Austrian GP: George Russell takes confusing pole position as Max Verstappen crashes in dramatic qualifying
George Russell took a dramatic pole position from the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after Max Verstappen crashed at the end of Q3; watch Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix at 2pm with build-up from 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event
Saturday 27 June 2026 17:32, UK
George Russell claimed pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix after a confusing finish to qualifying when Max Verstappen crashed.
Verstappen spun into the barriers at high speed on the last runs in Q3 and caused yellow flags, which usually means other drivers cannot improve their lap time as they need to slow down through the accident zone.
However, Russell lifted off the throttle and still went fastest to beat Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to pole, then was cleared by the FIA for a yellow-flag infringement.
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Footage showed only a single yellow flag was being waved when Russell went past Verstappen's crashed Red Bull, which changed to double yellow flags just before he reached the finish line to set his pole-setting time.
"I saw the yellow, I had a big lift into the corner, went in five-tenths up and came out two-and-a-half-tenths up," said Russell.
"It was a single yellow and should be okay."
Russell will have the Ferraris of Leclerc in second and Lewis Hamilton in third on his tail, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli in fourth.
Antonelli, who was fastest after the first runs in Q3, elected to lift off and abandon his lap when he saw the yellow flags and now faces the prospect of his two closest championship rivals starting ahead of him.
The Italian teenager is 41 points ahead of Hamilton and 50 points in front of Russell, who has now taken back-to-back pole positions.
Antonelli told Sky Sports F1: "I don't know why, but I thought it was a double yellow, so I aborted completely and missed the front row. I shouldn't have done that. That was my mistake."
Verstappen will start fifth after his strong opening lap in Q3, while McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be disappointed to only be sixth and seventh respectively.
Red Bull's Isack Hadjar qualified eighth as Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad both reached Q3.
What happened in confusing Q3
It had already been a dramatic qualifying session as Verstappen narrowly escaped Q2 by 0.040s after Red Bull gambled to not use new tyres in that session.
With fresh rubber in Q3, Verstappen briefly took provisional pole position before Mercedes duo Antonelli and Russell beat him by less than one tenth, with the Italian taking top spot.
As the temperatures cooled down, it was always going to be about the last runs in Q3. Ferrari went early and surprisingly locked out the front row with Leclerc ahead of Hamilton, having been off the pace throughout practice.
Verstappen was on a charge behind but lost control of his car at Turn 9, spinning into the barriers and causing the yellow flags.
Both Mercedes drivers were yet to reach the accident zone but Antonelli aborted his lap, thinking he had seen double-waved yellow flags, instead of the single-waved yellow flags.
But Russell simply lifted off the throttle, losing a little bit of time, but still had enough to take his fourth pole of 2026 from Leclerc by 0.236s.
The FIA deleted Russell's in-lap due to double yellow flags being waved after he went past Verstappen, but his pole lap stood.
Russell said: "It's a corner where you can see quite a lot. I did this huge lift and I was going to assess the situation as soon as I got to the corner, if the car was there, but as it was a single yellow, I was pretty confident there was no danger.
"As soon as I turned into the corner, I already saw the green up ahead, and I actually thought the car had continued because I didn't see the car at all. It was so far off the track, I didn't see the car whatsoever.
"It was only when I saw the replay afterwards, I saw it was in the wall. I'm glad common sense prevailed there."
Sky Sports F1's live Austrian GP schedule
Sunday June 28
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: F2 Feature Race
10.50am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Austrian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Austrian GP reaction: Chequered Flag
5pm: Ted's Notebook
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1's European season continues with the Austrian Grand Prix lights out on Sunday at 2pm, build-up from 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
