11:16 AM
Good afternoon F1 fans
And welcome to our coverage for qualifying for the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix. We’re back at the Red Bull Ring again and, going by what we saw in final practice earlier this morning, it looks like a very stiff task for Mercedes indeed.
Verstappen was half a second quicker than Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, but he did the fewest laps of anyone in the entire session. Does that smack of confidence? Yes, in short.
But, aside from final practice, the other big news in the paddock on Saturday morning was that Hamilton has signed another two-year deal with Mercedes, taking him to the end of the 2023 season with a team he joined in 2013 and has since won six world titles with.
Hamilton’s new deal is understood to be worth £40 million a year. The British driver, who trails Max Verstappen by 18 points in his bid for a record-breaking eighth world title, moved to Mercedes in 2013.
He said: “It is hard to believe it’s been nearly nine years working with this incredible team and I’m excited we’re going to continue our partnership for two more years.
“We’ve accomplished so much together but we still have a lot to achieve, both on and off the track.
“I’m incredibly proud and grateful of how Mercedes has supported me in my drive to improve diversity and equality in our sport.
“They have held themselves accountable and made important strides in creating a more diverse team and inclusive environment.”
You can read more from Phil Duncan on that here.
Is this a surprise? Not especially. That he only signed a one-year contract last time – taking him until the end of 2021 – was interesting but, it seems, the sticking points may have been financial, or at least not fatally serious. In any case, Hamilton has signalled his intention to carry on into Formula One’s new era.
The big question now is who will Mercedes put alongside him? Will they retain Valtteri Bottas for another year? Or move for the impressive George Russell. Russell vs Hamilton would be quite the mouthwatering prospect for 2022, wouldn’t it? Hard to see that Russell would be very similar to Bottas.
Sadly Russell has to make do with the Williams for the time being. Can he make it into Q2 again, and Q3 for the first time this season? We will find out shortly as qualifying gets going at 2pm BST.