Valtteri Bottas starts the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position, just like he did in 2017, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but with Sebastian Vettel receiving a three-place grid drop for impeding, he drops from third to sixth, promoting his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen as well as Max Verstappen and Haas' Romain Grosjean.
A gearbox penalty for Sauber star Charles Leclerc sees the Monegasque racer drop from his qualifying position of 13th down to 18th, but despite the penalty, he remains ahead of team-mate Marcus Ericsson in last place.
That promotes five drivers; Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Stoffel Vandoorne, Sergio Perez and Sergey Sirotkin.
2018 Austrian Grand Prix – Starting Grid
| Pos | Driver | Team | Penalty | ↑/↓ | |
| 1 |  Valtteri Bottas |
Mercedes |  |
– | |
| 2 |  Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | |
– | |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen |
Ferrari |  |
↑1 | |
| 4 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull |  |
↑1 | |
| 5 |  Romain Grosjean |
Haas |  |
↑1 | |
| 6 |  Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari | |
Penalty | ↓3 |
| 7 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull | |
– | |
| 8 |  Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | |
– | |
| 9 |  Carlos Sainz |
Renault |  |
– | |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg |
Renault | |
– | |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon |
Force India |  |
– | |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly |
Toro Rosso |  |
– | |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso |
McLaren |  |
↑1 | |
| 14 |  Lance Stroll |
Williams |  |
↑1 | |
| 15 |  Stoffel Vandoorne |
McLaren | |
↑1 | |
| 16 |  Sergio Perez |
Force India | |
↑1 | |
| 17 |  Sergey Sirotkin |
Williams | |
↑1 | |
| 18 |  Charles Leclerc |
Sauber |  |
Gearbox | ↓5 |
| 19 |  Brendon Hartley |
Toro Rosso | |
– | |
| 20 |  Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber | |
– |
