Formula 1 dominator Max Verstappen shows no weakness even in the emotional home game of his Red Bull racing team. The world champion secured first place on the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix and has the best chance of his seventh victory in the ninth round of the season.
In qualifying, the 25-year-old from the Netherlands finished second and third in Spielberg, just ahead of the two Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Nico Hülkenberg steered his Haas racing car into eighth place before the Grand Prix on Sunday (3 p.m. / Sky).
“I’m very happy to be on pole again,” said Verstappen. He’s winning for the fifth time in a row and seems unstoppable. “The car is fast and that’s the most important thing,” emphasized the defending champion. Thousands of compatriots in the stands cheered his performance. They were already lighting orange smoke flares and providing a taste of a weekend of partying.
Race stewards invite Verstappen
After qualifying, however, things got uncomfortable for Verstappen for a moment. He was summoned by the race stewards because he was accused of obstructing the Haas team’s Dane Kevin Magnussen on the track. But just before 9:00 p.m., Verstappen was able to breathe easy: Formula 1 stopped the investigation and no penalty was imposed on the Dutchman.
Before the races in Styria – on Saturday there is already a sprint – Verstappen is 69 points ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez in the overall standings. And the cushion should be even bigger, because the Mexican slipped up again. All three fast laps were canceled for the 33-year-old in the second qualifying section because he didn’t stay within the track markings. In the end, that meant only a disappointing 15th place for the second Red Bull, who is actually far superior to the competition.
Verstappen has won a Grand Prix in Spielberg four times in the past, but he was beaten by Leclerc in the Ferrari last year. The two-time champion would dedicate a possible fifth success to Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who died last October. “We’ve had a few races without Dietrich by our side. You have to accept that, but we also drive to make him proud and to continue his legacy,” said Verstappen.
Qualification without the feared rain
Mateschitz was a special patron for the Dominator. Verstappen even said that his career would not have been possible without the Austrian. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also praised Mateschitz as a “visionary” at a press conference on Friday and praised his work enthusiastically. However, there will probably not be any commemorative campaigns at the Red Bull Ring, as Mateschitz himself would not have wanted it.
Without the feared rain, qualifying was very close, in the first section all 20 pilots were less than 0.9 seconds apart. After a hot afternoon, clouds rolled in and caused asphalt temperatures to be significantly cooler than during practice. But Verstappen coped best with that and didn’t give the competition a chance, even though a fast lap had been canceled in the meantime.
