F1: Williams front row at Red Bull Ring

[Howard]

Felipe Massa claimed his first pole since 2008 as Williams locked out the front row in Austria.

Williams were also fastest in free practice three, with Bottas upstaging Mercedes late in the session. The Finn was only 0.050s up on Hamilton, and Massa was only 0.003s behind the Brit in third. Fourth place Daniil Kvyat was also within a tenth of Bottas' quickest lap.

Rosberg was only fifth after an issue with his differential led to handling problems.

Alonso improved on Friday posting a 1m10.054, however he dropped three positions to sixth. Ricciardo and Magnussen followed the Spaniard. Kimi Raikkonen was ninth, heading Sebastian Vettel, Hulkenberg and Maldonado's Lotus.

All these drivers were within a second of Bottas. The short, but high speed, nature of the track is to blame. Times are only around 70 seconds, and the circuit only consists of nine corners.

Jean-Eric Vergne was left 13th after a disappointing day. Romain Grosjean, Perez, the Sauber pair of Sutil and Gutierrez and Bianchi's Marussia round out the top 18.

Kamui Kobayashi improved to 1m12.320s for Caterham, ahead of teammate Ericsson on 1m12.892s. Max Chilton was plagued with problems, and finished second from bottom.

The final car on the billing was Jenson Button, who only managed four laps after losing engine braking and suffering a small brake fire.

In qualifying, Massa finished 0.087s ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas to complete a Williams front row, the first since the 2003 German Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg was third fastest, however teammate Lewis Hamilton was unable to set a time in Q3 after a spin in the closing stages of qualifying.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso will start fourth, ahead of the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian's teammate, Vettel, was knocked out in Q2 and will start 12th after qualifying 13th. This is due to Sergio Perez's penalty after a collision with Massa in Canada.

Many drivers had times disallowed for not respecting track limits on the straight between turn 8 and turn 9. One occasion saw Sutil's time be disallowed, leaving him 17th. His time (1m10.774s) would have been enough to make it into Q2.

Gutiererz in the other Sauber was also knocked out in Q1, just ahead of Jules Bianchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Max Chilton and Marcus Ericsson.

Free Practice 3

1. Valtteri Bottas #77, Williams, 1:09.848
2. Lewis Hamilton #44, Mercedes, 1:09.898, +0.050
3. Felipe Massa #19, Williams, 1:09.901, +0.053
4. Daniil Kvyat #26, Toro Rosso, 1:09.927, +0.079
5. Nico Rosberg #6, Mercedes, 1:09.999, +0.151
6. Fernando Alonso #14, Ferrari, 1:10.054, +0.206
7. Daniel Ricciardo #3, Red Bull, 1:10.392, +0.544
8. Kevin Magnussen #20, McLaren, 1:10.449, +0.601
9. Kimi Raikkonen #7, Ferrari, 1:10.488, +0.640
10. Sebastian Vettel #1, Red Bull, 1:10.562, +0.714
11. Nico Hulkenberg #27, Force India, 1:10.683, +0.835
12. Pastor Maldonado #13, Lotus, 1:10.776, +0.928
13. Jean-Eric Vergne #25, Toro Rosso, 1:11.043, +1.195
14. Romain Grosjean #8, Lotus, 1:11.103, +1.255
15. Sergio Perez #11, Force India, 1:11.235, +1.387
16. Adrian Sutil #99, Sauber, 1:11.294, +1.446
17. Esteban Gutierrez #21, Sauber, 1:11.558, +1.710
18. Jules Bianchi #17, Marussia, 1:11.848, +2.000
19. Kamui Kobayashi #10, Caterham, 1:12.320, +2.472
20. Marcus Ericsson #9, Caterham, 1:12.892, +3.044
21. Max Chilton #4, Marussia, 1:12.915, +3.067
22. Jenson Button #22, McLaren, 1:14.237, +4.389

Qualifying

1. Felipe Massa #19, Williams, Q1 1:10.292, Q2 1:09.239, Q3 1:08.759
2. Valtteri Bottas #77, Williams, Q1 1:10.356, Q2 1:09.096, Q3, 1:08.846
3. Nico Rosberg #6, Mercedes, Q1 1:09.695, Q2 1:08.974, Q3 1:08.944
4. Fernando Alonso #14, Ferrari, Q1 1:10.405, Q2 1:09.479, Q3 1:09.285
5. Daniel Ricciardo #3, Red Bull, Q1 1:10.395, Q2 1:09.638, Q3 1:09.466
6. Kevin Magnussen #20, McLaren, Q1 1:10.081, Q2 1:09.473, Q3 1:09.515
7. Daniil Kvyat #26, Toro Rosso, Q1 1:09.678, Q2 1:09.490, Q3 1:09.619
8. Kimi Raikkonen #7, Ferrari, Q1 1:10.285, Q2 1:09.657, Q3 1:10.795
9. Lewis Hamilton #44, Mercedes, Q1 1:09.514, Q2 1:09.092, Q3 No time
10. Nico Hulkenberg #27, Force India, Q1 1:10.389, Q2 1:09.624, Q3 No time
11. Sergio Perez #11, Force India, Q1 1:10.124, Q2 1:09.754
12. Jenson Button #22, McLaren, Q1 1:10.252, Q2 1:09.780
13. Sebastian Vettel #1, Red Bull, Q1 1:10.630, Q2 1:09.801
14. Pastor Maldonado #13, Lotus, Q1 1:10.821, Q2 1:09.939
15. Jean-Eric Vergne #25, Toro Rosso, Q1 1:10.161, Q2 1:10.073
16. Romain Grosjean #8, Lotus, Q1 1:10.461, Q2 1:10.642
17. Adrian Sutil #99, Sauber, Q1 1:10.825
18. Esteban Gutierrez #21, Sauber, 1:11.349
19. Jules Bianchi #17, Marussia, 1:11.412
20. Kamui Kobayashi #10, Caterham, 1:11.673
21. Max Chilton #4, Marussia, 1:11.775
22. Marcus Ericsson #9, Caterham, 1:12.673

Images: Williams Martini Racing, Mercedes AMG Petronas​

 

[InsaneOzzie]

I hope the lack of dominance by any one team continues for the rest of the season, F1 has been extremely boring to watch in the previous seasons, it's quite disappointing when one team totally dominates. Don't get me wrong, it's a massive achievement for the team when they can perform at the highest level for a full season, but it's not so enjoyable for the fans, who go to see motor racing, not one team miles ahead every race. And it's not just F1 that had this problem, Aussie V8's was and is dominated by one team and has been for 4 yrs now......BORING!!!

 

[António da Cunha]

I am so happy with this Williams front row start!

Really hope they achieve at least one podium in this race, the team really deserves that for quite some time.

 

[Dovi design]

Yay. Go Williams. Go Martini
Btw, what happened to Hamilton

 

[Deleted member 161052]

Williams are unbeatable...

 

[Milos]

Yay. Go Williams. Go Martini
Btw, what happened to Hamilton

Bad luck?

This Williams front row was so unexpected... First time front row lockout for Williams since 2003!

GO FOR THE WIN VALTERI!!!

 

[Deleted member 161052]

LIKE if you think Massa will win
AGREE if you think Bottas will win

 

[Dovi design]

1-2 for the Mercedes

 

[MustartMatters]

And they have gradually got worse...