Hamilton laments 'pretty disastrous' Sprint qualy as Max-Lando duel ramps up

Lewis Hamilton lamented his performance in Sprint Qualifying after putting his Mercedes car sixth for Saturday morning's race at the Austrian Grand Prix.The seven-time world champion had an off-track moment in SQ1, had to battle with traffic ahead of him, and then finished over half a second behind Sprint polesitter Max Verstappen in the final session.Hamilton, who was fifth-fastest in the only Practice session for this weekend's Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, found little to be optimistic about for the Sprint and instead turned his attention towards qualifying for Sunday's main race. "I wasn't in the mix at all, the whole session was pretty disastrous from our point of view," Hamilton said."Practice was good, the car felt good, I don't think we had the pace to be on pole, but very bad laps. Trending "I don't think overtaking is mega here, but we'll give our best. It's usually not such an eventful race, so I think the focus will be mostly on getting a better qualifying tomorrow." Mercedes team-mate George Russell was 0.216 seconds ahead of Hamilton to put himself fourth on the grid for the Sprint, albeit over three-tenths of a second off reigning world champion Verstappen's best SQ3 lap of 1:05.685.Nevertheless, Russell is confident he can be battling it out with the Red Bull driver and the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri - second and third on the grid respectively - for a podium in the Sprint."P4 is still a great place to be for the fight tomorrow," Russell said. "Definitely fighting for the podium in the Sprint."Obviously, eyes on the main race is the most important thing but validation again that we are in the mix now."Probably a bit ahead of Ferrari at the moment but McLaren are still a small smidge ahead, but it's nice to be at the front end a bit more consistently."Sprint race set for resumption of Verstappen vs Norris duelSix days after lining up alongside each other on the front row for the Grand Prix in Spain, Verstappen and Norris will again be in direct combat for the start of Saturday's 24-lap Sprint after qualifying first and second respectively at the end of a closely-fought duel for pole in SQ3.Norris, who trails Verstappen by 69 points in the standings ahead of a Sprint that offers eight points to the victor, is optimistic he can again challenge the world champion for the win over Saturday's shorter race distance."From what we see at the minute, yes," replied Norris when asked if he could vie for the Sprint win. On his qualifying performance, Norris added: "I think it was reasonably good. I never got quite comfortable probably until my final lap, so I'm happy with that."It's close as it has been for the whole year, so no difference, but that must have been a nice lap by Max and it's a good position for the race." Unlike at Barcelona, it is Verstappen who starts with the advantage of pole this time and the Dutchman has appeared quickly in the groove around Red Bull's home track so far."Of course, there are always areas where we can improve, so we will look at that tonight. Hopefully a good start to the weekend," said Verstappen."At the end of the day, when everyone is pushing flat out, McLaren were again behind me. For sure, they are quick as well. We seemed quick in the high-speed, which is nice around here. Hopefully we can keep that going."Sky Sports F1's live Austrian GP scheduleSaturday June 298.25am: F3 Sprint10am: Austrian GP Sprint (race starts at 11am)*12.25pm: F2 Sprint2pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up3pm: Austrian GP Qualifying5pm: Ted's Qualifying NotebookSunday June 307.25am: F3 Feature Race8.55am: F2 Feature Race12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP build-up*2pm: The AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP reaction*5pm: Ted's Notebook*also live on Sky Sports Main EventF1's triple-header continues at the Austrian Grand Prix with the Sprint format at the Red Bull Ring. Watch every session live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday's big race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime