Max Verstappen has received an apology (Image: Getty)
The Austrian Grand Prix weekend has already been packed with drama before the main event has even got underway. Max Verstappen crashed out during the final qualifying round while George Russell claimed a contentious pole position.
Charles Leclerc will line up alongside the Mercedes star on the front row – despite being stood down for FP1, leaving him with one hour less track time than his competitors. Lewis Hamilton starts from third on the grid alongside Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen did enough to secure fifth despite his alarming incident. Here, Express Sport has all the latest F1 news ahead of this afternoon’s Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Max Verstappen health update
Red Bull chief Laurent Mekies has confirmed that Max Verstappen is in good health following his qualifying crash. The Dutchman lost control at turn nine during the closing Q3 runs, striking the barrier and bringing out yellow flags.
He stepped out of the car without assistance, and Mekies confirmed Verstappen was “okay” before expressing regret over the incident. He said: “The most important thing after this eventful qualifying session is that Max is okay.
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“He delivered an excellent first run in Q3, and his final run was very fast until he lost the car in turn 9. The dynamic of the incident was quite unusual, and we lost aero performance on the rear of the car, and it gave Max no chance to survive. As a team, we take full responsibility for it and apologise to him.”
Max Verstappen is “okay” for the Austrian Grand Prix (Image: Getty)
Mekie also commented on the choice to keep Verstappen in the garage for part of the Q2 session, where he narrowly avoided elimination by placing 10th and 0.040 seconds ahead of Pierre Gasly. He added: “Not sending Max out for a second run in Q2 was certainly a close call.
“But we knew we had to take some risks after deciding to approach qualifying with only three new sets of softs to give ourselves more strategic options for the race.”
Charles Leclerc replacement
Hamilton was joined by a new Ferrari team-mate this weekend as Dino Beganovic participated in the opening free practice session. Charles Leclerc missed one hour of track time with Beganovic taking control of his car.
Charles Leclerc sat out of a session (Image: Getty)
The Swedish driver, who has been part of Ferrari’s driver academy since 2020, was called up in Barcelona a fortnight earlier as he substituted for Hamilton during the same session. The seven-time world champion didn’t let this change affect him, going on to secure his first GP victory in Ferrari colours.
Leclerc also didn’t let his FP1 absence disrupt his qualifying focus, as he lined up alongside Russell on the front row. The Monaco native will take on the Austrian Grand Prix in second position, with the Mercedes driver heading the field and his Ferrari partner completing the top three.
The upcoming race represents one of the shortest on the F1 calendar and team principal Frederic Vasseur will be hoping his driving pair can perform once again. He said: “We arrive in Austria encouraged by our positive showing over the past few races.
“We are fully aware that there is still a lot of work to do and that we must continue to focus on ourselves. We will approach this weekend with the same method and mindset that we have adopted since the start of the season.
Dino Beganovic replaced Leclerc (Image: Getty)
“[We are] aiming to put together clean sessions in every respect, from track execution to the strategic decisions taken on the pit wall. We know that every weekend has a different story to tell, which is why we will continue to take the championship one race at a time.”
Mercedes’ disputed pole position
Russell will begin the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position despite debate surrounding the closing phase of qualifying. There was uncertainty as to why the Briton was permitted to retain his lap time after Verstappen crashed out at turn nine.
The Dutchman lost grip and slid off the circuit, careering through the gravel and hitting the barrier. This prompted yellow flags in that area, leading Kimi Antonelli to ease off the throttle.
The Championship leader claimed that his dashboard had displayed double yellow flags, which forced him to reduce speed considerably. Yet Russell was insistent that he only saw a single yellow flag and maintained the same velocity, with footage from his vehicle supporting this claim.
George Russell took pole position in controversial fashion (Image: Getty)
A double yellow flag automatically deletes lap times, whereas those set under a single yellow flag remain valid. Drivers must ease off the throttle while passing through the yellow-flagged section, yet Russell had enough pace to surge to the head of the timesheets and claim pole position.
Further confusion arose when the FIA initially stated that Russell’s lap had been deleted. However, it was subsequently confirmed that his in-lap was the one that had been scrapped, allowing his final flying lap to stand and cement his place at the top of the order.
Addressing the contentious lap, Russell said: “I saw the yellow, I had a big lift into the corner, went in five-tenths up and came out two-and-a-half-tenths up. It was a single yellow and should be okay.”
Mercedes team-mate Antonelli shouldered responsibility for his reduction in speed, adding: “I don’t know why, but I thought it was a double yellow, so I aborted completely and missed the front row. I shouldn’t have done that. That was my mistake.”