:04.000. The question is if his time on the harder compound is enough to go through to the third qualifying session, thereby having a different strategy for the race tomorrow.

Max enters the track for his second and last run on the soft tyre. He falls back into eighth position, but the margin is big enough to safely go through to Q3. Thereby he is the only driver who can start on the medium tyre. Valtteri Bottas (1:03.015), Lewis Hamilton (+0.081) and Alexander Albon (+0.731) form the top three at the end of the session.

Charles Leclerc (P10) is through to Q3 by the skin of his teeth, but teammate Sebastian Vettel cannot make it, with which Ferrari has a difficult task tomorrow. Also Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat, Esteban Ocon and Romain Grosjean come short.

The black Mercedes are the first to set a time in Q3. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton respectively set a time of 1:02.939 and 1:03.061, at that time taking the starting row with a large margin. Max sets a 1:03.551 taking him into third position, but is six tenths behind Bottas. Teammate Alexander Albon follows in P4 with a 1:03.868.

During the last runs of the qualifying Verstappen improves to a 1:03.477, but the eight-fold Grand Prix winner remains in third position. Valtteri Bottas shoots of the track, but his earlier time was enough for pole position. Lewis Hamilton (P2) comes with a 1:02.951 narrowly short of the first starting position. Lando Norris, Alexander Albon and Sergio Pérez complete the top six.

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Results qualifying Austria: