Valtteri Bottas will be on pole position for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday after edging out Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying.
Bottas, who won last year’s Austrian GP, claimed his first pole of the season after finishing two hundredths of a second ahead of Hamilton for a Mercedes one-two.
Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will start in third and fourth respectively. While Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth and Haas’ Romain Grosjean drove superbly to finish sixth.
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After claiming pole, Bottas told the BBC: “The whole weekend we’ve been making good progress with the set-up. We’ve been working to get the car well balanced with the new bits. We did and the car felt so good.
“I knew in the last run there was still a tenth or so I could improve from the first run, I managed to find it and apparently I needed it.”
World champion Hamilton added: “Not too bad I’m happy, Valtteri did a stunning lap with the first run and I made a bit of a mistake. I’m happy with the second run, it is a good result for the team.”
Austrian GP provisional grid after qualifying
- 1 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- 2 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- 4 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- 5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 6 Romain Grosjean (Haas)
- 7 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- 8 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- 9 Carlos Sainz (Renault)
- 10 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
- 11 Esteban Ocon (Force India)
- 12 Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
- 13 Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
- 14 Lance Stroll (Williams)
- 15 Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
- 16 Sergio Perez (Force India)
- 17 Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
- 18 Charles Leclerc (Sauber) - five-place penalty after gearbox change
- 19 Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
- 20 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix guide
- When: Sunday 1 July
- Where: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
- Race start time: 2.10pm (UK time)
- First grand prix: 1970
- Number of laps: 71
- Circuit length: 4.318km (2.68 miles)
- Race distance: 306.452km (190.4 miles)
- Lap record: 1:07.411 by Lewis Hamilton in 2017
- Race information: f1.com
- 2017 podium: 1st Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 2nd Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), 3rd Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)
When does the Austrian GP start?
The start time for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday is 2.10pm.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix on TV
Sky Sports F1 and Channel 4 will show live coverage of the Austrian GP.
Sky Sports F1’s Austrian GP schedule (all times UK)
Sunday 1 July
- 12.30pm: Austrian GP Pit Lane
- 1.30pm: Austrian GP On The Grid
- 2.10pm: F1 Austrian Grand Prix race live
- 4.30pm: Austrian GP Paddock
Channel 4’s F1 Austrian GP schedule
Sunday 1 July
- Race build-up at 1pm and live coverage of the Austrian GP from 1.40pm
Austrian GP betting odds
Latest prices according to Oddschecker (as of 30 June).
To win the Austrian GP
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): 6/5
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari): 5/1
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes): 11/2
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari): 25/1
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 33/1
- Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): 66/1
- Romain Grosjean (Haas): 500/1
F1 standings
How the F1 drivers’ championship table looks after eight races:
- 1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 145 points
- 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 131
- 3 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing) 96
- 4 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 92
- 5 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 83
- 6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 68
- 7 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 34
- 8 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 32
- 9 Carlos Sainz (Renault) 28
- 10 Kevin Magnussen (Hass) 27
How the F1 constructors’ championship table looks:
- 1. Mercedes 237 points
- 2. Ferrari 214
- 3. Red Bull 164
- 4. Renault 62
- 5. McLaren 40
- 6. Force India 28
- 7. Haas 27
- 8. Toro Rosso 19
- 9. Sauber 13
- 10. Williams 4
