It is qualifying day at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Friday’s pair of practice sessions offered a slight variation on a somewhat consistent theme from this season: A strong start from McLaren. While Lando Norris sat out the first practice session in favor of young Alex Dunne they still put both cars in the top four in FP1, with Oscar Piastri posting the third-fastest time in the session and Dunne just behind him in fourth.
Norris slid back into the upgraded MCL39 for FP2 and went straight to the top of the timing sheets, with teammate and Drivers’ Championship leader Piastri right behind him in FP2.
However, we have seen this before during the 2025 campaign — a strong start from McLaren only for a rival to take pole position on Saturday. Two drivers who have accomplished that feat recently, George Russell and Max Verstappen, are certainly lurking. Verstappen was second in FP1 and third in FP2, and Russell topped the timing sheets during Friday’s first practice session.
As is often the case, we’ll have all of the qualifying action covered for you throughout the day on Saturday, including live coverage of the qualifying hour. So check back early and often, as the session gets underway at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
Here are the provisional qualifying results, which will be filled in throughout the qualifying hour:
2025 Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying Results
| Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row | Position | Driver | Team | Position | Driver | Team |
| Row 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Row 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Row 3 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Row 4 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Row 5 | 9 | 10 | ||||
| Row 6 | 11 | 12 | ||||
| Row 7 | 13 | 14 | ||||
| Row 8 | 15 | 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | ||
| Row 9 | 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull |
| Row 10 | 19 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams | 20 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber |
Note: All updates are in Eastern time.
Q1 Notes
10:25: The five drivers eliminated: Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda, Sainz, and Hülkenberg.
There are some fascinating results from Q1 inside the top five. After the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri in P1 and P2, Liam Lawson finished third, Pierre Gasly in fourth, and Isack Hadjar in fifth.
Verstappen finished sixth in Q1.
10:23: Yuki Tsunoda is out, he’s currently in P17 as the clock runs to zero.
10:23: Alonso jumps to P8, but does so on his third new set of soft tires. It might be enough to get him to Q2, but his day might end there even if he advances.
10:21: Two minutes remain in Q1, and these are the five drivers in the drop zone: Sainz, Nico Hülkenberg, Stroll, Bearman, and Alonso.
10:19: Albon jumps to P4. There is time to be found on the track, and no one should feel safe right now.
10:18: Bortoleto pulls himself out of the drop zone and jumps to P5 with a tremendous lap. While the Sauber rookie has yet to score a point this season, he has been strong all week long at Red Bull Ring.
10:17: Seven minutes remain in Q1 and the five drivers in the drop zone are: Gabriel Bortoleto, Alex Albon, Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso, and Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lance Stroll sits in P15 and is currently the “driver at risk.”
10:15: Piastri, who was down in P19 after a slide on an earlier push lap, jumps to P2 with a strong effort. But he is still 0.332 behind Norris.
10:14: Franco Colapinto has a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, which has been an issue at Red Bull Ring in recent seasons. Here is a refresher on that infraction, from the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, when it was a massive storyline.
10:13: Verstappen goewst to the top of the timing sheets, but only for a moment. Norris eclipses him by 0.434 seconds moments later to take the top spot.
10:05: We have a green light at the end of pit lane at Red Bull Ring, and qualifying is underway. Alex Albon leads the drivers out followed by the Aston Martin pair of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.
9:59: As a reminder, qualifying in F1 is spread over three segments. In the first, Q1, all 20 drivers participate and have 18 minutes to post lap times. At the end of the 18 minutes the five slowest drivers are eliminated, and the 15 remaining drivers advance to Q2. The clock will reset with 15 minutes on it, and the laps begin again. At the end of those 15 minutes the five slowest drivers are eliminated, leaving ten drivers left for Q3, the 12 minute shootout.
9:58: Race control notes that Q1 will start at 4:05 local time/10:05 Eastern.
FP3 Notes
9:41: Norris again topped the timing sheets in FP3, ahead of Piastri and Verstappen. But we have seen this before, with the McLaren driver leading the way up until Q3, where he opens the door for one of his rivals to nip him for pole position.
Will that happen again, or is this going to be Norris’ day?
