Massa and Williams create a surprise at the Austrian GP!

Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix offered its share of surprises. While Mercedes once again seemed favorite for pole, the first row will finally be occupied by the Williams by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas who have shown themselves to be competitive since the first tests. With a time of 1'08"759, the Brazilian was able to beat his teammate by a tenth and thus win the 16th pole of his career, the first since his national Grand Prix in 2008. It is also the first pole for Williams Racing since the 2012 Spanish GP where Pastor Maldonado dominated qualifying… before winning the race.

Nico Rosberg settles for third position, losing out to a tenth of the second Williams. But the Mercedes driver is not the most to be pitied since his teammate Lewis Hamilton will only start from tenth place. The Briton seemed able to take pole but the 2008 world champion spun after braking during his last flying lap. Fernando Alonso thus completes the second line in front of the Red Bull de Daniel Ricciardo who saves the furniture of the Austrian team which plays at home. The results of the day are disappointing for the Red Bull since Sebastian Vettel will only start from 12th position.

Daniil Kvyat cheers up Helmut Marko by placing first Toro Rosso in the seventh row, between the McLaren de Kevin Magnussen and Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen. The reigning GP3 Series champion continues to impress against his teammate Jean-Éric Vergne who will only start from 14th place. Lewis Hamilton will thus share the fifth row of the grid with Nico Hulkenberg who saw his time canceled for exceeding the track limits. The second Force India of Sergio Pérez failed to reach the top ten but the Mexican will have to move back five places on the grid following his penalty maintained after his accident in Montreal. Jenson Button will be the first beneficiary, the Briton having been disrupted by gearbox problems while he was only able to complete four laps during the last practice session.

Lotus F1 Team did not perform miracles on the Spielberg circuit. Pastor Maldonado will start from 13th position while Romain Grosjean will follow two places further behind his compatriot Jean-Éric Vergne. The Saubers once again failed at the gates of Q2, Jules Bianchi being the closest to the Swiss single-seaters with the 19th fastest time. His teammate Max Chilton was ahead of Marcus Ericsson but the Briton will still start from last position following his penalty received in Canada.

The start of the Austrian Grand Prix will be given tomorrow at 14 p.m. and will be followed live on AUTOhebdo.fr. Click on this link to see photos from the weekend.