There are worse things to do in iso than watch actual live motorsport on TV.
And the many millions of people watching across the world were given a great qualifying session with plenty of talking points as F1 finally returned in Austria.
Mercedes finished head and shoulders above the rest, locking out the front row.
Meanwhile, Ferrari had an absolute shocker with Sebastian Vettel being knocked out of Q2 and Charles Leclerc only able to qualify seventh.
The Scuderia have not brought any upgrades to the Red Bull Ring. Those will come when F1 goes to Hungary but, for now, the Ferrari is significantly off the pace.
Sebastian Vettel’s fastest lap of a 1:04.206 set in Q2 was 0.539 seconds slower than the lap he had set in Q2 at the Red Bull Ring last year, exemplifying the struggle that Ferrari are going through this weekend.
“Of course, it’s a surprise,” Vettel said after qualifying. “We thought we had a little more in hand.”
Ferrari’s race pace wasn’t too strong in Friday practice so it could be a difficult race for them tomorrow.
There were no such problems for Mercedes, who just got quicker as the session went on. Valtteri Bottas took pole position with a new track record of a 1:02.939.
The Finn’s lap was just 0.012 seconds quicker than the one set by his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull were already expected to be Mercedes’ closest challengers this weekend, something which they were able to do with Max Verstappen qualifying third. Just to show Mercedes’ dominance though, Verstappen was over half a second slower than Bottas.
Red Bull do have a strategic card to play tomorrow as Verstappen was able to get through to Q3 having set his fastest time in Q2 on the medium compound tyre. The tyre a driver uses to set their fastest time in Q2 is the one they use to start the race with.
This means that Verstappen will be able to take a longer first stint in tomorrow’s race compared to the two Mercedes, who are both starting on the soft tyres. This may bring the overcut strategy into play for Red Bull in what should be a one-stop race.
A pleasant surprise came when Lando Norris moved up to fourth on the timesheets to achieve the best qualifying performance of his career.
Elsewhere in the midfield, it was great to see Lance Stroll qualifying ninth. The Canadian’s qualifying performances left a lot to be desired last year so this is a welcome improvement, especially as Racing Point have a competitive car this season. Stroll’s teammate Sergio Perez qualified sixth.
Mercedes are the ones to beat tomorrow but Max Verstappen will be hoping that a differing strategy can help get him a third consecutive race victory at the Red Bull Ring. Ferrari will be trying to make the best of what is a bad situation for them and get as many points on the board as possible.
McLaren and Racing Point will be aiming to do what was unimaginable just a few months ago and finish in front of at least one of the Ferraris. That scenario isn’t completely out of the question.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
It's not an excuse. It's an actual reason. I'm not too surprised with the Haas and Alfa Romeo performances. Yeah, perhaps the Alfas should have got into Q2 but other than that not a major surprise, unfortunately.
Simoc
Guest
That's the excuse they used. But look at the Haas and Alfa Romeo cars. They have never been that slow before. The upgrades is a furphy. We'll know for sure in two races time.
Micko
Roar Rookie
That's the spirit Josh! :happy: :thumbup:
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Some new things to look out for today I think as well in terms of graphics.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Sorry Micko - yes, definitely watch out for Ricciardo as always. You were talking about McLaren and Racing Point so I just focused on those two. But Advance Australia Fair and all that - c'mon Aussie c'mon!
Damo
Guest
Very true about broadcaster. I think liberty media have made very good changes to the broadcast.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Not including Ricciardo in that midfield battle Josh? :unhappy:
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Definitely shaping up to be a close one there. And there's the Ferraris to contend with as well. Norris 4th, Perez 6th, Leclerc 7th, Sainz 8th, Stroll 9th, Vettel 11th.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Their performance so far this weekend could lead you to think that way. But there’s also the fact that they haven’t brought any upgrades to a car that was already set to underperform back in Melbourne if the season had got underway there. Either way, this is an embarrassing time for the Scuderia.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
Yes, we will clearly see whether or not starting Verstappen on the medium tyres worked for sure after the first (and only) pit stop. We may have an inkling before then but you’ve got to wait sometimes until the whole pit stop cycle has been completed. The F1 World Feed isn’t too bad. It’s better than the host broadcaster days of the 90s when some host broadcasters just showed their favourite driver/drivers (usually the home drivers) for the afternoon.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
We don’t know that for sure yet. For starters, Bottas could hold on for the win. The midfield are quite close in pace to the Red Bulls so there might not necessarily be daylight between them and the rest of the field. Ferrari are on the recovery drive as well, don’t forget although who knows how much progress they will be able to make?
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
I wouldn’t say ‘snore fest’. There is still that differing strategy at Red Bull with Max Verstappen to play out and we know that the Red Bull can be stronger on race day. You’ve got to remember that the Red Bull was slower than the Mercedes in most qualifying sessions last season. As for Mercedes, hopefully, Bottas will be allowed to attack for the win today but, if Hamilton starts getting the wins, then Bottas will be forced to play second fiddle, unfortunately. If you want 3 cars per team, you can stump up the money because it’s a struggle for some teams as it is with 2 cars.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
71 laps today. Qualifying may have felt short to you because that's just the way the knockout qualifying format goes. If we were back in the days of the 1 hour-long qualifying session with each driver setting a maximum of 12 laps then it might have felt longer. To be honest, the current format is supposed to feel short therefore maximising its appeal to audiences.
Joshua Kerr
Roar Guru
It's a high speed circuit and as the cars have got faster over the years, the lap times have got faster too as a result. Still fantastic to see the drivers on the limit around this circuit.
Simoc
Guest
So all the Ferrari engined cars are 0.5secs a lap slower at the circuit this year than they were last year at this circuit. The protest against Ferraris engine last year was thrown out because the governing body couldn't prove the charge. Maybe last years Ferrari engine was illegal after all.
Micko
Roar Rookie
At least the midfield battle with the McLarens & the Racing Points should be interesting.
Micko
Roar Rookie
If Bottas, Lewis & Max can take each other out on the first lap, then we'll have one hell of a race. :laughing:
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
Unless there is an incident at the first corner, or a mechanical fault somewhere, that is how it will play out.
JGK
Roar Guru
So it's Hamilton, Bottas, daylight, Max, more daylight, the rest.
Dexter The Hamster
Roar Rookie
Its a bit sad that for the last few years I've basically been hoping for the Mercs to take each other out on the first corner, so we can then enjoy a proper race. Looks like it will continue this year as well.