Verstappen secures pole position for Austrian GP

Spielberg, Austria, Jul 3 (EFE).- Dutch Formula One driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull) on Saturday secured the pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix, the ninth stop of the world championship.

In his fastest lap, Verstappen covered the 4,318-meter Red Bull Ring in one minute and 3.720 seconds to earn his seventh Formula One pole position and the third in a row.

“To be twice on pole here is very good, hopefully we can finish the job tomorrow,” the 23-year-old told F1 media.

Alongside the Dutchman, McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris will start Sunday’s race from the front row as he came second in the qualifiers 0.048s off the pace.

“I feel epic, this is cool! That was probably one of the best laps I have done, it puts us in a great position for tomorrow” Norris said.

 Verstappen’s Mexican teammate Sergio Perez came third 0.270s slower than the Dutch, while the four-time world defending champion Lewis Hamilton had to settle for the fourth spot.

“In the end we got a good lap and a good starting position for tomorrow. I believe we’ve got a better race car than qualifying,” Perez said.

Mercedes’ other driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland will start the race from the third row, along with Alpha Tauri’s French driver Pierre Gasly.

Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) finished the session in the seventh spot, ahead of Germany’s Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin). The German is pending a penalty for dangerously blocking Fernando Alonso.

 Englishman George Russell (Williams) and Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) complete the top-10 respectively. EFE