2026 Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying Review

Linus O'Howell
8 minutes ago
3 min read

Known for being one of the tightest Qualifying circuits, drama unfolded at the Red Bull Ring as the grid was set for the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix!

Q1

In Qualifying 1, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll were the six slowest drivers! A snap out of the final corner was probably enough for Carlos Sainz to miss out on a spot in Q2, although he was still well clear of his teammate Alex Albon as Williams’ struggles continued! Cadillac locked out the 10th row of the grid, with Sergio Perez again heading Valtteri Bottas (albeit by a closer 0.085 margin), whilst Aston Martin were once again the worst team in the field, with Fernando Alonso 9 tenths behind Bottas, with Lance Stroll a further 4 tenths off! Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped Q1 for Mercedes, with a healthy margin over McLaren’s Lando Norris!

Q2

In Qualifying 2, Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, and Franco Colapinto all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Pierre Gasly came within 4 hundredths of stunning his way into Q3, whilst Gabriel Bortoleto did a good job to get his Audi into P12 (comfortably clear of his teammate)! Oliver Bearman felt like he couldn’t get anything more than P13, beating out Nico Hulkenberg, whilst Esteban Ocon was almost 3 tenths off his teammate in 15th! Franco Colapinto ended up slowest in Q2, some 9 tenths off his teammate after going 3 tenths slower than he did in Q1! Antonelli once again topped Q2, with the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri closing the gap to just under 1.3 tenths!

Q3

In Qualifying 3, a rather controversial 1:06.113 was enough for George Russell to stun the rest of the field to take Pole Position around the Red Bull Ring! When it looked like the order was set, George shot up to the top of the timesheets, with it later being revealed that he did only go through a single-waved yellow, meaning his lap time wouldn’t be deleted! Whilst there’s plenty of controversy surrounding all of this, what a lap by Russell! A gutted Charles Leclerc was forced to settle for a second-place start, with Lewis Hamilton completing a Ferrari 2-3, whilst Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s decision to back off on his final run cost him a Top 3 start! Despite crashing out on his final lap, Max Verstappen will still start from P5, with the two McLarens behind him as Lando Norris outqualified Oscar Piastri by just 9 thousandths of a second! Those two are so close on a Saturday! Isack Hadjar will have mixed feelings about qualifying in P8, whilst it will be an all-Racing Bulls 5th Row, with Liam Lawson heading Arvid Lindblad!