Austrian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen takes pole while Lewis Hamilton is down in P4

Max Verstappen re-affirms his dominance over Lewis Hamilton as Red Bull star takes pole for the Austria Grand Prix in day to forget for reigning champion who qualifies in fourth as Lando Norris clinches first EVER front row place with McLaren

  • Max Verstappen dominated once again to take pole for the Austrian Grand Prix 
  • The Red Bull star bettered Lewis Hamilton’s time by four tenths of a second 
  • It was a bad day for Mercedes, with Hamilton qualifying in P4 and Bottas, P5
  • Lando Norris had a superb day, putting his McLaren on the front row in Austria  

Max Verstappen took pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix, his third in succession this season, to leave Lewis Hamilton fourth and with it all to do in Sunday’s race.

McLaren Lando Norris produced the qualifying performance of his life in second place, a tremendous achievement for the 21-year-old Brit.

Sergio Perez of Red Bull was third best with Hamilton a place ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Max Verstappen showcased his dominance once again after clinching pole in Austria

The world championship leader's lap time of 1:03.720 was the quickest of the grid on Saturday

The world championship leader’s lap time of 1:03.720 was the quickest of the grid on Saturday

An army of Dutch fans were in attendance in Austria to support their man in qualifying

An army of Dutch fans were in attendance in Austria to support their man in qualifying

The seven-time world champion signed a new contract worth £80million over two years to stay at Mercedes, but now his focus will turn towards trying to turn around his title deficit of 18 points to Red Bull’s Verstappen.

The qualifying result never looked in doubt with Verstappen leading the way in Q1 and Q2 before claiming pole.

It was a great day for Williams’ George Russell, who made it out of Q2 for the first time for the team and ended up qualifying ninth. ‘Oh boy,’ he said. ‘Yes, yes, yes, nice one.

Lando Norris took P2 in the qualifying performance of his life with a sensational effort

Lando Norris took P2 in the qualifying performance of his life with a sensational effort

Lewis Hamilton had a day to forget, putting his Mercedes no higher than fourth on Saturday

Lewis Hamilton had a day to forget, putting his Mercedes no higher than fourth on Saturday

George Russell also had a fantastic day, taking P9 as he wore an England shirt beforehand

George Russell also had a fantastic day, taking P9 as he wore an England shirt beforehand

Russell will start on medium tyres and is well placed to make an impression on the race itself after being denied a points finish on the same track last week by an engine problem.

It was a reminder to Mercedes’s team principal Toto Wolff of the talents as the team assess whether to replace Bottas with the 23-year-old Englishman as Hamilton’s partner.

Neither Ferrari fared well. Carlos Sainz was 11th best and Charles Leclerc 12th. Daniel Ricciardo of McLaren was a woeful 13th, adding further lustre to Norris’s lap.

Re-live all the action from Austria brought to you by Sportsmail’s OLLIE LEWIS.