George Russell claimed pole position for the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with an extraordinary lap at the end of a dramatic qualifying session in which Max Verstappen crashed late on.
Russell clocked 1 minute 6.113 seconds in his Mercedes on the 4,321-kilometres Red Bull Ring in his final lap but faced an anxious wait whether he had slowed down sufficiently under yellow flags after Verstappen lost the car into a right turn and crashed into the barriers.
He was cleared a few minutes later by stewards and despite the incident took pole with a massive advantage of .236 ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.
The advantage is even more stunning as Mercedes team principle Toto Wolff said Russell probably lost "one and a half tenths" when he lifted his foot off the gas for around 100m.
Lewis Hamilton was .295 back in third in the other Ferrari and championship leader Kimi Antonelli fourth in the other Mercedes, .301 back.
Russell clocked 1 minute 6.113 seconds in his Mercedes on the 4,321-kilometres Red Bull Ring in his final lap but faced an anxious wait whether he had slowed down sufficiently under yellow flags after Verstappen lost the car into a right turn and crashed into the barriers.
He was cleared a few minutes later by stewards and despite the incident took pole with a massive advantage of .236 ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.
The advantage is even more stunning as Mercedes team principle Toto Wolff said Russell probably lost "one and a half tenths" when he lifted his foot off the gas for around 100m.
Lewis Hamilton was .295 back in third in the other Ferrari and championship leader Kimi Antonelli fourth in the other Mercedes, .301 back.
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