Russell wins a controversial pole position at the Red Bull Ring ahead of the Ferraris

The British driver George Russell (Mercedes) has achieved pole this Saturday for the Austrian Grand Prix race, the eighth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, with a controversial performance under the yellow flag that allowed him to surpass the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, while the Spaniards Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) will start seventeenth and penultimate, respectively.

An accident by the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) in the final moments of the qualifying session sparked controversy at the Red Bull Ring. The four-time world champion crashed into the wall at turn 9, when the two ‘Scuderia’ cars had already crossed the finish line, setting the two best times.

Behind, Antonelli made the decision to slow down when the yellow flag appeared, while Russell lifted his foot off the accelerator just enough, mischievously without touching the brake, and managed to take pole position. “That’s the difference in experience,” said Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal after the session.

As for the Spanish, neither of them managed to get past Q1. Sainz will start seventeenth, and Alonso, penultimate, encountered a new debacle from Aston Martin, which was nine tenths behind the worst Cadillac, the second worst car on the grid despite bringing improvement for Austria.