Styria GP provisional starting grid: Verstappen on pole, Russell takes advantage

It was a little disappointing in 2020, but Max Verstappen looks to continue his good form at the Red Bull Ring this year. The winner of 2018 and 2019 at this circuit, will start from pole position again this Sunday, a week after he did the same at Paul Ricard.

He showed once more that the dominance of Mercedes has been broken. The team that has held the patent on Saturday in recent years is now two tenths down on the short circuit in Spielberg.

Grid penalties shake up the starting grid

To make matters worse, Valtteri Bottas was also penalised three places for dangerous driving in the pit lane. In a spin on Friday, the Finn almost knocked over a couple of McLaren mechanics.

Further back, Yuki Tsunoda was also penalised three places for holding up the same Bottas during qualifying. He dropped from eighth place to just outside the top ten. George Russell takes advantage. He hopes to score his first points of the season from tenth place.