Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix in a session dominated by track limits violations.

The Red Bull driver was again unbeatable, while team-mate Sergio Perez will line up 15th after losing four laps in Qualifying 2.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will start second and third for Ferrari as Lando Norris rewarded McLaren’s efforts with the fourth-best time.

A spin from Valtteri Bottas saw the Alfa Romeo Sauber driver pointing the wrong way on the inside of Turn 1 soon after Qualifying began.

It drew the red flag moments before Lewis Hamilton crossed the line to complete his timed lap.

The stoppage left Verstappen fastest with a 1:05.190s until his time was deleted for track limits at Turn 10.

That left Oscar Piastri fastest after the initial foray, a 1:05.893s for the McLaren driver leaving him 0.017s clear.

During the stoppage, Pierre Gasly had a lap deleted for yellow flags at Turn 1, only for that to be reinstated two minutes once the session resumed.

Times quickly fell once running resumed, Verstappen shooting back to the top from Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris – the provisional pole time a 1:05.116s.

Norris improved to second fastest with two minutes remaining, dropping to third as Perez improved.

Track limits were an issue with Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, Nyck de Vries and others losing times.

When the chequered flag waved, the five drivers eliminated were Yuki Tsunoda, Logan Sargeant, Magnussen, Zhou Guanyu, and de Vries.

Red Bull headed the queue exiting the lane as Qualifying 2 began, Verstappen logging a 1:04.955s – a time that was soon deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 10.

That left Perez quickest from Norris and Lance Stroll after the initial flurry of activity, only for the Mexican to lose his time, too.

Stroll too had his time scrubbed, leaving Norris fastest from Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso with 10 minutes to run in the second phase of the session.

Verstappen finally managed a lap with just under seven minutes remaining, a 1:04.951s to move to the top of the timesheets.

Drama for Alonso saw the Spaniard have his lap time deleted, dropping him to eighth, while Perez dropped to 15th when his 1:05.235s was scrubbed for running too wide at Turn 9.

The Red Bull driver responded by going second fastest, only for that lap to be deleted too, dropping him back out of the top 10, having not set a representative time in the session.

He was joined by Piastri, who had his final lap deleted too, dropping him out of the top 10.

George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Bottas joined the pair on the sidelines in a phase dominated by track limits at Turn 9 and Turn 10.

Alex Albon was the first car out as Qualifying 3 began, using a set of scrubbed tyres to record a banker lap in the early moments.

He managed a 1:05.823s, a steady lap given he’d managed a time 0.4s faster than that at the end of Qualifying 2.

Unsurprisingly it tumbled down the order, Verstappen going 1.3s faster on his first effort.

The Dutchman had the advantage of a swathe of new tyres, having used only two sets to progress to the final part of Qualifying.

Leclerc slotted in second with Sainz third, Norris showing well again with the fourth best time.

Hamilton ran slightly off sequence, heading out as the bulk of the remaining runners toured back into the lane having completed theirs.

It was a strong start from the Mercedes, who was the fastest of anyone to the first split.

Though it was a personal best through the middle third of the lap, he lost 0.4s and could do no better than fifth.

Williams sent Albon out early for his final lap, leaving him with the Red Bull Ring to himself.

He was eighth fastest after the initial laps, improving through the first two sectors over his previous best.

That saw him rise to sixth, only to promptly drop back to eighth once his time was deleted for track limits at Turn 9.

With seconds left, Verstappen improved to a 1:04.391s while Stroll shot up to third fastest.

Leclerc and Sainz pushed hard, though neither could match the world championship leader, slotting in second and third respectively.

Norris was fourth best ahead of Hamilton as Stroll dropped to sixth, one place ahead of Alonso. Hulkenberg, Gasly, and Albon rounded out the top 10.

Another qualifying session follows on Saturday, the Sprint Shootout determining the starting order for the Sprint later in the day – Friday’s qualifying session having determined the line up for Sunday’s race.