Russell takes pole in contentious end to qualifying after Verstappen crashes | 2026 Austrian Grand Prix qualifying report

George Russell snatched pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix away from the Ferrari drivers despite passing by yellow flags at the end of qualifying.

Race control subsequently confirmed Russell would not be investigated for passing yellow flags as he set the 1’06.113 lap time which put him on pole position.

Russell and eight drivers in Q3 besides Max Verstappen, whose crash caused the yellow flags, all had lap times deleted for passing double waved yellows. However none of those deletions appear to concern any of their qualifying times, relating instead to their in-laps at the end of the session.

Ferrari therefore lost a potential front row lock-out after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton jumped to the top of the times with their final runs. They relegated Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had been the driver to beat throughout the session, until Russell pipped him on their first runs in Q3.

Verstappen was just six hundredths of a second off Russell’s time before the final runs and produced a strong run through the middle of the lap before coming unstuck at turn nine. He slewed sideways into the barrier and came to a stop.

Antonelli was the first driver on the scene and backed off, failing to improve his time. Russell appeared to slow on the approach, but continued to push to the line, and took pole position off Hamilton by two-tenths of a second. His reaction to the yellow flags was swiftly noted by the race control but soon afterwards came confirmation there would be “no further investigation”.

The McLaren pair slipped to sixth and seventh with their final runs ahead of Isack Hadjar and the Racing Bulls duo.

Verstappen claimed his place in Q3 after Red Bull gambled on his first lap on a used set of soft tyres being quick enough. It was, but only just: Both Racing Bulls drivers relegated him to 10th place and Pierre Gasly fell short of relegating him by just four hundredths of a second.

Gasly therefore dropped out in Q2 along with his team mate Franco Colapinto, plus the Audi and Haas drivers.

Williams, Cadillac and Aston Martin sent their cars out first in Q1 as they appeared most at risk of elimination, but were unable to avoid their fate. Carlos Sainz Jnr came closest to scraping through, but a twitch of oversteer at the final corner likely cost him his chance to beat Esteban Ocon to the final place in Q2.

Late improvements from the two Audi drivers sealed Sainz’s elimination. Ocon improved sufficiently to secure his place in Q2 having been a second off team mate Oliver Bearman on his first run.

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Q1 result

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Q2 result

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Q3 result

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2026 Austrian Grand Prix

• Antonelli admits yellow flag “mistake” cost him a front-row start
• Russell takes pole in contentious end to qualifying after Verstappen crashes
• 2026 Austrian Grand Prix grid
• Russell nabs fastest time off Antonelli in final practice with Hamilton close behind
• “Large risk” Red Bull will be unable to upgrade engine due to FIA’s ADUO decision – Mekies

Browse all 2026 Austrian Grand Prix articles