George Russell said single-waved yellow flags were the right call after Max Verstappen crashed in the closing moments of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Russell said: "I think in that instance, a single yellow was correct because, as I said, a double yellow is immediate danger. Lifting a hundred metres before a corner or lifting off with a single yellow, you're never going to lose control of the car. Verstappen, the only reason he was in the wall that far away is because he was attacking and lost the car. So I think the single yellow was correct."

Toto Wolff says Mercedes “don’t want to change things” with their driver line-up, playing down links with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Wolff said: "Yeah, we don't want to change things. We've said it also to George, and I think it's a line-up that is good for us. I'm very happy with the two of them."

Max Verstappen says Red Bull already know what he needs to see from the team in order for him to stay, after being asked during the Austrian GP weekend whether he had specific targets for the rest of the season or particular things he wanted from Red Bull. Verstappen said: "They know, but I don't need to talk too much about it."



Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur said race control’s decision not to deploy double yellow flags after Max Verstappen’s crash in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying risks encouraging drivers to keep pushing in similar situations. Vasseur said: "The point is for me that I don't understand why we don't have a double yellow in this case. I think the negative side of this is that next quali, if you have a crash, everybody will push."



Lewis Hamilton says having Charles Leclerc starting alongside him near the front gives Ferrari a chance to work together on strategy to try to put Mercedes under pressure at the Austrian Grand Prix. Hamilton said: "It's going to be very tough to challenge them, but with a long run down to Turn 3, hopefully together we can. It's great having Charles here as well, because we can hopefully work together in a strategy and try to apply pressure to them."

Lando Norris said McLaren were “just where we deserve to be” after qualifying sixth for the Austrian Grand Prix, despite the team’s encouraging pace in Friday practice. Norris said: "I feel like everyone was probably expecting more, even us – we were probably expecting a little bit more, just from a position point of view. But you saw just how close it was... So we are just where we deserve to be."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli accused Ferrari of “sandbagging” in Friday practice at the Austrian Grand Prix after the team’s turnaround in qualifying. Antonelli said: "For sure, yesterday [Friday] they were sandbagging definitely, so I mean for sure their pace is going to be much better and we saw how strong they were in Barcelona, so let's see. It's going to be, again, another race where you need to manage tyres and trying to extract the maximum out of it."

Max Verstappen says Red Bull’s new upgrades are “a bit better”, after he crashed on his final Q3 lap at the Austrian Grand Prix and qualified fifth. Verstappen said: "Most of the upgrade worked well. A few things still need to be looked at to see if they can be improved. Overall, I do think it was a bit better. But of course, this is a very short lap, so in terms of lap times, the gaps are always a bit tighter. We'll have to wait and see how things look in the upcoming races."


Oscar Piastri says McLaren cannot “magically generate performance” after a “very tough” qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, with the team ending up sixth and seventh on the grid. Piastri said: "I feel like we've done a good job of extracting everything we can out of the car, and it is not the first time we've got to Q3, and we need that last half-a-tenth or tenth. Lando and I have been within half-a-tenth of each other nearly every lap we've done this weekend, so when you've got two drivers that are so close all the time, it is probably a sign that extracting big chunks out of the car is very tough. We can't magically generate performance out of thin air."


Max Verstappen said his late crash in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix was “a bit weird” and “odd”, adding that he had not had any warning signs in that corner. Verstappen said: "Not in that corner at all. I mean, just that lap already in Turn 6 on the entry, big moment. So that was a bit weird, because the whole weekend I've never had something like that. And then I arrived to Turn 9, I turned in and I'm immediately gone. Not even a small correction, I was just immediately full lock off. So that's a bit odd, but we'll have a look."

Liam Lawson says Racing Bulls still has to “keep an eye” on Alpine at the Austrian Grand Prix despite securing a ‘best of the rest’ qualifying result, with Lawson ninth and team-mate Arvid Lindblad 10th on the grid. Speaking to media including RacingNews365, Lawson said the team had achieved what it “set out to do” by putting both cars in Q3, but admitted: “We’re definitely concerned” about Alpine’s race pace.

George Russell said race control was right to show a single waved yellow flag after Max Verstappen crashed in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, as he went on to take pole position on a lap that passed the incident. Russell said: "I think in that instance, a single yellow was correct. A double yellow [means] 'immediate danger'. Lifting 100 metres before a corner, or lifting off with a single yellow, you're never going to lose control of the car. With Verstappen, the only reason he was in the wall that far away is because he was attacking and lost the car."

Karun Chandhok said he has sympathy for Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli after the Italian abandoned his final Q3 lap in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying when he believed there was a double yellow flag. Chandhok said: "I have some sympathy for Antonelli, having seen the clip. When he came up to that yellow flag, he was the car behind Max Verstappen. He didn't have much time to see it, and in a high-speed corner your eyeline is to the right, looking at the apex. I am sure he is disappointed, but he shouldn't beat himself up too much."

George Russell kept his Austrian Grand Prix pole despite passing yellow flags after Max Verstappen’s Turn 9 crash because it was a single waved yellow, allowing drivers to complete a lap if they “reduce their speed” in that sector. Russell said on team radio: “Lifted entry at that corner… Big lift on the entry at that corner,” and although the stewards noted a potential infringement, they chose not to open a full investigation so his time stood. Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli mistakenly thought it was double yellows and aborted his lap.

Kimi Antonelli said he aborted what would have been his quickest lap in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying after misreading a single waved yellow for a double yellow at Turn 9, where Max Verstappen had crashed. The Mercedes driver pulled out of the lap and ended up fourth, while team-mate George Russell completed his run and took pole after timing data showed he had “discernibly reduced speed” through the yellow-flag zone. Antonelli said: “I saw double yellow, so it probably was my mistake,” but questioned why double yellows were not shown sooner for “a car in the wall in a fast corner”.



Charles Leclerc said he is “leaving a little bit of margin” in qualifying as he tries to rebuild confidence after a difficult run of weekends. Charles Leclerc said: "I cannot lie, since then you have a bit of a mentality of just trying to do a clean lap and having a clean weekend – [to] start to score points again and getting into the rhythm again. I feel like I'm leaving a little bit of margin on the table in Qualifying, which is normal after the last few weekends. I just hope I get back to the level of confidence I had before to try and extract more from this car."

Carlos Sainz says he is able to separate his off-track friendships from on-track rivalries because, once he puts his helmet on, he focuses on beating the car in front rather than thinking about which driver is in it. Sainz said: "We are extremely competitive and when I put a helmet on, I want to destroy Lando, and I wanna beat him and I wanna beat Alex, beat Charles, beat all of them. And when I'm driving, I don't see Lando in front of me, I just see a Ferrari or a McLaren, and I just know I need to overtake him."

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