- Austrian GP - Qualifying
Massa takes surprise pole ahead of Bottas
Felipe Massa will lead an all-Williams front row at the Austrian Grand Prix after taking a surprise pole position at the Red Bull Ring.
Mercedes looked quickest throughout the session, but in Q3 it all fell apart for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, culminating in a Hamilton spin that will see him start from ninth on the grid. Massa, meanwhile, nailed his final Q3 lap to beat team-mate Valtteri Bottas to pole position and lock out the front row for Williams ahead of Rosberg, whose final attempt was hindered by the yellow flags for Hamilton's spin.
Hamilton lost the rear of his Mercedes under braking at Turn 2, pitching him into a 180 degree spin and out of contention. His first attempt was disallowed after he ran wide at Turn 8 and he therefore failed to register a time in Q3 despite looking like the quickest driver. Bottas also made a mistake on his final lap as he ran wide into Turn 7, which may well have been the difference between him and his team-mate.
Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest with a decent effort in his under-performing Ferrari ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, the highest-placed Red Bull. Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat drew on experience in lower formulas at the Red Bull Ring to take sixth and seventh on the grid ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who opted not to set a competitive time in Q3 after struggling in Q1 and Q2. Nico Hulkenberg will start tenth after deciding not to set a time at all in Q3.
Sergio Perez just missed the cut for the top ten but will drop to 15th once his penalty from the Canadian Grand Prix is applied to the grid. That will move Jenson Button up to 11th, but the McLaren driver was still over 0.3s shy of his team-mate Magnussen in Q2. Sebastian Vettel's disappointing weekend continued and he will start 12th on the gird ahead of Pastor Maldonado. Jean-Eric Vergne failed to match the heroics of Toro Rosso team-mate Kvyat and will start 15th ahead of of Romain Grosjean in 16th.
The Saubers, Marussias and Caterhams all dropped out in Q1, with several drivers straying wide at Turn 8 and having times disallowed. Adrian Sutil, who qualified 17th, would have made Q2 had he not run wide by a matter of millimetres, while Esteban Gutierrez, Jukes Bianchi and Marcus Ericsson all had times wiped as well. Max Chilton will receive a three-place grid penalty and start from last on the grid behind Marcus Ericsson.
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