Arabic version: جورج راسل يأخذ المركز الأول بشكل مثير للجدل في جائزة النمسا الكبرى

Mercedes 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 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.

According to BBC News, Russell managed to complete his lap despite the yellow flags, finishing 0.236 seconds ahead of Leclerc. His teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who was running just ahead of Russell, also passed the Verstappen incident but did not improve his time and will line up fourth.

The incident that led to the yellow flags was a significant crash for Verstappen, who lost control going into the high-speed downhill right-hander and spun across the gravel into the barrier. Prior to this, Ferrari and McLaren drivers had completed their runs early enough to secure their positions before the final laps. Leclerc had initially been 0.059 seconds faster than Hamilton, who faced challenges during his runs.

Hamilton made a mistake on his first run, locking a brake at Turn Three, which forced him to abort that lap. He ultimately finished just behind Leclerc, unable to surpass Russell’s unexpected improvement. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri rounded out the top positions, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, despite improving their times in the final runs.

Verstappen’s first lap, which was third fastest behind Antonelli and Russell, was good enough for fifth place, but his crash overshadowed his performance. The top ten was completed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad.