Sprint Qualifying for Round 11 of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Austrian Grand Prix, took place at the Red Bull Ring on the evening of 28 June China time (UTC+8). Red Bull’s Max Verstappen responded strongly after stopping with a problem in first practice, taking top spot with a 1m04.686s lap and leading all three segments. McLaren’s Lando Norris was second, 0.093s behind, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda finished 14th.
Like Grand Prix qualifying, Sprint Qualifying is split into three segments: 12 minutes for SQ1, 10 for SQ2 and just eight for SQ3. Medium tyres are mandatory in the first two segments, with softs required in SQ3. Conditions at the Red Bull Ring were fine, with an air temperature of 27°C and a track temperature of 44°C at the start of SQ1.
Verstappen held firm at the top of the timesheets from SQ1 onwards and ultimately secured Sprint pole by 0.093s over Norris. McLaren’s MCL38, fitted with a new front wing, was highly competitive, with Piastri beating Mercedes’ Russell to third by 0.067s. Sainz was fifth. Hamilton had a time deleted in SQ1 for exceeding track limits at Turn 6 and, after that setback, eventually qualified sixth. Perez was seventh, 1.322s behind his team-mate.
Alpine maintained the strong form they had shown at the previous round in Spain, with Ocon and Gasly eighth and ninth. Ferrari, who had made substantial set-up changes before the session, had mixed fortunes. Sainz held on to fifth, but Leclerc’s anti-stall activated in the final minute of SQ3 and his car stopped in the pit lane. Although he got going again, there was no time left to complete a timed lap, leaving him 10th without a time.
Tsunoda had a nerve-racking SQ1. On his final flying lap, he lost the rear and spun at Turn 9, failing to improve, but his earlier time was enough to scrape into SQ2 in 15th. With only one flying lap in SQ2, he briefly matched Verstappen in the first sector, but suspected tyre overheating cost him pace through the next two sectors and he went out in 14th, around 0.2s short of the cut-off. Team-mate Ricciardo was only 0.024s slower than Tsunoda in SQ1 but was eliminated in 16th. The fight to reach SQ2 was extremely tight: less than a tenth separated Alonso in 12th from Hulkenberg in 17th.
At Aston Martin, Stroll beat team-mate Alonso by 0.031s to take 12th. Williams’ Albon was eliminated in SQ1 in 19th, but Sargeant reached SQ2 and finished 15th, beating his team-mate in this Sprint Qualifying session. Sauber were the only one of the 10 teams to lose both cars in SQ1, with Bottas 18th and Zhou Guanyu last in 20th.
| Position | Car No. | Driver | Team | SQ1 | SQ2 | SQ3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:05.690 | 1:05.186 | 1:04.686 | 11 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:05.786 | 1:05.561 | 1:04.779 | 13 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:06.081 | 1:05.379 | 1:04.987 | 14 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:05.764 | 1:05.325 | 1:05.054 | 9 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:05.781 | 1:05.435 | 1:05.126 | 12 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:06.504 | 1:05.539 | 1:05.270 | 13 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:06.256 | 1:05.612 | 1:06.008 | 14 |
| 8 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:06.343 | 1:05.686 | 1:06.101 | 12 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:06.465 | 1:05.757 | 1:06.624 | 12 |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:06.149 | 1:05.526 | DNF | 12 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:06.387 | 1:05.806 | – | 8 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:06.037 | 1:05.847 | – | 8 |
| 13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:06.487 | 1:05.878 | – | 9 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:06.557 | 1:05.960 | – | 9 |
| 15 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:06.518 | DNF | – | 9 |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:06.581 | – | – | 6 |
| 17 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:06.583 | – | – | 6 |
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:06.725 | – | – | 6 |
| 19 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:06.754 | – | – | 6 |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber | 1:07.197 | – | – | 6 |
