F1 practice & qualifying LIVE: Austrian Grand Prix 2026 times, results, radio & updates from Spielberg

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 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 claimed there was just a single yellow flag showing, rather than the double waved yellows which might have been expected for such a situation.

However in the midst of all that post-qualy confusion, it would appear - for now at least - that George Russell snatched pole in dramatic circumstances and will lien up in P1 for tomorrow's Austrian Grand Prix.

Is this the point at which Russell's bad luck turns around? And can he clinch a second win of the season so far?

The two Ferraris breathing down his neck right behind him might have something to say about that. Likewise his team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

We'll be back tomorrow to take you through all the action with lights out scheduled for 14:00 BST.

McLaren's Lando Norris who has qualified sixth, speaking to Sky Sports: "[On the damage he had in Q1] The guys fixed it so it was all good."

"It was a good qualifying from us, I think P6, P7, in terms of position it is not really where we want to be but I think our laps were very close, I felt like we got a lot out of the car today and it is just realistically where we are."

"We expected a little bit more and it was so close to the cars ahead. It is easy to say more was possible but I am sure if you ask them, they will say the same thing."

"There is no concerns with reliability, we think we are there or there abouts. We know we are not as quick as the cars ahead of us. But we will give it a good shot. Reliability is part of racing. It is a long race, many pit stops, things can happen on a race like tomorrow. We will see what we can do."

Lewis Hamilton speaking to Sky Sports: "I think it was very, very close between everybody as you can see, small margins. We've done a really good job over the weekend, the team did such a good job to bring upgrades this weekend.

"Yesterday we were quite far off and we didn't understand why. We made some changes to the car and closed that gap. Unfortunately my Q3 run one wasn't spot on, it wasn't spectacular with two mistakes so I had a lot to recover with that one lap at the end, which makes it a lot harder when you don't have a banker in.

"But it's great to be up there with Charles and it's a long way to Turn 3 so hopefully we'e in a good fight."

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli speaking to Sky Sports: "I don't know why but I thought it was a double yellow so I just aborted [his last lap] completely and missed the front row."

"No, I should not have done that. That was my mistake. The aborted lap would have been close with George, there was only a tenth between us so, he would have been a little ahead but it still would have been front row. Shame for that."

"We are trying to do our best, for sure it will not be easy, especially with the tyres. For sure there is a lot to play for, degradation is going to be high and we will try to do our best."

Here come all the sofa stewards, thinking they know more than the FIA and actual data. If George had done anything wrong, he’d have had his lap deleted.

Feel there's an overreaction here. Was clear on that lap that George lifted massively. And as it appears there were single yellows showing, that's all you're required to do.

From what it looks like, Kimi got double yellow flags, but when Russell went by it was reduced to a single yellow flag. At the end of the day, it should’ve been a double yellow flag for everyone period. FIA as usual messing things up.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen speaking to Sky Sports on if there had been signals that his incident might have happened: "No, not in that corner at all. 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 at Turn 9, I turned in and it was immediately gone. It's not even a small correction it was just a full lock off so that's a bit odd. But we'll have a look. It's a shame, I think realistically we could have been P3, so it's a little bit better than P5. But I could tell you also realistically I think even if we could have been P3, coming off the line is hard for us so I would probably drop back to P5."

On the effect of the upgrades: "We have to wait. On this track its a very short lap so naturally you could see a lot of people were close. I think there's still a few things that we want to understand from the package that worked well and then we'll work from there."

This was the aftermath of Max Verstappen's crash at the penultimate corner.

More from Mercedes' George Russell: "It's going to be very hot. The Ferraris are looking incredibly fast. In the corners, they are the fastest team at the moment. They are a bit more drag-y than us, which may help us to defend."

"I just spoke to Toto and everything is fine with the yellow flag so that is good news. 100m lift before the corner so glad to hear that."

"Tomorrow is going to be a big fight, Kimi in P4 is going to be super fast as well. We know how strong he has been and Lando and the McLarens. It is game on from everyone."

Ridiculous! Lap should be discounted full stop. If Kimi had a double yellow on his dash, how has George not received the same message!?

How can that result stand? Antonelli was ahead of Russell on track and slowed saying he had double yellows on the dash!

Imagine if George or Kimi were buried in the wall and Max or Charles hadn't lifted. Disgusting decision, both from the driver not to bother to slow down, and the stewards not punishing.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton who will start the Austrian Grand Prix in third: "Thank you everyone for the good energy. To have the two Ferraris in second and third, I think is fantastic and it is just a reflection of the amazing work everyone is doing back at the factory because they really are continuing to push.

"We bought small bits here, they work hard to upgrade our engine for the track so I am just really proud of everybody because you can see how hard everyone is working. It is really starting to pay off.

"I think my Q3, run one my mistake and didn't get the first lap so it always affects the second lap but nonetheless even just to be still that close, I am really happy with it."

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc speaking after qualifying on the front row for the Austrian Grand Prix: "I'm relatively happy about today. The last few weekends have been quite tough so I just wanted to have a clean weekend and most of all a clean qualifying to start well for tomorrow. To start second is a good place, the team have been pushing massively to bring upgrades in Barcelona and this weekend and that pays off. If I'm completely honest I didn't think we'd be starting on the front row until qualifying began. It's a good surprise."

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur speaking to Sky Sports: "No further action. We don't have access to the data. It was not double yellow. To have a clear opinion on this you need to have the data and we don't have access to that."

So to go through some of the confusion before we hear from Ferrari.

Initially in the aftermath of that qualifying session, it had appeared that George Russell had had a lap time deleted.

However shortly after that, it was said that there was to be no further action for not slowing down under a yellow flag.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports that Russell did slow down and that it happened under a single yellow flag and not double waved yellows.

Mercedes' George Russell who will start Sunday's race on pole: "I feel incredible, it was such an amazing lap. I saw the yellow flag, I had a big lift into the corner, I was five tenths up and I came up the last corner, two and a half tenths up so."

"It was a single yellow as well, not a double so should be OK. It was a tough day but it was so special to get that lap and everything felt so sweet so proud of the job we all did."

Speaking to Sky Sports in the aftermath of the decision to take no further action on George Russell's pole lap, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said:

"It's 100m lift with a single yellow. He lost a tenth-and-a-half. It's completely on.

"It was an incredible lap. You can see on the data, it was a massive lift compared to the laps before.

"I'm really happy for him and how he managed that also."

Asked why Kimi Antonelli lifted off and abandoned his lap: "I think he was under the impression it was a double yellow."

Russell: "Woohoo! Ah yes! Beautiful! It was hooked up like a beauty!"

No further investigation for George Russell, who WILL start on pole position in tomorrow's race.

What a colossal lap that was from the Mercedes driver, who qualifies three tenths faster than his team-mate Kimi Antonelli who will start on the second row in fourth.

Game on? Or will there be some protests at that decision tonight causing further drama?

This is how the top 10 looks for now until we work out what's going to happen with George Russell.