The day started in rainy conditions at the Red Bull Ring and sprint qualifying being declared wet meant the strict slick compound requirements for the compacted session were suspended and drivers could use whatever tyres they wanted throughout.
In the end, other than the Williams completing early Q1 laps on intermediates, the drivers ran slicks throughout.
Verstappen made full use of the new softs he had saved progressing smoothly in Friday qualifying to lead the way on the first runs in Q3 with a 1m04.613s ahead of Norris and Perez, with Carlos Sainz fourth and at that stage running new mediums because of his lack of new softs.
Several drivers switched compounds for the final Q3 runs, where Charles Leclerc led the charge having not headed out immediately in Q3 to sav …