Challenging Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix

Due to the challenging aspect of the track being only 4.3km long, setting a good single lap without traffic proved to be difficult.

In a tight Q1, the team used two new sets of the Soft tyre to advance leaving just two new sets for Q2 and Q3.

Both drivers used their third new set of the C5 compound in Q2, trying to gain more confidence and push the limits, as they advanced to Q3.

In Q3, George extracted what was likely the most from the car to take P5.

Kimi unfortunately was limited by traffic on his out lap and took the flag before starting his final push lap. That left him starting P9 for tomorrow’s race.

George Russell

We knew this track was going to be a challenging one for us. We know our strengths and weaknesses and with a circuit that features high-speed corners and an abrasive tarmac like here, it was always going to be tough to put together a good single lap. P5 is probably the maximum we could have done today in these conditions.

The gap between Lando (Norris) and us is not really surprising. The McLarens have been doing a great job so far and I don’t think we will be able to challenge them tomorrow. However, I think we do have a chance to fight with both Ferraris ahead and this is what we will be aiming for. Let’s see what we can do but fingers crossed we are in the battle for the podium.

Kimi Antonelli

I am really disappointed in how things went in Qualifying today. The potential was there and I was improving lap after lap. Not being able to complete my last single lap is therefore a real shame. I know I had the potential to fight for the top five, similarly to George, so this is one that got away from us. Traffic is always a challenge around such a short circuit but nevertheless, it is frustrating not to get the chance to show what we could do.

I am positive going into tomorrow's race though. The overall balance of the car is good and the learnings I made throughout the weekend have helped me improve massively. Tomorrow is going to be challenging with high track temperatures and tyre management won’t be easy, but I do feel confident we can make up positions.

Toto Wolff, CEO & Team Principal

The car that we had today was not quite on the pace at the front. That left us in a battle for the positions behind; P5 and P9 is not something we aspire to but is likely where we expected to be after FP3.

Kimi was very unlucky today. After being squeezed by Gabriel (Bortoleto) in the pitlane, he lost a lot of time queuing and was not able to complete his last single lap. It is really a shame because he showed improvements throughout the weekend, and he could have aimed for a better start position. For George, he likely maximised the car and that left us P5.

Tomorrow will be a long Grand Prix, and we know that this event biases towards race pace. Hopefully we have a better race car than a qualifying car and both George and Kimi can be focused on gaining positions ahead.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

Today was not our strongest day and we are disappointed with the outcome. Kimi missing the flag at the end of the final session is a real shame and putting him in this position is not what the team wanted. He finished today’s qualifying P9 as he was not able to set a time on his final new set of Soft tyres. There was definitely more than that in there for him.

Getting through to Q3 was tight for both drivers and that left us with only one set of new soft tyres to set a good single lap. George had a reasonably clean run through and P5 looks like the maximum position we could have hoped for.

We've got some work to do to understand why we are struggling on the single lap, but our focus now needs to shift to the race tomorrow. Race day looks to be hotter than what we experienced in the last two days and managing the tyres will be challenging. However, we had a reasonable pace on Friday so hopefully both George and Kimi can fight with those ahead.

FP3 Result

Qualifying Result