SPIELBERG, Austria: Max Verstappen continued his imperious form in Red Bull’s homeland on Saturday when, after winning the sprint race, he claimed a convincing pole position for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The series leader and three-time world champion clocked a best lap in 1 minute 4.314 seconds to outpace nearest rival Lando Norris of McLaren by 0.404sec for his fourth Austrian pole at the Red Bull Ring.
It also ended a run of three races where he was beaten in qualifying in Monaco, Canada and Spain and brought him his 40th career pole position.
“That went really well,” said Verstappen.
“We tried to adjust things a bit after this morning and it went well. It was warmer than yesterday and a bit tricky but the car felt good and I could attack the corners much more. It felt on point and really good out there.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been on pole and we have worked hard to be more competitive.’
Norris said: “I think that was the best we could do today and Max was in a league of his own — but I am happy and I’ll take that.”
George Russell took third for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes, Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari and Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren.
Piastri’s best flying lap was deleted for exceeding track limits in the closing minutes when he briefly went third.
Sergio Perez was eighth in the second Red Bull, continuing his struggles, ahead of Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon of Alpine.
Verstappen led the way out of the pit lane for the opening of Q1 with the Styrian Alps simmering in the heat with a track temperature of 47 degrees and the air at 32.
The conditions, however, did nothing to quell the enthusiasm of the Dutch champion’s ‘orange army’, massed in the grandstands.
With everyone on softs, Verstappen set the pace in 1min 6.054sec on his first lap — he took pole in 1min 04.686sec last year — before the Ferraris and McLarens made their opening forays, Leclerc emerging as the early pace-setter in 1min 05.901sec.
Mercedes left their first runs until later, but Russell temporarily took over top spot with Hamilton slotted in seventh.
Verstappen and Sainz both responded as the times tumbled. Only half a second separated the top nine drivers as Hamilton dropped to 16th and needed a new set of softs to avoid an early exit.
As he survived, Alex Albon of Williams, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas of Sauber, Logan Sargeant of Williams and Zhou Guanyu in the second Sauber were eliminated.
The Q2 session began with Leclerc posting a best time to go top with a lead of just 0.050sec ahead of Ocon only for Verstappen, in imperious mood, sweeping to the top in 1min 04.577sec.
He took a fresh set of softs for a final run in 1min 04.469sec, half a second clear of the pack led by Sainz, Russell and Hamilton with two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin among those to drop out.
Norris and then Hulkenberg took command in Q3 before Verstappen flexed his muscles, clocking 1min 04.314sec to consolidate his position and take pole.
Imperious Max Verstappen takes pole for Austrian Grand Prix
https://arab.news/ypjcz
Imperious Max Verstappen takes pole for Austrian Grand Prix
- The series leader and three-time world champion clocked a best lap in 1 minute 4.314 seconds
France qualify for 2026 World Cup; Ronaldo sent off as Portugal lose to Ireland
- Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champions France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine on Thursday
- Ronaldo will serve a mandatory one-game ban imposed for any red card when Portugal play Armenia
- Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway moved closer to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 by beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo
LONDON: Kylian Mbappe and France are going to the 2026 World Cup. And Cristiano Ronaldo might be banned from Portugal’s first game there if his team finally win their European qualifying group.
Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champion France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine on Thursday. But Ronaldo was ejected for the first time in his international career and Portugal will have to wait until Sunday to secure a qualifying spot for the seventh straight time after it was stunned 2-0 by Ireland in Dublin.
Midfielder Michael Olize and substitute forward Hugo Ekitike added the other goals in a dominant second half from France, the World Cup runner-up in 2022.
Mbappe sent the penalty straight down the middle to break the deadlock in the 55th minute before Olize turned inside the penalty area to curl home the second goal in the 76th at Parc des Princes in western Paris. Mbappé poked in France’s third goal from close range in the 83rd following a goal-mouth scramble. Mbappe moved onto 55 goals and just two behind Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time top scorer.
“The French national team will always be better with him in it,” coach Didier Deschamps said about Mbappé. “He makes things easier for us. He performed his role perfectly this evening, as both a player and the captain of the national team.”
Mbappe went close to a hat trick moments later but blazed over after going clean through.
France have won Group D with 13 points, Ukraine and Iceland are tied on seven points and will play for second place when they meet on Sunday.
Ronaldo’s 1st international red card
Portugal will host last-place Armenia in the final qualifying game on Sunday, when Hungary host Ireland at the same time.
Portugal top Group F with 10 points, two ahead of Hungary. Ireland are third with seven points.
Ronaldo was sent off for elbowing Ireland defender Dara O’Shea on the hour. The referee issued a yellow card but minutes later upgraded it to red after a video review.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said he thought the ejection was “a bit harsh,” pointing out that Ronaldo “has never been sent off before in 226 games.”
Ronaldo will serve a mandatory one-game ban imposed for any red card when Portugal play Armenia. FIFA disciplinary rules require its judges to impose a ban of “at least two matches for serious foul play.”
Troy Parrott put the hosts ahead with a close-range header following a corner kick in the 17th minute against the run of play with Portugal dominant. Parrott added his second in the final minute before the break, beating Diogo Costa with a low shot from inside the area.
Haaland’s double
Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway moved closer to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 by beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo.
The win virtually secures a spot for the high-scoring Norwegians in next year’s tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Italy had to rely on late goals from Gianluca Mancini and substitute Francesco Pio Esposito to win 2-0 at Moldova and is second in Group I, trailing leader Norway by three points.
Italy will likely have to settle for the playoffs where the four-time World Cup champions were eliminated in the past two editions. They host Norway on Sunday and would have to win by a nine-goal margin to directly qualify because of Norway’s vastly superior goal difference.
Haaland has scored 14 of Norway’s European-best 33 goals in seven group-stage games. The Manchester City striker was born two years after Norway last reached the World Cup.
Still perfect England
Already-qualified England continued to cruise.
They beat Serbia 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to keep a perfect record in Group K and are yet to concede a goal.
Bukayo Saka fired England ahead on a rebound with a left-foot volley in the 28th after an initial shot by Nico O’Reilly was blocked. Substitute forward Eberechi Eze added the second in the 90th off a pass from another substitute, Phil Foden.
Albania beat Andorra 1-0 in the same group to secure the runner-up spot.
