Austria promised an eventful qualifying session and whilst the result wasn’t extraordinary, not many would have predicted the way in which it happened.
Nico Rosberg initially secured pole with his first run, before Hamilton displaced him on his second attempt. As both started their third and final flying lap it looked as though Rosberg would snatch pole as Hamilton went off at Turn 1.
However Rosberg, clearly pushing and slightly up on Hamilton’s time, went off at the penultimate corner, where he beached his Mercedes in the gravel, ensuring Hamilton remained quickest.
Sebastian Vettel will line-up on the second row, just two-tenths shy of Rosberg’s lap time. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was surprised to finish P17 leaving confusion on his and Ferrari’s faces.
Fresh from his Le Mans victory, Nico Hulkenberg split the Williams pair with Felipe Massa starting fourth and Valtteri Bottas sixth.
Daniil Kvyat was seventh and Max Verstappen eighth, several places ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who could only manage 14th, one place ahead of Fernando Alonso.
Both McLarens will however serve 25-place grid penalty’s – though with them unable to drop that far, drive-through penalty’s will also be served in the opening three laps of the race.
| # | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 01. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:08.455 | ||
| 02. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:08.655 | ||
| 03. | S. Vettel | Ferrari | 1:08.810 | ||
| 04. | F. Massa | Williams | 1:09.192 | ||
| 05. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:09.278 | ||
| 06. | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:09.319 | ||
| 07. | M. Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:09.612 | ||
| 08. | D. Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:09.694 | ||
| 09. | F. Nasr | Sauber | 1:09.713 | ||
| 10. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | No Time | ||
| 11. | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 1:10.374 | ||
| 12. | M. Ericsson | Sauber | 1:10.426 | ||
| 13. | C. Sainz | Sauber | 1:10.465 | ||
| 14. | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:10.482 | ||
| 15. | F. Alonso | McLaren | 1:10.736 | ||
| 16. | S. Perez | Force India | 1:10.522 | ||
| 17. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:12.632 | ||
| 18. | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:12.867 | ||
| 19. | R. Merhi | Manor | 1:14.071 | ||
| 20. | W. Stevens | Manor | 1:15.368 |
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