Lance Stroll secured ninth on the grid for the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix as his Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team team-mate Sebastian Vettel narrowly missed out on a Q3 place.
After a final practice session spent on the Medium and Soft tyre to hone the AMR21's balance for both qualifying and the race, the Red Bull Ring played host to a highly competitive qualifying.
Lance
Having demonstrated top 10 pace in the earlier practice session, Lance picked up where he left off in Q1.
Lance was one of the first drivers to take to the Red Bull Ring and patiently sought clean air, firing in an early benchmark of 1.05.218 as a result.
The time proved competitive enough for 10th ahead of the second runs, which were impacted by increasing amounts of traffic.
The Canadian was able to find further improvements and posted a 1.04.821 lap time to secure ninth and a Q2 place in the final minutes.
Styrian Grand Prix
Get ready for this weekend's Styrian Grand Prix with our in-depth preview. Discover the history of the Red Bull Ring, the challenges of a lap of the track and the key talking points for the race.
Lance and Sebastian were closely matched in Q2 as half a second split the entire field across the session.
Again using the Soft tyre, Lance posted a 1.04.663 on a three-lap run that initially put him fourth.
Only the provisional polesitter felt secure enough not to head out again, meaning the battle for Q3 was decided in the final seconds.
Thankfully, Lance's first effort proved sufficient for 10th as he ran slightly wide on the exit of Turn 10, meaning his faster second time was deleted.
In Q3, Lance would make a single run on the Soft tyre and fired in a competitive 1.04.708 time, which initially secured 10th on the grid.
A post-qualifying penalty for AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda means Lance will now start the Styrian Grand Prix from ninth.
"It is a good feeling to be back in Q3, especially when it happens after such a tight qualifying. It was good fun out there and I think 10th [now ninth due to a rival's penalty] was the most we could achieve today.
"It has been a smooth weekend so far. From the first laps in FP1, I have felt really good in the car and it has given me the confidence to really push because the balance has been consistent in every session.
"We have shown competitive pace in the last couple of races, so I think we can fight for some good points tomorrow. Anything can happen, especially with the weather, so let’s see how it plays out."
Sebastian
Sebastian found space on the short Red Bull Ring to set a 1.05.238 lap time on a set of new Softs, which put him well inside the Top 10 early in Q1.
After his opening stint, Sebastian would return to the garage in 13th in preparation for a close-fought battle to make Q2.
With lap times completed in just over one minute, and with 16 cars on track searching for clear air, the pressure was on to progress.
But Sebastian rose to the occasion, using another set of new Softs to lap in 1.05.051, finishing Q1 in 13th and securing a Q2 place.
The competition became closer in Q2 as the top 15 were split by under half a second, and Sebastian battled understeer in his AMR21, too.
Sebastian was one of the first drivers to take to the track, and he made the most of the near-empty circuit to post a first-run effort of 1.04.875 for fourth early on.
After three laps, Sebastian was in 12th and just over a tenth away from Q3, but he was denied the chance to make it into Q3 after incurring a lap time deletion at Turn 10 on his second run.
His improved time of 1.04.711 was therefore removed, meaning Sebastian will line up 14th for tomorrow's Grand Prix, albeit with the benefit of a free tyre choice.
"I struggled to put the laps together today and when the grid is so tight [on a short lap] it can be quite costly.
"So I am not so happy after today’s qualifying and I need to try to understand why I did not find the rhythm. It feels like we lost a bit of time everywhere, rather than just one corner.
"There can still be a good race ahead for us and I am confident we will have decent race pace tomorrow. We have a free choice of tyres and it is a track where overtaking is possible."
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal
"Lance did a superb job today, fast in Q1 and Q2, thereby moving smoothly through to Q3. He will start tomorrow’s race from P9, from which position a strong points-scoring drive will be his aim.
"Sebastian struggled with understeer in Q2, as a result running wide in the final turn on his fastest lap, which caused it to be disallowed for a track limits infringement.
"But for that, he would not have gone through to Q3 anyway, but he would have been classified 12th rather than 14th."
All in. All welcome. All celebrated. Sign up to open up a world of I / AM benefits and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
