Qualy Report: @Charles_Leclerc storms to #AustrianGP Pole. #F1

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc clinched his second-career pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered a mechanical problem in Q3.

The young-Monegasque driver was flying throughout qualifying, posting two blistering laps good enough to take pole, the Scuderia’s 222nd in the sport.

Leclerc claimed provisional pole with a 1:03.288 on his initial run, then set the fastest sector two and three times to improve to a sensational 1:03.003 on his final lap and also claimed the track record.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who reported that his W10 EQ Power+ racer was not strong enough on the long straights, jumped from fourth to second on his final hot lap – wounding up 0.259 seconds off Leclerc’s benchmark.

Hamilton was also hit with a three-grid placed penalty for the Austrian Grand Prix following an investigation of impeding Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen at turn three during the first stage of qualifying. This demotes the Briton to start fifth on the grid.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third quickest and 0.436 seconds adrift of Leclerc but is promoted to start on the front-row alongside the latter due to the aforementioned Hamilton’s penalty.

The second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas will now start third on the grid alongside his penalised team-mate as the Silver Arrows occupy the second row.

The Mercedes duo and Verstappen will all start on the yellow-branded mediums having used those compounds in Q2 with the rest of the top ten running the soft rubber.

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen, who made Q3 despite locking up and taking a trip into the turn four gravel trap on his final flyer in the second period of qualifying, was fifth quickest and three-hundredths faster than McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Magnussen however was slapped with a five-grid placed penalty for a gearbox change and will start the race in tenth, which promotes Norris to fifth.

Alfa Romeo Racing pairing Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi qualified seventh and eighth respectively with the other Honda-powered Red Bull of Pierre Gasly taking ninth after the Frenchman was unable to improve on his final hot lap (all move up one place on the grid due to Magnussen’s penalty).

Vettel did not take part in Q3 due to a pneumatic air pressure line issue to the engine, meaning the German ended up tenth but will now start ninth (due to Magnussen’s grid drop).

The other VF-19 Haas of Romain Grosjean qualified 11th after lapping only 0.024 seconds slower than team-mate Magnussen in Q2. The Frenchman posted two lap-times separated by 0.001 seconds on his second flyer but neither was good enough to jump the Dane.

Renault F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg could not improve on his final hot lap and wound up 11th thanks to a line-up of cars running slower after Magnussen’s excursion into the gravel.

Hulkenberg also is hit with a five-grid place penalty after an engine change, which relegates him to 15th.

Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon was 13th quickest, but also has to serve a penalty for changing to the upgraded spec-3 Honda engine and turbocharger, which sends the Thai-Briton to start at the back of the field.

The other Renault of Daniel Ricciardo only did one flyer in Q2 to end up 14th (now starting 12th) and in-front of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who qualified in 15th.

Sainz did not post a serious time in Q2 as the Spaniard also has to start at the rear of the grid due to power-unit component changes caused by swapping to the spec-B Renault engine.

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez was the quickest of the Q1 eliminatees after moving ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll at the end of Q1.

The Mexican lapped 0.043 seconds quicker than Stroll, who momentarily got himself out of the Q1 drop-zone in the closing stages of the first qualifying period before being pushed back as the other rivals improved.

The other Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat was 18th and half a second down on Stroll, after traffic ruined the Russian’s chance of escaping Q1.

Kvyat turned into the fast turn penultimate corner and encountered ROKiT Williams Racing’s George Russell – who was on an out-lap behind a line of cars that included Albon – forced the Russian to run very wide and into the run-off area as he passed.

Russell was the fastest of the two Williams drivers, lapping three-tenths quicker than team-mate Robert Kubica, although the pairing will now move off the rear of the grid due to penalties for Albon and Sainz.

The Top Three

Pole Position – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “I am happy with qualifying today. It is satisfying to see that the work we did in preparation, especially in terms of the way we set up the car for Q3, has paid off so quickly. A great result for me, unfortunately not for the whole team with Seb having a problem in Q3.
Hopefully, we will have a good race tomorrow. I am happy about our tyre choice with the soft compound. It will be the key to have a good start and keep competitors behind, especially at the beginning of the lap. Our race pace was quite strong this weekend so I am confident that we can do a good job.”

2nd – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “Congratulations to Charles, he’s been quick all weekend and we’ve just not really been able to keep up with the Ferraris so far this weekend. They’ve got the power advantage on the straights, but also seem to have figured out the medium and high-speed corners. For us, the car has been feeling good, but we can’t do much more on the straights and that’s something we’ll continue to work towards. Obviously, there was the incident with Kimi in Q1. I got off the brakes to try and get out of the way, because I didn’t want to meet in the corner. I don’t think we did, but it probably did put him off. I wasn’t aware the car was coming, so it wasn’t the easiest. It was a mistake on my behalf and I take full responsibility. I’m excited to get out there tomorrow and race with these guys, fingers crossed we can put on a good show tomorrow.”

3rd – Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB15: “I’m really happy about qualifying. All weekend the car has felt competitive and also from the engine side we have worked really well with Honda to extract a little more power. To be third is great and I was smiling in the car when I finished the lap. We definitely got the most out of it today and through the corners we were really quick. To be closer to the pole time is also a great step forwards. As soon as I stopped the car and turned the engine off I could hear the crowd. There are so many Dutch and Austrian Red Bull fans here which gives me a lot of positive energy and motivation. I haven’t done a long run but normally we are a little stronger in the race than qualifying. There is a long way to go before we fight for victory but this is a really good start for the Team and we will give it everything we have tomorrow.”

Formula 1 MyWorld Grosser Preis Von Osterrich 2019 Provisional Starting Grid