Austrian Grand Prix qualifying: Max Verstappen crash causes huge grid confusion

A crash involving Red Bull's Max Verstappen in Q3 has sparked huge confusion as to who will start Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix in pole position.

Verstappen spun out at turn nine during the closing seconds of the session, immediately bringing about yellow flags.

With Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton having already recorded their final hot laps, it was initially deemed that the Ferraris would sit on the front of the grid.

However, George Russell, under what appeared to be double yellows, set a time considerably faster to finish quickest.

In the event of double yellows, hot laps should be aborted. However, the argument of Russell and Mercedes is that a single yellow was shown, subsequently meaning that slowing down in the area where Verstappen had crashed was sufficient.

As of 20 minutes after the conclusion of qualifying, Russell still sat at the top of the timesheet, but Ferrari have a strong argument to have his fastest time deleted. Whoever benefits from the final decision, the other team may appeal.

This is the dramatic moment that ended Max Verstappen's Q3! ??#F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/b64MHhGQGR
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 27, 2026

What did Russell, Wolff say on Austrian Grand Prix qualifying?

Speaking afterwards, Russell said: "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."

When quizzed by Sky Sports, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff added: "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."

Unlike Russell, Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who was in the same area of the track as Russell, lifted off his hot lap.