Verstappen cleaned the table on the opening day, Russell and Perez crashed out of the closing stages

Max Verstappen was at his best pace in the qualifying sessions of the Austrian GP. George Russell and Sergio Perez, who broke the track limits, were out of the last stage.

By far leading the Formula 1 World Championship Max Verstappen showed others the Red Bull taillights on the opening day of the Austrian GP.

Verstappen cleaned up the table at the Spielberg circuit, as he set the fastest lap time in all three qualifying periods. In addition, he was the fastest in the practice sessions before the time trials.

In the second period of qualifying, there was some drama, when the Mercedes George Russell and Red Bull Sergio Perez were eliminated from the last episode.

Russell’s and Perez’s times were disallowed as they were deemed to have violated track limits. Russell finished 11th and Perez 15th in qualifying.

A sprint race will be held at the Austrian GP on Saturday. According to the revised F1 rules, the starting grids for Sunday’s main race were already determined in Friday’s qualifying sessions.

Alfa Romeo Valtteri Bottas finished 14th in the time trial. Bottas spun in the first driving section due to his mistake on the track, causing the car’s engine to shut down. In the end, however, Bottas made it to the second period.