Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Sprint Shootout at the Austrian Grand Prix with a stunning display at the end of a damp-dry session, heading Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Verstappen delivered two lap times quick enough for P1 in the SQ3 phase, which did not include Lewis Hamilton after a shock SQ1 exit, the Dutchman initially clocking a 1m 04.613s before getting down to a 1m 04.440s, with Perez – recovering from his Friday woes – ending up almost half a second adrift.

Norris and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg (despite being one of only two drivers to run mediums, not softs, for his final lap) were also stars of qualifying as they landed spots on the second row of the grid for the Sprint race that follows later today, getting the better of Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Aston Martin also ran line astern in seventh and eighth positions, Fernando Alonso just ahead of Lance Stroll (who also opted for mediums), with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen rounding out the top 10 places.

Alex Albon narrowly missed out on another top-10 grid spot as he dropped out of SQ2 in 11th, followed by the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly, and the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda – who lamented traffic during his final run – and Nyck de Vries.

Mercedes driver George Russell avoided the same SQ1 fate as team mate Hamilton, but he reported a hydraulic problem on his way back to the pits and was unable to make it back out on track as he finished 15th and last in the second phase.

Zhou Guanyu went for a spin in the early stages of qualifying and could not avoid falling at the first hurdle in 16th, with McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri – not running the updates on team mate Norris’ car – taking 17th after hitting traffic in the final sector.

Hamilton will start the Sprint back in 18th position after his aforementioned dramas, leaving him with a massive task to take any points away from Saturday’s action, while the other Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and Williams of Logan Sargeant completed the order.