Valtteri Bottas takes pole in Austria Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel gets penalty
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari had claimed third place behind Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in the Austria GP qualifying, but the former was given three-place penalty
Valtteri Bottas roared to pole position ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Saturday’s tense and closely-contested qualifying for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The softly-spoken Finn clocked a track record fastest lap in 1min 03.130sec to outstrip Hamilton by 0.019 seconds as Mercedes reeled off their third front row lockout of the season.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari claimed third with a late fast lap in the final minute to push his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen down to fourth. But he was handed a three-place grid penalty for the Austrian Grand Prix after stewards ruled he had impeded Renault’s Carlos Sainz in qualifying.
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Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull ahead of Romain Grosjean of Haas, Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull and Kevin Magnussen in the second Ferrari-powered Haas.
Carlos Sainz was ninth ahead of his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.