Both Visa Cash App Racing Bulls drivers have made it into the top ten (Q3), qualifying for the Austrian F1 Grand Prix. Liam Lawson will start ninth with teammate Arvid Lindblad in tenth.
“It’s been a very good weekend so far with both cars making it into Q3.” commented Lawson. “The car has felt strong across all sessions, and I’m really happy with the work everyone is doing, both here at the track and behind the scenes.
“A few teams arrived with upgrades this weekend, so we knew it was going to be a real challenge and it was still incredibly close, but to come out on top of the midfield is a really strong result.
“Tomorrow is going to be a tough race and temperatures are expected to be high. It probably won’t be quite as demanding on the tyres as Barcelona, but degradation will still be a factor with how much we’re sliding around. We will work overnight to make sure we are in the best position to hopefully score points.”
“Overall, it has been a positive Saturday for the team here in Austria,” said Mattia Spini, Head of VCARB Trackside Engineering. “In FP3, we chose to run two new sets of Soft tyres, while saving an additional Medium for the race, in line with the approach taken by most of our competitors.
“The session ran smoothly and both drivers were reasonably happy with the balance of the car, although we could see there was still some lap time to find, both through setup optimisation and driving refinement.
“Ahead of Qualifying, we made some relatively small setup changes on both cars, with the aim of improving the balance through the corners and giving the drivers a more consistent platform. With high track evolution and driver progression expected, we elected to use two new sets of Soft tyres in Q1 to make sure we progressed cleanly into Q2.
“In both Q2 and Q3, we used one scrubbed and one new set of Soft tyres. Both cars made it through to Q3 and finished ahead of the rest of the midfield, which is a strong result and reflects a well-executed session from the team.
“Our focus now turns to tomorrow’s race. We are expecting some of the highest track and ambient temperatures of the season, which will create several challenges. Good preparation overnight will be crucial to make sure we are in a position to fight for points.”
Mercedes’ George Russell starts on pole with Ferraris’ Charles Leclerc alongside, teammate Lewis Hamilton in third ahead of Kimi Antonelli.
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