It is somewhat ironic that on a day that could witness Ferrari's best result of the season thus far, team boss Fred Vasseur will not be present.

The Maranello outfit announced this morning that the Frenchman has returned home for "personal reasons" leaving Jerome d'Ambrosio in charge.

In recent weeks Vasseur has been the subject of much speculation in the media - almost as much as Max Verstappen and George Russell - and it seems strange that he is set to miss what might well be a turning point for his team.

On the other hand, it might be what some of us refer to as a sign.

On Friday morning the Italian team appeared to be at sixes and sevens, but since then the various upgrades have kicked in and even Lewis Hamilton appears happy.

Of course, the Maranello outfit will face strong resistance from McLaren, which appears to be in a different league (again) this weekend. Lando Norris' Q3 lap was sublime, while it was only the antics of Pierre Gasly that prevented Oscar (and Max) from challenging him.

Then again, in the wake of Montreal, the British driver needed something to boost his somewhat fragile confidence.

Gasly's spin aside, Verstappen's qualifying wasn't helped by the fact that he was out-paced by former teammate Liam Lawson, who starts higher up the grid than any of the other three Red Bull drivers, Isack Hadjar having an uncharacteristic nightmare.

That said, it wasn't all bad news for the Class of 25 Rookies, for Gabriel Bortoleto qualified an amazing eighth, the best result for a Stake driver this season.

Other than the battle up front, the midfield threatens to be as frantic as ever with Gasly and Fernando Alonso starting right behind Kimi Antonelli, with Alex Albon and Hadjar in hot pursuit.

Flavio Briatore has seemingly put Franco Colapinto on notice, while Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz both need to make up for a disastrous Q1.

Over the years we have seen numerous first lap incidents here, and yesterday's F2 race proved that this circuit is no place for reckless over-enthusiasm. As ever, to finish first, first one has to finish.

As for strategy, a two-stop is the quickest choice, running the medium and hard. A one-stop is doable, given that tyre degradation is quite low, in fact probably even lower than expected, but on paper it is still significantly slower, by around seven seconds.

On top of that, overtaking is definitely possible at this track as there are three DRS zones.

It's worth nothing that drivers from three teams - Aston Martin, RB and Alpine - will have a set of hard and one of medium available, while the Haas pair will have two of hard and one of medium.

As for the big guns, they all have two new sets of mediums and one of hard, while Tsunoda has two sets of brand new softs.

The pitlane opens and Piastri leads the way, followed by Hadjar, Bortoleto, Norris, Sainz and Leclerc.

Air temperature is 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 49 degrees. It is the hottest day of the weekend thus far, which will not suit the Mercedes.

Other than temperatures - and the opening lap - the other major factor to watch out for today is track limits, for this track has history.

Marshals are spraying an area of the trackside grass with water, possibly a wise move after yesterday's red flag.

"The temperature is not ideal," admits Verstappen.

"Today could be good for us," says Piastri. "Temperatures a lot hotter than we have had this weekend, so let's see how that changes things."

All are starting on mediums bar Gasly, Hadjar, Colapinto, Bearman and Hulkenberg who are on softs. Only Gasly, Alonso and Stroll start on used/scrubbed rubber.

They head off on the formation lap, all getting away with no issues... except for Sainz who is "stuck in first gear".

"Something is stopping the car from moving forward," he adds.

As Norris round the final corner, marshals are pushing the Williams. The start is aborted and as the grid waits Sainz heads off into the distance. He will now start from the pitlane.

"It feels like the car is still braking," says Sainz as he parks at the end of the pitlane. At which point flames appear from underneath the car.

With the start now delayed for 15 minutes, the Williams crew are trying to rescue Sainz' stricken car. "Game over, jump out," he is told.

"I cannot tell you the temperature of the seat," says Alonso, "it is maybe 200 degrees."

The second formation lap gets underway. Hulkenberg is slow to get going but he does finally get away.

The grid forms.

The lights go green.

They're away! Strong starts from Norris, Leclerc and Piastri but as they turn into Turn 1 the Australian edges ahead of the Ferrari which is on the inside. Having lost out to the McLaren the Monegasque is almost collected by Russell from behind as he staves off Hamilton.

Through Turn 2 Piastri is closing on his McLaren teammate however Norris has the inside line in Turn 3. Behind Piastri, Leclerc and Hamilton have the inside line and are poised to hold off Russell. However, as they round the corner Antonelli comes from far back, his tyres smoking, he T-bones Verstappen and causes Lawson and Bortoleto to go wide. Hadjar also has to take avoiding action.

The Safety Car is deployed, as Verstappen and Antonelli climb from their cars, which are both badly damaged.

Norris leads Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Gasly, Albon, Bortoleto, Lawson and Alonso. Gasly has gained four places and Albon 5, while Lawson has dropped three, having been caught out in Antonelli's over-enthusiasm as was Bortoleto.

The Safety Car is withdrawn at the end of Lap 3,

Russell is battling Hamilton for fourth, as Norris posts a new fastest lap (10.254) as he builds a 06.s lead.

"Lewis just closed the door under braking," reports Russell.

With a 1.5s gap to Leclerc, Piastri is hard on the heels on his McLaren teammate. He makes a move in Turn 4 but Norris slams the door firmly shut.

Piastri, 2.2s clear of Leclerc, posts a new fastest lap (9.340).

"Your call on the racing situation," Piastri is told as Bearman passes Colapinto for eleventh.

Hamilot9on has dropped 2s behind Leclerc and Russell a further 1.9s, while Albon, who has passed Gasly, heads a DRS train that includes the remainder of the field.

Struggling on his softs, Gasly is under pressure from Bortoleto.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Zeltweg here.