Just two weeks after Daniel Ricciardo brought Mercedes’ hopes of a perfect season to an end in Canada, Williams sprung another surprise on the Silver Arrows by locking out the front row of the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix.
With Felipe Massa on pole and Valtteri Bottas alongside him, the stage is set for a fascinating race at the Red Bull Ring this morning.
Coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix starts at 7:30am ET on NBCSN and Live Extra. CLICK HERE to watch via live stream.
Two mistakes by Lewis Hamilton in the final stage of qualifying meant that he failed to post a time, and will start ninth on the grid as a result. In a reverse of the incident at Monaco, his second faux pas – an off at turn two – brought out waved yellow flags, forcing teammate Nico Rosberg to back off from his lap. The German driver will start third on the grid.
Ferrari enjoyed a mixed result in qualifying with Fernando Alonso finishing fourth and Kimi Raikkonen in tenth, but for Red Bull, the Saturday of its home event was not an entirely happy one. Sebastian Vettel failed to make it through to Q3, and will start the race in 12th. Daniel Ricciardo salvaged some kind of result for the team in fifth, but after seeing Mercedes slip up again, the defending world champions will be disappointed not to have taken advantage.
With Williams on the front row and the Mercedes ready to charge from further back, we are poised for a brilliant grand prix. After so long away, Austria has found a way back into the heart of the sport with a wonderful event.
You can watch the Austrian Grand Prix live from 7:30am ET on NBCSN and Live Extra. Coverage is expected to continue until 10:30am.
