Verstappen: I am actually quite surprised by the gap

So we can be excused to be surprised by the four tenths-gap Verstappen had over Norris in Q3, as he seemed to have surprised himself, after missing out on pole in the past four races by the slightest of margins.

Pole #40 for Verstappen capped off a great Saturday in Spielberg, as he won the Sprint Race earlier beating Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri in a tightly fought battle.

"It was a good day today," Verstappen said in Red Bull's Saturday summary. "I am extremely happy that we got P1 in the Sprint and put it on pole in Qualifying and am really proud of the Team that we were able to be so competitive.

"We definitely saw some good improvements after the Sprint race, it all connected and the balance of the car felt a lot better, so hopefully we can keep that going. I could really push to the limit and it felt great to be that competitive in qualifying.

"The whole session went really well and the car was in a better window; I could push harder, the car was sticking and I am actually quite surprised by the gap!" he insisted. "It shows that small changes that you make to the car can really make a difference. I am looking forward to tomorrow.

"We have had a really good weekend so far but the most important part has to happen tomorrow, so let's see what the race brings," the reigning Formula 1 Champion concluded.

Once again, the results from the second Red Bull garage were a stark contrast to Verstappen's achievements, as Sergio Perez was eighth in the Sprint Race, and more shockingly, over eight tenths off the pace of his teammate in qualifying, eighth fastest as well.

Perez lamented: "It's been a tricky weekend, and we have to just keep chipping away. We didn't have the margins early on in Q1 and Q2, and we ended up using more new sets of tyres than we wanted and went into Q3 with only scrubbed sets left.

"We had much better pace than we were able to show today but unfortunately we weren't safe enough throughout the sessions to save a new set for Q3. We've done the right changes going forward, and learnt quite a bit from today's Sprint race which is positive.

"I think it is going to be really close on track tomorrow and should be an interesting battle where anything can happen," the Mexican concluded.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner reflected on his team's Saturday at home, he said: "It is always great to be back in Austria for our home race and in front of a home crowd.

"Today in both the Sprint race and Qualifying, Max put on an incredible performance and especially on a track where the margins are so small. It is great to be on Pole here at Red Bull Ring.

"Checo used all of his new tyre sets in Q1 and Q2, so expectations were lower of what was achievable in Q3 as there were only scrubbed tyres available.

"We are going to need Checo to have a strong race tomorrow as the McLarens, Ferraris, and Mercedes cars are right there with us. All to play for tomorrow," Horner concluded.