F1 2024 Austrian Grand Prix LIVE: Sprint race schedule, times and updates as Max Verstappen starts on pole

“I wasn’t in the team at all, the whole session was quite destructive. Practice was good, the car felt good, it wasn’t for pole, but yes, some very bad laps.”

“I don’t think overtaking here is mega, we will do our best. Usually it’s not such a busy race, the focus is on qualifying better tomorrow.”

Max Verstappen It was a big blow MercedesHopes of securing his signature after he insisted he will stay at Red Bull next season.

Mercedes team director Toto Wolff He called Verstappen his main target to replace him Ferrari– Bound Lewis HamiltonAustrian co-shareholder and Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Callenius said this week that Verstappen “looked good in silver”.

But when asked directly if he would stay next year, Verstappen – under contract with Red Bull until 2028 – said: “Well, yes. And that’s what I’ve already said. We are working on next year’s car. When you’re so focused on that, it means you’re also driving for the team.

1. Max Verstappen – 219 points

2. Lando Norris – 150 points

3. Charles Leclerc – 148 points

4. Carlos Sainz – 116 points

5. Sergio Perez – 111 points

6. Oscar Piastre – 87 points

7. George Russell – 81 points

8. Lewis Hamilton – 70 points

9. Fernando Alonso – 41 points

10. Yuki Tsunoda – 19 points

11. Lance Stroll – 17 points

12. Daniel Ricciardo – 9 points

13. Oliver Birman – 6 points

14. Niko Hulkenberg – 6 points

15. Pierre Gasly – 5 points

16. Esteban Ocon – 3 points

17. Alex Albon – 2 points

18. Kevin Magnussen – 1 point

19. Zhou Guanyu – 0 points

20. Valtteri Bottas – 0 points

21. Logan Sargeant – 0 points

Under the new order of the game, the “sprint qualifier” will take place on Friday afternoon instead of the second practice session, with traditional qualifying at the usual venue on Saturday afternoon.

This means that there will only be one training session during the weekend, and Saturday is no longer designated as a “sprint day”.

The result of Saturday morning’s sprint – a 100km ride, about a third of the distance of the Grand Prix – will not affect the grid, with Sunday’s points awarded to the top eight, as they were in 2023.

The result of the sprint race will have no effect on Saturday’s Grand Prix, nor on Sunday’s Grand Prix.

• Sprint race: 11 o’clock in the morning
• qualification: 3 in the evening

Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix with The Independent!

Max Verstappen starts on pole for the sprint at Red Bull’s home track with Lando Norris on the front row and Oscar Piastre in third.

After the 11am sprint, we qualify for tomorrow’s Grand Prix at 3pm – so a busy day ahead at the Red Bull Ring!

George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, two places and two tenths ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

“It’s pretty good to be honest, I’ve never been comfortable with it, I’m happy with it. It should have been a good lap from Max, a good position for tomorrow’s race.”

“I wasn’t in the team at all, the whole session was quite destructive. Practice was good, the car felt good, it wasn’t for pole, but yes, some very bad laps.”

“I don’t think overtaking here is mega, we will do our best. Usually it’s not such a busy race, the focus is on qualifying better tomorrow.”

A disappointing afternoon for Hamilton, who starts P6 in tomorrow’s sprint.