Max Verstappen pictured at F1 Grand Prix of Austria (Source: Getty Images)
Reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen was in a league of his own during the qualifying session for the Austrian GP, clinching pole position with a margin of over four-tenths of a second. However, it is now in jeopardy as he faces an investigation.
Before his final run in the Q3 session, Verstappen was noted for “going unnecessarily slowly” at the pit exit. The short nature of the Red Bull Ring often requires drivers to build up a gap in the pit lane, but the reigning champion is accused of going even slower.
Verstappen’s infraction was referred to the stewards after the qualifying session ended. F1 reporter Chris Medland noted that the Red Bull driver would be investigated, writing on X (formerly known as Twitter):
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“Now confirmation that Verstappen will be investigated for driving unnecessarily slowly.”
Despite a dominant outing in the qualifying session, Max Verstappen could face a grid penalty, which would drop him behind rival Lando Norris, who is set to start on the front row. While no penalty has been announced yet, the Red Bull driver might also walk away with a reprimand, retaining his pole position.
Verstappen and Norris start on the front row on the provisional starting grid, with George Russell and Carlos Sainz on the second row. Lewis Hamilton, who starts fifth, is also under investigation for a pit lane incident. Charles Leclerc starts beside his future teammate on the third row.
Oscar Piastri had his lap time deleted and dropped from third to seventh, joining Sergio Perez on the fourth row. Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon round off the top-10 drivers on the grid.
Max Verstappen elaborates on his sensational qualifying effort
After pipping Lando Norris for the sprint pole, Max Verstappen extended the gap to a whopping 0.404 seconds in the qualifying session for the Austrian GP. Verstappen left his competition to the dust with his ominous pace on new soft tires.
The Red Bull driver explained that a few insights from the sprint helped the team improve the balance. He admitted that track conditions made it trickier on Saturday, but his car was well-balanced.
“The qualifying went really well. We tried to adjust the car a little bit after the things that we learned this morning, I think it worked well,” Verstappen said in the post-qualifying session interview.
“Of course, the track is a bit warmer than yesterday so it made it trickier to drive, but the car felt a lot better for me today. I could really attack the corners a bit more, every run was on point and it was very enjoyable out there,” he added.
