Bottas delivers Spielberg epic for pole
Bottas delivers Spielberg epic for pole
Valtteri Bottas took his first pole position of the season and second in as many years at the Austrian Grand Prix, delivering a blistering performance to lead a front-row lockout for Mercedes ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The Silver Arrows look odds-on to continue their winning streak at the Red Bull Ring thanks to a raft of aero upgrades.
Sebastian Vettel had to settle for third after initially setting the pace, but Bottas came to the fore in the top-10 shootout, with Hamilton unable to touch his team-mate.
Vettel could end up losing third place, after blocking Carlos Sainz Jr during Q2, which prompted a stewards' enquiry.
Bottas stopped the clock at one minute 3.130 seconds on his final flying run, demolishing the outright lap record he had set 12 months ago.
He converted that pole to a win last year and will hope to put a run of poor fortune to bed with victory on Sunday.
Kimi Raikkonen joins Vettel on the second row, but there was a shock behind, with Romain Grosjean splitting the Red Bulls to qualify sixth - the Frenchman giving himself a perfect platform to break his points drought in 2018.
Max Verstappen is alongside Grosjean on row three, with Daniel Ricciardo starting seventh, with Kevin Magnussen and the Renault pair of Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg also in the top 10.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION
Q2
McLaren might have to get creative for Sunday after Fernando Alonso broke their third front wing of the weekend while pushing on his final flying lap. Charles Leclerc qualified 13th, but will start 18th after taking a new gearbox for qualifying. Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll exited in this round.
Q1
Sergio Perez was the surprise departure in Q1, with traffic and a late yellow flag doing for the Force India man. Stoffel Vandoorne, Sergey Sirotkin, Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson were more familiar early leavers. Stroll's yelp of "YES!" when informed he was into Q2 is a sad indictment of Williams' continued slump.
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 News Today: Hamilton and Verstappen rivalry takes SHOCK twist as F1 team 'set to announce' mega signing
- 1 hour ago
Horner Red Bull saga in new 'evidence' update as big F1 star left 'very angry' - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
Cocky sporting legend CHALLENGES Hamilton in stunning claim
- Yesterday 22:57
Ricciardo boss in 'super disappointing' claim amid RB stars' performance
- Yesterday 21:57
F1 team 'set to announce MEGA signing' in major Red Bull challenge
- Yesterday 20:57
Horner in BRUTAL Wolff swipe amid Verstappen to Mercedes links
- Yesterday 19:57
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860