Russell snatches controversial Austria pole after Verstappen crash

It appeared Ferrari had claimed a sensational front row lockout, with Charles Leclerc edging ahead of Lewis Hamilton just before Verstappen’s late crash at Turn 9.

However, Russell produced a brilliant lap when it mattered most to take his fourth pole of the season and 11th of his career, keeping Mercedes’ 100 per cent pole streak alive in 2026.

His pole initially looked under threat, with Russell placed under investigation for a possible yellow flag infringement on his fastest lap.

Replays appeared to show double waved yellows as Russell continued to push, with notes on the FIA timing screens initially appearing to indicate his time had been deleted.

However, it was then revealed that deletion related to his previous lap, with the FIA deeming he had lifted adequately on his fastest lap and taking no further action.

It was a controversial ending to the session that placed a cloud over Russell’s final effort, which proved decisive after Ferrari had appeared to steal pole from Mercedes.

Leclerc finished 0.236s behind Russell, while edging Hamilton by just six hundredths of a second, with both Ferrari drivers having eclipsed the early banker time set by Kimi Antonelli.

All eyes were then on Verstappen, who was on a strong lap of his own and looked set to move into the fight for pole before losing control of his Red Bull at Turn 9, spearing into the gravel and crashing into the wall.

 

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The Dutchman emerged from his car unscathed but will be left ruing his mistake, with Verstappen set to line up fifth on the grid ahead of both McLaren drivers after a disappointing qualifying for the team.

Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were unable to turn their Friday pace into a meaningful challenge for pole and will start sixth and seventh, ahead of Isack Hadjar in eighth, with Liam Lawson impressing again to qualify ninth, just ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad.

A delighted Russell said he was thrilled with his pole position and explained that he had lifted for Verstappen’s accident, saying it was only a single yellow flag when he passed it.

“I feel incredible. It was such an amazing lap,” he said.

“I saw the yellow. I had a big lift into the corner. I was five tenths up and then I came out the last corner two-and-a-half tenths up. It was a single yellow as well, not a double. So it should be okay.

“It was a tough day, but it was so special to get that lap. Everything felt so sweet, so really proud of the job we all did.”

Despite missing out on pole, Leclerc said he was still happy to be lining up second for the race.

“I’m relatively happy about today,” he said.

“Of course the last few weekends have been quite tough, so I just wanted to have a clean weekend and most of all, a clean qualifying to start well for tomorrow. So to start second is a good place to start on.

“The team have been pushing massively in order to bring upgrades in Barcelona and again this weekend, and that pays off.

“If I’m completely honest I didn’t think we’d be starting on the front row until qualifying really.

“So it’s a good surprise that we are so fast.”

 

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Hamilton also said he was happy to be starting so far up the grid, despite making a mistake on his first lap in the final part of qualifying.

“To have the two Ferraris in second and third I think it’s fantastic and it’s just a reflection of the amazing work that everyone’s doing back at the factory,” he said.

“Because they really are continuing to push. We brought small bits here. Obviously they worked hard to upgrade our engine for this track. So I’m just really proud of everybody because you could just see how hard everyone’s working and it’s really starting to pay off.

“I think my Q3, the weekend had been looking good, in Q3 run one, my mistake and didn’t get the first lap. So then that always affects the second lap.

“But nonetheless, even just to be still that close given that I didn’t get the first lap, I’m really happy for that.”

Verstappen was lucky to even reach Q3, having scraped through to the final part of qualifying by just 0.040s.

The Dutchman only had one run in the second part of qualifying and faced a nervous wait to see if his time would be enough, with several drivers improving in the closing stages.

Fortunately for the four-time world champion, his time held on, although Pierre Gasly pushed it right to the final moments, setting faster first and second sectors before ultimately dropping back to finish the session 11th, just four hundredths behind Verstappen.

Gasly was joined by Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and teammate Franco Colapinto in being eliminated in Q2, in a session topped by Antonelli.

The first part of qualifying saw Antonelli also set the fastest time, with Lawson impressing in fourth to end Q1 as the quickest of the Red Bull runners, while also finishing ahead of Russell, Piastri and Leclerc.

While it was an impressive session for the Kiwi, the same could not be said for Williams, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon both unable to make it out of the opening phase of qualifying.

Sainz missed out by the narrowest of margins, eliminated from Q1 by just two hundredths of a second, and will line up 17th on the grid, one spot ahead of Albon.

They were joined in the opening-phase exits by the Cadillac duo of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, who finished ahead of the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with both more than 2.8s off the fastest time set by Antonelli.

The Austrian Grand Prix gets underway at 3pm local time on Sunday (11pm AEST).

Results: Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, Qualifying