Bottas edges Hamilton as Mercedes takes front row
SPIELBERG, Austria — Valtteri Bottas edged teammate Lewis Hamilton for pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix as Mercedes locked up the front row of the grid for the third time this season on Saturday.
Bottas led Hamilton by 0.019 seconds to get his first pole of the season. The Finnish driver also started in front last year and went on to win the race.
“I can guarantee I am more hungry for the win than anyone on the grid,” Bottas said.
Sebastian Vettel was more than three-tenths off the pace in third, followed by Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen. In a duel of two four-time world champions, Vettel trails leader Hamilton by 14 points going into Sunday’s ninth of 21 races. Bottas took advantage of mistakes by Hamilton and Vettel in the final third of qualifying, and neither could match the Finn’s speed in their final laps.
“I knew I needed a banker to make safe I qualified in a good position,” Vettel said. “I had a bit left but not enough to challenge Valtteri.”
Vettel was under investigation by race stewards for allegedly impeding Carlos Sainz, who told his team, Renault: “I had to take a kerb to avoid him, I nearly crashed.”
Underlining his potential, Charles Leclerc became the first Sauber driver since 2014 to reach the second qualifying round in six straight races. The Monaco-born driver posted the 13th quickest time but will have to start from 18th following a grid penalty.
Hamilton and Bottas dominated practice on Friday after the team applied several aerodynamic changes to their cars, including a new side pod design and an adapted front and rear wings.