Max Verstappen has taken yet another pole position, taking P1 for the sprint race at the
Austrian Grand Prix. The Dutchman will have the 'Orange Army' cheering him on at Red Bull's home race, but he will have
Lando Norris chasing him down in second place.
Oscar Piastri and
George Russell have locked out the second row of the grid for the third sprint race of the 2024 season. Follow updates from the session in Spielberg below.
F1 LIVE | Sprint race: Austria 2024
The starting grid
Although Red Bull has not been the dominant force it may have been in 2022 or 2023, Verstappen continues to show why he is the best driver on the grid, taking the last two victories with consistent and composed drives. Norris and Piastri showed why
McLaren is the team to challenge Verstappen by taking P2 and P3, respectively, for the sprint race ahead of Russell in the
Mercedes.
Carlos Sainz was the lead
Ferrari in P5, with the Scuderia still struggling to improve on their dominant showing at the
Monaco Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton struggled again with his one-lap pace by finishing sixth, but it was
Sergio Perez who was the biggest disappointment, finishing in P7 and way off the pace of his teammate. The improved Alpines were able to take eighth and ninth, with
Esteban Ocon outpacing his teammate
Pierre Gasly.
Charles Leclerc rounds out the top ten as the Monegasque was unable to set a time due to a mechanical failure. Alex Albon will now start the sprint from the pitlane after
Williams broke Parc Ferme conditions.
Sprint format in 2024
The 2024
Austrian Grand Prix will be the third
F1 sprint race of the season. As was the case in the first two sprint weekends, the sprint format will see one practice session on Friday, followed by qualifying for the sprint race. The sprint race will then be the first bit of on-track action on Saturday. The rest of the weekend then uses the traditional format of
Formula 1 with Saturday afternoon qualifying and Sunday's Grand Prix.