F1, Gp Austria: Verstappen also takes pole in the sprint race. Ferrari in the third row

On the edge of everything: the rain, the thousandths, the limits of the track and the traffic that engulfs the road. Heart in throat for everyone in qualifying for the Austrian sprint which takes place in the afternoon (at 4.30pm). Except for Max Verstappen: after the “real” pole for Sunday’s gp ahead of Leclerc’s Ferrari by a whisker (48 thousandths), the two world champion also takes the mini one for the 100 km. The conditions have changed compared to yesterday: asphalt and air temperatures have collapsed. But Max is impervious to variables. The others don’t.

Behind him is not the redhead of the Monegasque but the teammate (albeit almost half a second away), the Red Bull of Perez who was eliminated yesterday in Q2 for the fourth time in a row. The Mexican redeems himself, there will be two blues in the front row in front of his fans. And Max to lead the army: “The important thing was to go on the track at the right time, the car has a good balance and the track has improved”.

Behind the Red Bulls, the revolutionized McLaren of Lando Norris (who will start 4th on Sunday) and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Only third row for the Ferraris with Carlos Sainz 5th and Charles Leclerc 6th who is under investigation for impediment to Oscar Piastri and risks penalties. The reds seem to be suffering from the mixed conditions and the changed temperatures, the tires don’t go into the right operating window fast enough. The Monegasque struggles much more than his teammate to get through the rounds and never finds his magic shot: “I didn’t do a great job in Q3, the pace wasn’t great in these conditions and I struggled with the car too. What do I expect? Whether it’s all wet or all dry in the race, because in mixed conditions there’s only one trajectory and you can do very little”. In Q1 he even saves himself by a thousandth on Zhou and also because they cancel a time from Hamilton who is eliminated: the Englishman will start 18th this afternoon. He does no better than his partner, George Russell, who is promoted to the second round but has to give up due to a hydraulic problem with the steering on his Mercedes. He will be 15th at the start.
For Sainz, on the other hand, an overall more robust session: he remained in the pits with a brake problem until the last two minutes available to set a time in the first round, with just one lap he puts himself ahead of everyone. And he carries on with less difficulty than Charles, but not up to Friday. The Spaniard reflects: “Today I was really strong in these conditions, just one lap in Q1, so also in Q2 but in Q3 I was missing a set of new tires that would have helped me fight. This is why we are behind two slower cars, a comeback awaits us. The goal is to get on the podium today and tomorrow. The pace is there, which means not beating Red Bull, but staying ahead of Mercedes and Aston”.