It has all settled down now. We know where we stand, and that is with George Russell on pole, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton splitting him from Kimi Antonelli. And Max Verstappen down in fifth, ahead of the two McLarens. It’s still the big seven.

Tomorrow, Dominic Booth will be with you for the race. For now, I’ll leave you with Giles Richard’s report on a remarkable qualifying session.

Oscar Piastri: “Not quick enough, unfortunately … We didn’t have enough to challenge George today. Little bit frustrating … Just losing that last little bit.”

Lando Norris came in sixth. “That was a good qualifying from us … P6, P7 is not where you want to be but I think our laps very close … It’s where we realistically are.” Everyone has been pretty happy, except Antonelli.

Lewis Hamilton looks pretty happy: “Very, very close between everyone. Small margins I think we’ve done a really really good job over the weekend.” He regrets his first lap in Q3 “so I had a lot to recover. But it’s a great to be up there with Charles. And It’s a long way to turn three.”

As Jamie Chadwick says: “George pulled it out of nowhere.” Russell “knew the rules and had the extra time to react”, Varun stresses.

Antonelli speaks and takes the blame for aborting his lap. “I don’t know why but I thought it was a double yellow … that was my mistake.” He thinks his lap would have been slower than Russell anyway. Karun Chandhok says that the light came on so close to Antonelli that it was an easy mistake to make.

An utterly bizarre qualifying session, with the key character in Q2 and Q3 arguably Max Verstappen. First, he sat in his garage and almost saw himself bumped out of the top 10. Then he turned on the speed, setting the fastest initial time, was overtaken, then crashed out.

Verstappen speaks. “I arrived to turn nine and immediately it was gone.” He reckons he would have had at best P3, though.

Max Verstappen is fine, by the way.

Bernie Collins has said Russell has pole, “case closed”. And that is good enough for me.

Looks as if Antonelli lifted completely when he didn’t need to, Russell got it right and just lifted, then the deletions of the in-lap confused the situation.

Russell had a big lift into the corner, once he saw the yellow. If a marshal had been waving double yellow then it would have been decisive. Anthony Davidson is showing the difference between single yellows and double yellows on the light panel. It is becoming clearer.

Jamie Chadwick, multiple W Series winner, says that Russell would have been aware had it been two yellows via his dashboard.

David Croft now says it was the in-lap that was deleted. Russell did slow down. The question is if it was double yellow.

Ferrari chief Frédéric Vasseur says that you need to have the data to be sure and they don’t have the data.

“There is still an element of confusion at the back of Ferrari,” says Ted Kravitz.

Russell ecstatic on the radio but no one really knows.

Wolff saying single yellow, 100m lift. Croft was saying double yellow. Wolff saying Antonelli should not have abandoned.

David Croft is showing the computer screen suggesting Russell’s time will be deleted.

Lewis Hamilton now. “To have the two Ferraris in second and third is fantastic.” He thanks the factory for the upgrades.

Charles Leclerc is as expected happy. “To start second is a good place to start on … I didn’t think we’d be starting on the front row.”

George Russell is being interviewed as pole sitter. He says it was a single yellow.

The expectation is that Russell will lose his lap. Double yellow flags mean time is deleted. Antonelli had to pull out. Russell carried on. My guess is Leclerc gets pole. But I’m not a steward.

Russell was going fastest but his time will be struck out by the yellow flags.

Chaos! Verstappen crashes and it’s a Ferrari one-two! Yellow flags!

Ferrari come good. Hamilton fastest by 0.006! Then Leclerc pips him!

Hamilton going quickly, faster than Antonell’s time early on, as is Leclerc.

Never mind last chance saloon, here we have last chance single-seaters. Who will take pole?

Russell just 0.043 behind Antonelli is a triumph after his earlier struggles. Verstappen is 0.061 back. So tight.

Hamilton ran wide. He has no time and is down in 10th.

Antonelli goes fastest by 0.061 and Russell pulls it out to go second.

Verstappen 1:06.475! Fastest anyone has gone all weekend.

Norris is the first to cross the line for a flying lap: 1:06.9.

And here we go for Q3. As ever, there is more space on the track for the wheat, now the chaff has been discarded.

Bernie Collins and all the Sky team take their hats off to Hannah Schmitz, the Red Bull strategist who made that call. Quite how valuable it will prove will be shown in Q3.

It was all about having two sets of new tyres for Q3. Only Hadjar from the top teams won’t have two.

Just trying to imagine Verstappen’s reaction if he had gone out. Really doesn’t bear thinking about. Laurent Mekies admits it was a bit too close, “on the too risky side”.

Karun Chandhok says of Red Bull “their appetite for risk is much higher than mine”.

Verstappen survives by 0.460! Pierre Gasly just fails to knock him out.

Hamilton edges ahead of Leclerc into fifth. Verstappen has stayed in the pits and is now in 10th!

Phew. Russell fourth fastest. Antonelli goes out. Piastri resting in second.

Russell looking for it, Wolff telling him to “just drive”.

Bortoleto, Colapinto, Bearman, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Russell in the drop zone. Lindblad is 10th if Russell can make a lap.

Ouch. Russell runs wide and has no time on the board.

1:06.763 for Antonelli! Piastri second fastest.

Verstappen comes in on used tyres ahead of Norries, but Leclerc then Hamilton beat him. Leclerc fastest. Norris has some damage – is it affecting his times?

Leclerc and Hamilton on new tyres, the rest preserving their rubber.

Norris out on his own early on some used soft tyres, looking to put down a marker.

Verstappen down in sixth. Whatever he decides on his future, Toto Wolff has tried to kill off speculation linking him with Mercedes:

“We don’t want to change things and we’ve said that also to George. I think it’s a line-up that is good for us. I’m very happy with the two of them,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

He added that pre-season title favourite Russell had handled a tense situation with impressive composure. “He’s been coping well,” he said.

“He doesn’t need to prove to anyone that he has the speed. We know he has the speed and the ability.” Agence France-Presse

At the top, Antonelli, Norris, Hamilton, Lawson (!), Russell, Verstappen, Hadjar, Piastri, Leclerc and Lindblad make an unexpected leading 10.

Russell comes through in fifth, though at least closer to Antonelli.

Lindblad has beaten Russell, while Liam Lawson is up to fourth!

Antonelli and Russell are on track again. Reconnaissance for what comes next?

Hadjar and Piastri having another go, but the top four, plus Leclerc and Russell, may sit it out.

Four different cars in the first four places, with Isack Hadjar getting the second Red Bull up to fifth – just 0.001 behind Verstappen.

Drop zone is shaping up as Sainz, Perez, Bottas, Ocon, Alonso, Stroll.

Russell having another go. Hmm. Not making much of an impression on Antonelli’s time, down in eighth.

Antonelli is flying. 1:07.083, ahead of Norris by 0.176.

Hamilton goes second, with Charles Leclerc fifth. Good start for the Briton.

Here comes Max. And Lando. Hadjar and Piastri also knock Russell down.

Russell is laying down a marker. 1:07.811 for the Mercedes man.

And off we go. Who will be F1’s equivalent of Thomas Müller, the Raumdeuter – “space interpreter”?

I have not mentioned Charles Leclerc. He has the same upgrades as Hamilton, but has been running behind him. Eighth in FP2, seventh in FP3, after Dino Beganovic had his seat for FP1.

It’s the Red Bull Ring, but how are Red Bull? Can they produce a car that will keep hold of their prize asset, Max Verstappen? He was fourth in FP1 and FP2, but down to sixth in FP3. Whatever you think of his attitude, his talent is undoubted. The Red Bull power unit has arguably exceeded expectations but will he be happy if the shakeout leaves the team not challenging?

Ten minutes to go and final adjustments are being made to the cars.

On average, you have only about three seconds between cars. Of course everyone will jockey for space but there will be winners and losers.

Bernie Collins has been outlining one big issue at this track: it’s too short to have the cars well spaced out in qualifying.

And here are the constructors’ standings:

1 Mercedes 262pts
2 Ferrari 190
3 McLaren 141
4 Red Bull 89
5 Alpine 60
6 Racing Bulls 38
7 Haas 21
8 Williams 11
9 Audi 2
10 Aston Martin 1
11 Cadillac 0

Here are the drivers’ standings:

1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 156pts
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 115
3 George Russell Mercedes 106
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 75
5 Lando Norris McLaren 73
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 68
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 55
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 41
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 34
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 26

After the past few days, it’s something of a triumph to get this far in without mentioning the weather. It may be cooling a little in the UK but Spielberg will be up to 33C this afternoon (and indeed tomorrow). F1 has therefore implemented its mercury rising protocol, as Giles explains:

This weekend’s race at the Red Bull Ring has been declared a heat hazard by the FIA as Europe swelters under a heatwave, with temperatures set to rise above the 31C defined by the regulations, under which conditions drivers are allowed to wear special cooling vests beneath their fireproof suits. The heat hazard has been declared twice before, in Singapore and Texas last season but this is the first time it has been declared in Europe.

However the drivers in Austria generally played down the likely impact. “It’s not nice. I think the moments where you have zero kph in the car, they are definitely the worst,” said Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. “To be fair, when driving, it’s not too bad. We’ve got good AC with our open cockpit, so it’s fine. I think it’s more going to be tough on the car, on the tyres, than anything else.”

At the start of the season, the Ferrari was quick off the grid but heavy on the tyres and unable to match the Mercedes over race distances. But, writes Giles:

In Barcelona, Ferrari brought eight aerodynamic upgrades to their car, their biggest developments and they proved enormously effective … Ferrari’s SF26, in its upgraded configuration, demonstrated it was a serious package, hugely impressive through the corners and crucially now also less punishing on the tyres as a result of new wheel rims. As the defending world champion, McLaren’s Lando Norris, noted, “if they had a better engine they’re dominating”. In Austria they should boast a better engine.

Half an hour to go.

Why were Ferrari able to make their changes for Barcelona? From the sport that brought you Kers and fights with cricket for the rights to DRS, here comes Aduo: additional development and upgrade opportunities. Because of the regulation changes for this season, the FIA and the teams agreed to allow further engine upgrades, with the number based on the best combustion engine’s output.

Giles Richards, Our F1 correspondent, goes into more detail:

The Red Bull engine was assessed to be the top-performing machinery – a decision still questioned by Red Bull, understandably given the superiority of the Mercedes. However, the measurement considers only the internal combustion engine output not the electrical element of the power unit. There is scant room for complaint here given it was a methodology that was agreed by teams and engine manufacturers.

In the interim, with Aduo a goer, Ferrari were considered to be more than 4% off the Red Bull benchmark, entitling it to two engine upgrades this season, with Mercedes between 2% and 4%, giving it one. Eyebrows have been raised as to why Ferrari were ready with an engine upgrade so soon after the engine assessment was announced on race day in Monaco, the intimation being they were gaming the system.