George Russell took pole position in a controversial end to qualifying for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen crashed out on his final effort.

Verstappen was pushing for pole in the upgraded Red Bull when he lost control of his RB22 at the Turn 9 right-hander, sliding off the track and into the barriers.

George Russell passed Verstappen’s stricken car and the resulting yellow flags and managed to beat the two Ferraris to top the timesheet.

While Russell was immediately noted for a potential yellow flag infringement, he appears to have kept the pole position for now.

Russell claimed he did a 100-metre lift that cost him half a second - and did a 20.069s in sector three, but that was only 0.027s slower than his best sector previously.

He denied Ferrari a one-two as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton showed a strong turn of pace into Q3. Hamilton made a mistake on his first Q3 run, so he only had one timed effort.

Kimi Antonelli abandoned his final lap because of the yellow flags and was fourth ahead of Verstappen, who had narrowly avoided a Q2 exit by just 0.040s as he looked to save soft tyres.

The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were sixth and seventh ahead of the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.

The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad were ninth and 10th ahead of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.

Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi was 12th ahead of Ollie Bearman’s Haas, Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi and Esteban Ocon’s Haas.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto ended up slowest in Q2 as he had a big snap at Turn 1 on his final lap.

Both Williams out in Q1

Williams’s Carlos Sainz missed out on a place in Q2 by just 0.021s in 17th place, potentially the time he lost from a slide coming out of the final corner.

His team-mate Alex Albon made a mistake at Turn 1 on his crucial lap, leaving him two and a half tenths adrift of Sainz in 18th.

Sergio Perez was the faster of the Cadillac duo, but neither driver improved on their final flying laps, with Perez over seven tenths from a place in Q2 despite a sizeable upgrade package at the Austrian GP.

The Aston Martin Hondas propped up the order with Fernando Alonso 1.7s from advancing in 21st, four tenths ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll.

Result

1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m06.113s
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.236s
3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.295s
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.301s
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.362s
6 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.389s
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.398s
8 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.519s
9 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.842s
10 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0.894s
11 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
12 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
13 Ollie Bearman (Haas)
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
15 Esteban Ocon (Haas)
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
17 Carlos Sainz (Williams)
18 Alex Albon (Williams)
19 Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
20 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)