Max Verstappen leads way again as he seals pole position for Red Bull at Styrian Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Hamilton will start in second with McLaren's Norris an impressive third in Austria after Bottas drops down to fifth following three-place penalty

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen after securing pole position at the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, on Saturday, June 26. AP

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will start from the front in Sunday's race. Getty

Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen during qualifying. Getty

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start second on the grid. AFP

Red Bull's Sergio Perez will start fourth in Austria. AFP

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas on his way to securing second place in qualifying - but drops down three places because of a penalty for spinning in the pit lane. AFP

McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo is down in 13th on the grid for Sunday's race. Reuters

McLaren's Lando Norris will start from an impressive third place in Austria. Reuters

Mexican driver Sergio Perez during qualifying at the Red Bull Ring. AFP

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start seventh on the grid. Reuters

AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly will start sixth on the grid. AFP

Red Bull's Max Verstappen continued his fine form by securing pole position at the Styrian Grand Prix on Saturday.

The current leader in the Formula One title race outgunned Mercdes pair Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to seal front place on the grid in Austria.

Bottas was second quickest but drops to fifth on the grid because of a three-place penalty imposed on Friday, leaving teammate Hamilton to start on the front row with Verstappen, who leads the drivers' championship by 12 points.

McLaren's Lando Norris will start in an impressive third spot at the Red Bull Ring ahead of Verstappen's  teammate Sergio Perez in fourth, while Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly is sixth ahead of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari.

Gasly's teammate Yuki Tsunoda is in eighth, with Fernando Alonso in the Alpine and Lance Stroll's Aston Martin completing the top 10.

Verstappen had been the standout performer in practice on Friday and looked in supreme control as he claimed his third pole position of the season, clocking a fastest time of 1 min 3.841 secs.

"It has been a very good weekend," said the Dutchman. "The car was very good to drive in qualifying. It was not easy to deal with the traffic, the fifth lap in Q3 was good enough in the end.

"Super happy to be on pole at home, it's always nice to see a Red Bull car on pole here. It's never easy but it's good for racing. I'm sure tomorrow will be very tough."

Bottas made a late dart and finished 0.194 secs behind Verstappen. The Finn, however, was penalised on Friday for "dangerous driving" after spinning in the pit lane and will start from fifth on the third row of the grid.

"Shame about the penalty, I think it was a strong qualifying," said Bottas. "If I look at practice two and three, I still struggling a bit with the set-up but it was a much better feeling. It felt good in the car and I felt I got the most out of the car."

As for reigning champion Hamilton, the British driver admitted that the Red Bull's are looking in ominously good form.  "They have been so fast this weekend, we have been giving it absolutely everything.

"It wasn't the greatest of sessions but still on the front row after the penalty. I did everything I could and we go into the race tomorrow for a fight.

"They've generally had a quarter of a second on us all weekend. We have managed to eke closer in qualifying but in the race run yesterday they were 0.25 secs quicker.

"It will be interesting but I don't think we will have the pace to overtake them, but hopefully we can keep up."