2019 Austrian GP: Qualifying Analysis

Charles Leclerc took the second pole position of his career while his team-mate was unable to set a lap time in Q3. We take a look at all the stats and stories from Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix!


Q  U  A  L  I  F  Y  I  N  G     R  E  C  A  P

  • Leclerc takes pole by over two tenths from Hamilton
  • Verstappen third, Gasly only ninth
  • Vettel fails to set a time in Q3 after air pressure problem
  • Hamilton gets 3-place penalty for impeding Raikkonen in Q1
  • Magnussen qualifies fifth, but starts tenth after gearbox penalty
  • Norris qualifies in the top six for second consecutive race
  • Both Racing Point drivers eliminated in Q1
  • Russell handed 3-place penalty for impeding Kvyat

The Ultimate Pace

FASTEST
SECTOR 1
FASTEST
SECTOR 2
FASTEST
SECTOR 3
15.952
Charles Leclerc
27.961
Charles Leclerc
19.050
Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc was fastest in all three sectors in qualifying for the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel was second fastest in the first sector, having set his fastest time in Q2. Lewis Hamilton was the second fastest driver in the final two sectors of the track. Kevin Magnussen’s fifth place in qualifying was particularly impressive, considering that Haas were the slowest team in the first sector, and the Dane set only the 18th fastest time through that part of the track. Both Haas drivers were slower than Williams’ George Russell in Sector 1.

POLE
LAP
ULTIMATE
PACE
1:03.003
1:02.963

Charles Leclerc set the pole time and the fastest times in all three sectors, but could have set an even faster lap time, had he put together all three of his fastest sectors into one lap. Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll were the only drivers to set all three of their fastest sector times on their final qualifying lap. The numbers show how badly Daniil Kvyat was impeded on his final lap in Q1. His potential best lap time was 0.365 seconds faster than his actual lap time. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel’s best three sector times combined would have been good enough for fifth on the grid. The full data can be seen below:

Quali Pos.
Driver
Lap Time
Ultimate Pace
Difference
Ultimate Pace Pos
1
Charles Leclerc
63.003
62.963
-0.04
1
2
Lewis Hamilton
63.262
63.262
0
2
3
Max Verstappen
63.439
63.439
0
4
4
Valtteri Bottas
63.537
63.362
-0.175
3
5
Kevin Magnussen
64.072
64.041
-0.031
9
6
Lando Norris
64.099
64.063
-0.036
10
7
Kimi Raikkonen
64.056
63.956
-0.1
7
8
Antonio Giovinazzi
64.179
64.003
-0.176
8
9
Pierre Gasly
63.988
63.924
-0.064
6
10
Sebastian Vettel
63.667
63.667
0
5
11
Romain Grosjean
64.49
64.311
-0.179
11
12
Nico Hulkenberg
64.516
64.393
-0.123
12
13
Alexander Albon
64.665
64.542
-0.123
14
14
Daniel Ricciardo
64.647
64.647
0
15
15
Carlos Sainz
64.453
64.42
-0.033
13
16
Sergio Perez
64.789
64.723
-0.066
16
17
Lance Stroll
64.832
64.832
0
17
18
Daniil Kvyat
65.324
64.959
-0.365
18
19
George Russell
65.904
65.846
-0.058
19
20
Robert Kubica
66.206
66.199
-0.007
20

The team-mate battles

Largest gaps in each session:

Q1: Alex Albon 0.616s faster than Daniil Kvyat

Q2: Nico Hulkenberg 0.274s faster than Daniel Ricciardo

Q3: Max Verstappen 0.760s faster than Pierre Gasly

Gap between team-mates in last session where each driver set a time:

Team
Gap
Winner
Mercedes
0.275
Hamilton
Ferrari
0.289
Leclerc
Red Bull
0.760
Verstappen
Renault
0.274
Hulkenberg
Haas
0.024
Magnussen
McLaren
0.092
Norris*
Racing Point
0.043
Perez
Alfa Romeo
0.013
Raikkonen
Toro Rosso
0.616
Albon
Williams
0.302
Russell

*Carlos Sainz’s time in Q2 was over nine seconds slower than Lando Norris’, but was unrepresentative. The difference in their Q1 lap times has been used here instead. 

Looking at each driver’s ultimate pace also offers an interesting glimpse into who was fastest in each sector in each team. The results can be found in the table below. At Racing Point, Lance Stroll was faster than team-mate Sergio Perez in both the first and final sectors. However, it was in the middle sector where the Mexican got the better of Stroll, with his 0.171 second gain on his team-mate in this part of the track being enough to see him qualify ahead of the Canadian. The closest gap between team-mates based on ultimate pace today was at Alfa Romeo, where Kimi Raikkonen was only 0.047 seconds faster than team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi.

Driver
FASTEST
SECTOR 1
FASTEST
SECTOR 2
FASTEST
SECTOR 3
FASTEST
OVERALL
Mercedes
HAMILTON
HAMILTON
HAMILTON
HAMILTON
Ferrari
LECLERC
LECLERC
LECLERC
LECLERC
Red Bull
VERSTAPPEN
VERSTAPPEN
VERSTAPPEN
VERSTAPPEN
Renault
HULKENBERG
HULKENBERG
RICCIARDO
HULKENBERG
Haas
MAGNUSSEN
MAGNUSSEN
MAGNUSSEN
GROSJEAN
McLaren
NORRIS
NORRIS
NORRIS
NORRIS
Racing Point
STROLL
PEREZ
STROLL
PEREZ
Alfa Romeo
GIOVINAZZI
RAIKKONEN
GIOVINAZZI
RAIKKONEN
Toro Rosso
ALBON
ALBON
ALBON
ALBON
Williams
RUSSELL
RUSSELL
KUBICA
RUSSELL

Find all the team-mate battle statistics for the 2019 season here!





Team Pace

For the first time this season, there was a sector in which Williams were not the slowest team. As mentioned above, that was in Sector 1, where George Russell was the sixteenth fastest driver, ahead of both Haas cars. Haas made their time up in the last sector though, where they were the fourth fastest team. Alfa Romeo were fourth fastest in the first two sectors. At the front, Ferrari were fastest in every sector, Mercedes second fastest and Red Bull third quickest.

 
GAP TO
ULTIMATE PACE
GAP TO
POLE
Ferrari
0.000
-0.040
Mercedes
0.299
0.259
Red Bull
0.476
0.436
Alfa Romeo
0.853
0.813
Haas
1.078
1.038
McLaren
1.100
1.060
Renault
1.417
1.377
Toro Rosso
1.579
1.539
Racing Point
1.698
1.658
Williams
2.873
2.833

About the above table: the ‘gap to ultimate pace’ column shows the gap between the team’s best three sector times added together and the overall best three sector times added together. The ‘gap to pole time’ column shows the gap between the team’s best three sector times added together and the lap time of the polesitter.

Improvements between 2018 and 2019

Alfa Romeo were the most improved team since last year, finding over eight tenths from their best potential 2018 lap time to their best potential 2019 lap time. Mercedes, McLaren, Haas and Williams’ best potential lap times were all slower than they were last year. You can see the full data below:

Team
2018 Best Lap
2019 Best Lap
Difference
Alfa Romeo
1:04.711
1:03.816
-0.895
Ferrari
1:03.315
1:02.963
-0.352
Red Bull
1:03.743
1:03.439
-0.304
Toro Rosso
1:04.747
1:04.542
-0.205
Renault
1:04.511
1:04.38
-0.131
Racing Point
1:04.686
1:04.661
-0.025
Mercedes
1:03.128
1:03.262
+0.134
McLaren
1:04.886
1:04.063
-0.823
Haas
1:03.854
1:04.041
+0.187
Williams
1:05.023
1:05.836
+0.813

All set for Sunday:

With five different teams in the top six spaces on the grid, the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix looks set to be an interesting race. Will Charles Leclerc score his maiden F1 victory? Can Max Verstappen take a second successive victory at Red Bull’s home event? And what can Mercedes do from third and fourth on the grid? Further back, Sebastian Vettel will be looking to move quickly through the field from ninth on the grid, and Lando Norris will be hoping to defend his top five grid slot.

In the Lucky and Unlucky Grid Positions:

[one_half]

LUCKY:

4th: Lewis Hamilton

7th: Antonio Giovinazzi

13th: Sergio Perez

14th: Lance Stroll

16th: Robert Kubica

18th: George Russell[/one_half]

[one_half_last]

UNLUCKY:

10th: Kevin Magnussen

11th: Romain Grosjean

12th: Daniel Ricciardo

19th: Carlos Sainz[/one_half_last]

Find out what makes each grid position lucky or unlucky here!

 






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