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Bottas on pole in Austria, Vettel out in Q2 - Qualifying report
Valtteri Bottas took pole for the Austrian Grand Prix, as he beat Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The Mercedes driver turned out to be the fastest of the bunch on Saturday afternoon at the Red Bull Ring with a 1:02.939. The Finn will be joined by teammate Lewis Hamilton on the front row of the grid. Third place went to Max Verstappen. The gap to Mercedes was more than half a second.
Expected names killed in Q1
Verstappen who immediately set the fastest time in his first run on the asphalt.He managed to keep the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton behind him in Q1. The drivers eliminated in Q1 were: Kevin Magnussen, George Russell, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen and Nicholas Latifi. The Canadian debutant was seven tenths short, where Russell was only one tenth short.
Ferrari with big problems, Verstappen takes risks
In Q2, Verstappen was the only driver who dared to go out on mediums. However, the eight time race winner was P8 during his first attempt, but immediately after he managed to improve to sixth place with a 1:14.000.
Charles Leclerc struggled to P10, but teammate Sebastian Vettel will start in 11th after a poor qualifying for the Scuderia. Esteban Ocon, Daniil Kvyat, Romain Grosjean and Pierre Gasly also fell at the second hurdle.
Mercedes lead the way
Mercedes have been the team to beat all weekend and in Q3 it was no different. Valtteri Bottas dipped below 1:03 on his first run and it was enough for P1 as he managed to keep Lewis Hamilton behind him. Verstappen starts in third place six tenths off of Bottas' time. Albon will star fourth. Despite running onto the gravel on his second run Bottas' first run was enough for pole position.