Austrian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton laments ‘very beautiful’ Sprint Qualifying for Mercedes | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton regretted his performance in Sprint Qualifying after putting his Mercedes car sixth for Saturday morning’s race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion had an off-track moment in SQ1, had to fight with traffic ahead of him, and then finished over half a second behind Sprint polesitter Max Verstappen in the final session.

Hamilton, who was fifth fastest in the only Practice session for this weekend’s Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, was not optimistic about the Sprint and instead turned his attention to qualifying for Sunday’s main race.

“I wasn’t in the mix, the whole session was pretty dangerous from our point of view,” Hamilton said.

“Practice was good, the car felt good, I don’t think we had the pace on pole, but it was a very bad lap.

“I don’t think overtaking is a big thing here, but we will give our best. It’s not usually like an eventful race, so my focus will usually be to get a better qualification tomorrow.”

Mercedes team-mate George Russell was 0.216s ahead of Hamilton to put himself fourth in the Sprint, although more than three-tenths of a second off world champion Verstappen’s best SQ3 lap of 1:05.685.

However, Russell is confident he can fight off Red Bull driver and McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – second and third on the grid – for the podium in the Sprint.

“P4 is still a good place to fight tomorrow,” said Russell. “Definitely fighting for the podium in the Sprint.

“Obviously, the eye on the main race is the most important thing, but it’s revalidation if it’s in the mix now.

“Probably a bit ahead of Ferrari now, but McLaren is still a little ahead, but it’s better to be at the front more consistently.”

The sprint race is set to restart the Verstappen vs Norris duel

Six days after lining up together on the front row for the Grand Prix in Spain, Verstappen and Norris will once again be in direct battle for the start of Saturday’s 24-lap Sprint after qualifying first and second respectively at the back of a close-fought battle for pole in SQ3.

Norris, who passed Verstappen by 69 points in the standings before the Sprint that gave the winner eight points, is optimistic he can challenge the world champion for victory over the shorter race distance on Saturday.

“From what we’re seeing right now, yes,” Norris replied when asked if he could compete for a Sprint win.

On his qualifying performance, Norris added: “I felt pretty good. I never felt comfortable until the last lap, so I’m happy.”

“It was as close as last year so there was no difference, but it was definitely a good lap by Max and a good position for the race.”

Unlike in Barcelona, ​​it was Verstappen who started with the advantage from pole this time and the Dutchman has looked fast in the groove around Red Bull’s home track so far.

“Of course, there are always areas where we can improve, so we’ll see tonight. I hope it’s a good start to the weekend,” said Verstappen.

“At the end of the day, when everyone pushed out, the McLaren was behind me again. Of course, they were also fast. We looked fast at high speed, which is very good here. I hope we can keep it going.”

Austrian GP schedule live Sky Sports F1

Saturday 29 June
8.25: F3 Sprint
10am: Austrian GP (race starts at 11am)*
12.25: F2 Sprint
2pm: Austrian GP Qualifying
3pm: Austrian GP Qualifying
5pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook

Sunday June 30th
07.25: F3 Feature Race
8.55: F2 Feature Race
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP*
2pm: GRAND PRIX AUSTRIA*
16:00: Checkered Flag: Austrian GP Reaction*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

The F1 triple-header continues at the Austrian Grand Prix in Sprint format at the Red Bull Ring. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s big race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with Sports Month Membership NOW – No contract, cancel anytime