Max Verstappen of Red Bull had a reason to celebrate after a successful day at the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix on the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg. The Danish driver returned to pole position with a dominant performance, just three hours after winning the sprint race at the home race of team owners Red Bull.
Verstappen’s impressive lap time of 1 minute 4.314 seconds on the 4.318-kilometer Red Bull Ring secured him his 40th career pole position. He managed to hold off competition from McLaren’s Lando Norris and George Russell of Mercedes, who finished second and third respectively after Oscar Piastri’s lap was disqualified due to a track limit violation.
This victory marked Verstappen’s eighth pole position of the season, breaking a three-race drought of not being at the top of the grid. Earlier in the day, he had also won the sprint race from Piastri and Norris in commanding fashion.
Verstappen’s outstanding performance this season includes winning seven out of the 10 grands prix and all three sprint races. This has propelled him to the top of the championship standings, leading Norris by 71 points.