28/06/2024
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's Shoot-out, the air temperature is 27 degrees C, while the track temperature is 43 degrees. It remains bright and cool.
Verstappen set the pace earlier, however the Dutchman suffered a technical glitch at one point which caused the session to be red-flagged.
Piastri was second quickest, ahead of Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton, however it was hard to get a clear picture of the true pecking order due to traffic and the fact that many drivers left it late before switching to the softs.
Norris had looked set to go quickest, but made a mistake in Turn 4 and ran wide.
Worth noting is that for much of the session the Mercedes pair were the pacesetters, quicker on hards than the likes of Verstappen on mediums.
Two drivers who are under pressure to raise their games this weekend are Perez and Ricciardo, though neither had a particularly auspicious morning. Indeed, in reaction to the poor results from the introduction of its upgrade package last weekend, RB is running its two drivers with different spec cars.
The lights go green but there is no immediate rush to action. Indeed, it is a couple of minutes before an engine roars into life, it is the Mercedes of Hamilton, who is followed by Bottas, Tsunoda, Ricciardo and Zhou.
At the start of his first flyer, Hamilton has a major wobble in Turn 1. He subsequently crosses the line at 6.416, while Bottas can only manage 6.725.
Hamilton has his time deleted for exceeding the track limits at Turn 3.
Russell goes quickest with a 5.764, as Sainz goes second, ahead of Norris, Piastri, Magnussen and Tsunoda.
Ocon goes sixth and Gasly eleventh, but both a demoted when Verstappen stops the clock at 5.690.
Perez can only mange 6.256, which puts him sixth.
While Stroll goes fifth (6.037), his Aston Martin teammate posts a 16.822 to go 16th.
"I need to change my helmet," reports Verstappen.
Some drivers pit while others go for double-cool runs.
Piastri goes quickest in S2, but a poor final sector means he fails to improve on 6th.
Bottas improves to 6.709 but has his time deleted.
Traffic means a poor S2 for Hamilton, who finally crosses the line at 6.504 to go eleventh.
Perez goes eighth, while Hulkenberg goes thirteenth and Ricciardo fourteenth.
Sargeant goes 13th, Alonso 11th and Tsunoda 14th.
A late charge sees Gasly go 11th, and Ocon 9th.
"Are we out," asks Hamilton who finishes 13th. "Just made it," he is told.
Despite a late spin, Tsunoda make it into Q2 by the skin of his teeth.
Quickest is Verstappen, ahead of Russell, Sainz, Norris, Stroll, Piastri, Leclerc, Perez, Ocon and Magnussen.
We lose Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Albon and Zhou.
Verstappen is straight out of the box for Q2, followed by his teammate, Norris, Sainz and Leclerc.
The world champion crosses the line at 5.186, Sainz goes second, ahead of Leclerc and Norris, however a 5.379 sees Piastri promoted to behind the Red Bull.
That said, Russell goes second with a 5.325, while his teammate can only manage sixth (5.539).
With less than 5 minutes remaining, only 8 drivers have posted times, the other seven clearly opting for one late run. However, this will only lead to traffic issues.
After a very brief lull, Stroll heads out, followed by Ocon and Tsunoda.
As the clock counts down, of those who have already posted time, only Hamilton, Leclerc, Norris and Perez head out for a second run.
Ocon goes ninth and Stroll tenth, the Canadian running wide in the final corner, while Tsunoda can only manage eleventh.
Alonso goes 12th, Gasly 10th and Sargeant 14th.
Though quickest in the opening sector, Magnussen goes eleventh (5.806) and therefore fails to make the cut.
Once again, Verstappen is quickest, ahead of Russell, Piastri, Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Perez, Ocon and Gasly.
We lose Magnussen, Stroll, Alonso, Tsunoda and Sargeant who had his time disallowed.
Q3 gets underway, but as was the case in the opening phase there is no immediate rush to action.
Despite it only being an 8 minute session, there are under 3 minutes remaining before the first car heads out... it is Hamilton, who is followed by Russell, Piastri, Norris and Sainz.
"This run will be tight on time for some people," Russell is told, in a masterpiece of understatement.
Leclerc has stopped in the pitlane... however he is subsequently able to get his car going.
Hamilton runs wide in Turn 3, the Briton finally crossing the line at 5.270.
Russell responds with a 5.054, while Leclerc fails to make it to the line in time.
Norris posts a 4.779, as his McLaren teammate goes second with a 4.987.
A 4.686 sees Verstappen take pole, much to the crowd's obvious delight.
A disaster for Leclerc but in all honesty one can have little sympathy, Ferrari took a gamble and lost.
"What the hell happened, guys," asks Leclerc. "We took the anti-stall," he is told. "The anti-stall cannot stop the engine," he argues. "The engine went off," he insists. "Box, we'll talk about it inside the garage," comes the reply.
So, Verstappen has pole for tomorrow morning's Sprint, ahead of Norris, Piastri, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Perez, Ocon, Gasly and Leclerc.
Magnussen will start eleventh, ahead of Stroll, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Albon and Zhou.
Check out our Friday gallery from the Red Bull Ring here.