Austrian GP qualifying facts and stats: McLaren secure first front row start for almost a decade

Max Verstappen's third consecutive pole position was his fourth this season, more than the whole of the rest of his F1 career combined – but what other interesting facts and statistics emerged from qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix?

• McLaren secured their first front row position since locking out the front row at the final race of the 2012 season in Brazil with Lewis Hamilton on pole and Jenson Button second - a race the team went on to win

• McLaren’s last four qualifying sessions at the Red Bull Ring have yielded starting slots of P3, P3, P3 and now P2

• Sergio Perez has only qualified higher than this once in his career, when he was second in Imola earlier this season

• Red Bull have two cars in the top three on the grid for the first time at their home track

READ MORE: QUALIFYING: Verstappen edges out sensational Norris to take Austrian GP pole

• Excluding grid penalties, Hamilton’s fourth place is his worst Q3 performance here since 2014

• Valtteri Bottas starts fifth – the same position as last weekend, when a grid penalty dropped him from P2 to P5

• There are no Mercedes cars in the top three for the first time in a dry qualifying session since Singapore 2017 – although Hamilton went on to win that race

READ MORE: 'I’m pretty sure it’s not his last contract' says Wolff after Mercedes sign Hamilton until 2023

• Pierre Gasly is in the top six for the 7th race this season, and the fifth race in a row

• Yuki Tsunoda ties his career-best qualifying of seventh on the grid, which is also his team’s best-ever two car qualifying result here at the Red Bull Ring

• Sebastian Vettel reached Q3 for the third time this season on his 34th birthday

• George Russell outqualified Lance Stroll to put his Williams ninth on the grid, their highest since Felipe Massa at the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Russell also reached Q3 for the first time as a Williams driver – by just 0.006s

• Williams reach Q3 for the first time since Lance Stroll managed it for them in Monza 2018

• No Ferrari cars featured in Q3 for the first time since Bahrain last year

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch all the key moments from final practice for the Austrian Grand Prix

• Aston Martin got both cars into Q3 for the first time this season

• Daniel Ricciardo fails to make Q3 for the fourth time in the last five races

• Esteban Ocon was eliminated in Q1 for the second weekend running, and has not made Q3 in any of the last five races

• Kimi Raikkonen was eliminated in Q1 for the third straight race

• Mick Schumacher outqualified his team mate Nikita Mazepin by 0.524s

ANALYSIS: Why F1’s most successful combination ever is continuing for two more years