Verstappen on Austria sprint pole as Hamilton 18th

Lewis Hamilton qualified only 18th for Saturday’s sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix after what he called “bad time usage” by Mercedes.

Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg was fourth ahead of the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton also became tangled up with Verstappen during the first session.

The seven-time champion was behind Haas driver Kevin Magnussen trying to get a gap to start his final lap, after his fastest lap time – which would have easily got him into the second session – was deleted for exceeding track limits.

Waiting in turn behind Magnussen, Hamilton was at Turn 10 as Verstappen came up behind him trying to finish a lap.

In apparent retaliation, Verstappen then overtook Hamilton down the pit straight and seemed to impede him into Turn One at the start of Hamilton’s final flying lap, which was not fast enough to progress out of the first session.

Hamilton said: “Just timing. Not right. Sprint race doesn’t really matter anyway. Just have some fun from the back. It is what it is. I don’t really feel anything about it.”

On a bad day for Mercedes, Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell, who did make it beyond the first session, will line up 15th because hydraulic problems that required a steering column change prevented him running again.

At the front, Perez saved his blushes from Friday, when he qualified 15th for the grand prix after a series of track limits transgressions, by making it an all Red Bull front row for the sprint, which starts at 15:30 UK time.

But the Mexican was 0.493 seconds slower than Verstappen – larger than the margin separating Perez from Esteban Ocon’s Alpine in ninth place.

Behind the Ferraris, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso will start the sprint seventh ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll, Ocon and Magnussen.

Sainz impressed in the first session. He was in the pits for most of it with a brake-by-wire problem and managed to re-join at the end with time for only one flying lap – with which he went fastest of all.

There may yet be some changes in the order as Hulkenberg and Leclerc both face stewards’ investigations.

Hulkenberg’s is for an unsafe release from the pits, when he ran over his own tyre, launching the car into the air.

Leclerc is being investigated for impeding McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

It remains to be seen whether the Verstappen-Hamilton incident will be investigated – there has been no report of it as yet.