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The 2024 F1 Austrian GP qualifying saw Max Verstappen secure his 8th pole position of the season. The Red Bull driver was back to being his dominant best as he gave the opposition no chance to get close to him. In P2, we had Lando Norris who would be hoping to challenge Max on Sunday.
In P3, we have George Russell, as the driver went 9-2 in qualifying against his illustrious teammate Lewis Hamilton. The top 5 comprised of Carlos Sainz in P4 and Lewis Hamilton in P5.
As the second qualifying session in the F1 Austrian GP sprint weekend comes to an end, who will be feeling satisfied with how everything went, and who will be a bit upset? Let's take a look.
2024 F1 Austrian GP Qualifying
Winner
Trending
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen held off the raging McLarens early in the sprint, but as there has been more and more running, the Red Bull has found a sweet spot. The F1 Austrian GP saw the car in the sweet spot, and there was no catching Max.
The Dutch driver has cruised to a lot of wins in the last few years. The fact that this time around there's competition and pressure but his results haven't changed is a measure of how well the driver performs.
Loser
Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez is the 8th of the drivers from the top 4 teams, and in fairness, he never appeared to be in a position to do better. McLaren closed the gap again in the championship today, and in all likelihood, it would close a bit more after the F1 Austrian GP.
Christian Horner is also running out of excuses for what he could possibly say for Checo's underperformance. This is just another bad weekend for the Mexican.
Winner
Mercedes
A driver in the top 3 again for the race and once again proof that Mercedes has leapfrogged Ferrari in the pecking order. The team is in contention for that podium, there's no doubt about it.
The race weekend is just another boost for the team as it continues to build from strength to strength.
Loser
Ferrari
When your lead driver is starting to get a bit annoyed because of the same old pattern coming into existence, it is a cause for concern. Ferrari started the season second-best, and it finds itself as the 4th-best team right now.
The car was expected to fare better for the F1 Austrian GP but by the looks of it, that hasn't happened. The car is not in a good place, and Charles Leclerc, in particular, was not in a happy place this weekend either.
Winner
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo came into the F1 Austrian GP race weekend on the back foot. Helmut Marko had already made it clear that the Australian was on his way out, only for Red Bull's spokesperson to intervene and say that no such thing was in the pipeline.
His future continues to be uncertain, but if he continues to beat Yuki regularly and bring home the points, then it would make Red Bull management scratch its head. A good start, for now, but Daniel needs to continue to build on this.
Loser
Aston Martin
You have to wonder how much of this ordeal Fernando Alonso would be willing to go through. Aston Martin, at this stage, is performing the worst any team has for the Spaniard since he returned to the sport.
One has to wonder if he's willing to be a part of a project that is almost reaching its point of being wasteful with resources.
