Hamilton dominates to claim soaking wet pole position at Styrian Grand Prix

The world champion stamps his mark on qualifying as he beats Max Verstappen by over a second
Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying in AustriaLewis Hamilton dominated qualifying in Austria
Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying in Austria

Lewis Hamilton secured his 90th pole position in sublime style as he made the best of soaking conditions at the Styrian Grand Prix.

The six-time world champion was a mighty 1.2 seconds faster than Max Verstappen to secure the fastest time in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring and his first pole of the season.

"What a tricky day," said Hamilton. "The weather is making it so difficult for us. I had a big moment the lap before the last and I had my heart in my mouth, but I love these days.

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz discuss the conditionsMax Verstappen and Carlos Sainz discuss the conditions
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz discuss the conditions

"Yesterday was difficult, we had issues in FP2 but we found it overnight, it was nothing major. Tomorrow will be a sunny day, and we're prepared for better conditions. I'm just glad I didn't make any mistakes, that's a positive!"

Verstappen was on course to improve his time late in the session but came across a car coming into the pitlane at Turn 9 and forced him into a spin, but later admitted it was unlikely to have usurped Hamilton's incredible pace.

He said: "Overall it was a good session, but it was wetter in Q3 and we were struggling a lot more. Visibility was horrible! It was very hard to see the braking zones. I was aquaplaining around corners, so it was not easy. I tried to stay closer to other cars to stay in their tracks, but I'm pretty happy with P2.

"In the dry we can have a good shot at it. It's better in general than it was last week so we'll see."

Carlos Sainz reiterated McLaren's pace after Lando Norris' podium last week to secure third on the grid ahead of Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes in fourth and Esteban Ocon in fifth.

Sainz, celebrating his highest ever qualifying position, said: "It feels amazing. This qualifying was the toughest I've done as an F1 driver. It was crazy on the straights, sliding around.

"The car in race trim has been better than we thought so we're quite confident going into tomorrow, but we've got to see where the Ferraris and Racing Points are because their pace looked good as well."

Norris set the sixth fastest time but will take a three place grid drop after overtaking under yellow flags on Friday, promoting Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo. Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari rounds out the top 10 as the woes continue for the Scuderia.

Charles Leclerc missed out on Q3 and will start 11th, with George Russell's 12th place for Williams the highlight of the session.

Racing Point's pace in the dry came unstuck with the rain, with Lance Stroll in 13th and Sergio Perez knocked out in the first session in 17th.