Bottas on pole in Austrian Grand Prix – Hamilton starts EIGHTH

Valtteri Bottas has taken pole position at the 2017 Austrian Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second. Lewis Hamilton starts in eighth place.

Lewis Hamilton knew he would have to be on top form to have a chance at winning the Austrian Grand Prix, but even if he took pole he’d still start in sixth as he was carrying a five-place penalty for changing a gearbox. But he wasn’t on top form.

Although he was quickest in Q1, he looked far from together in final qualifying and, partly because of a spin by Grosjean stopping him from having a last qualifying lap, the best he could manage was third – which means he starts in eighth.

At the front will be Bottas in his Mercedes – who beat Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari by just 0.042s – and Kimmi Raikkonen starts third, followed by the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen and the Has of Grosjean. Which means Hamilton has a lot to do just to get in touch with the front in the race.

The rest of the top ten is made up of the Force Indias of Perez and Ocon.

It was a miserable qualifying for Williams, with Massa starting in 17th and Stroll in 18th, and McLaren fared only slightly better with Alonso starting 12th and Vandoorne 13th.

But tomorrow’s race does hold promise as Hamilton strives to stop Sebastian Vettel extending his 14 point lead.