Russell claims controversial pole after Verstappen crash

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Russell claims controversial pole after Verstappen crashImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, George Russell is third in the drivers' championship ByAndrew Benson F1 CorrespondentPublished1 hour agoMercedes driver George Russell controversially snatched pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with the last lap of the session. The result came amid late drama as Russell set his lap, beating Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, despite passing yellow flags for a crash by Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the penultimate corner. Russell's team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who was running just ahead of the Briton, also passed the Verstappen incident, but did not improve his time and will line up fourth.

McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were sixth and seventh behind Verstappen, who kept fifth despite his crash. Russell insisted he had slowed sufficiently for the Verstappen incident, and said there was just a single yellow flag showing, rather than the double waved yellows which might have been expected for such a situation. A single yellow flag was being shown on the light boards trackside but, to confuse the situation, the official sheet of race control messages says that it was a double waved yellow flag on the approach to Turn Nine.

The Details

An FIA spokesperson said that a single yellow was shown initially, before it was upgraded to a double yellows, by which time Antonelli and Russell had gone through. "I had a big lift," Russell said. "I went into the corner 0.

5secs up and I came out 0. It was great to get that lap. "I just spoke with Toto and he said everything is fine with the yellow flag.

Big 100m lift before the corner. So that's good to hear. "Full qualifying resultsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Max Verstappen will start fifth on the grid at the Red Bull Ring Antonelli, who was the car running directly behind Verstappen, said: "I thought it was a double yellow.

What Experts Say

I aborted completely and missed the front row. "I shouldn't have done that. Its would have been very close with George.

He would have been a little bit ahead but it would have been front row. "The late drama was caused by a big crash for Verstappen, who lost control going into the high-speed downhill right-hander and spun across the gravel into the barrier. Ferrari and McLaren did their runs early enough to complete their laps before Verstappen, but the Mercedes drivers were running behind the Dutchman on track.

Until Russell's unexpected improvement, the crash had seemed to secure a front row for Ferrari, who had not looked like pole contenders until the end of qualifying. 059 seconds faster than Hamilton, who had been the quicker Ferrari driver all weekend. Hamilton made a mistake on his first run in Q3, locking a brake at Turn Three, and had to abort the lap.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.