Red bull ring home for roaring F1 cars and high expectations, gave us a stunning Qualifying session on Saturday. Full time world champion Max Verstappen the man who was expected to perform and deliver his place at the front stumbled into an odd qualifying disaster – He clinched P7 for Sunday’s Race. Meanwhile Lando Norris Who bought his calm and composure into the qualifying sessions snatched his first ever Austrian Grand Prix Pole. Let’s take a look what happened.
Verstappen’s Quali Breakdown
Grid position – P7 is where max will start his race on Sunday, an unusual place for him here as he always shows his dominance here.
He struggled a lot with understeer and the unfound pace as he later told to the press.
Compiling his distress: A double yellow flag slowed down which was initiated by Pierre Gasly’s spin which folds him to back off his flying lap in Q3 that made his chance for poll jump off the cliff.
A Raging Disruption
Q2 was Disturbed by a red flagged When Lewis Hamilton’s off track run sparked a fire in the grass, Hopefully the fire was not large. It was all a mistake of a titanium skid block failure that delayed a qualifying session and changed the tire strategies for the teams.
These chaotic conditions made Verstappen and Red Bull Really angry Because they have to recalculate their lap times and strategize accordingly.
Norris’s moments of success and glory
Landon Norris showed his calmness and cool confidence, Settings a storming and astonishing pole lap of 1:03.971, He was half a second ahead of Charles Leclerc.
His performance was not just a coincidence – he clinched P1 in both FP2 and FP3, He was the fastest man on track so far.
Norris’s car felt really good and promised a good pace. He was really comfortable in the car and he made that comfort count where it mattered the most – in qualifying
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What went opposite for Verstappen
- Verstappen experienced persistent understeer in both long and short run.
- Interruptions in Quali due to red flag from fire, yellow flags caused by Gasly’s spin – any hinderance during a flying lap costs a lot to the drivers and the team.
- Norris and Piastri simply had a lot more pace and had a quicker setup; Red Bull may also focus on their race setups.
Max Vs Lando
Verstappen’s seventh place start is a race and unusual thing to happen, but he is still a threat due to excellent race pace of Red Bull.
Norris’s pole is signal to be back again – They announced that they aren’t contenders, they are the front runners.
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All focus on Sunday Race
Austria’s race is always interesting and full of overtaking opportunities – and clean air for Pole sitter is a mine of gold. For Verstappen, it’s a recovery lap; for Lando it’s a defensive fight against P2 Leclerc. One mishap for Red Bull doesn’t mean they are out of contention, but Mclaren made it clear that they are here to reign.