Austria – Qualifying: Hamilton on pole ahead of Rosberg

The sky is overcast for the start of the Austrian GP qualifying, it is not raining but the track is still wet in places and the rain could return during this session, with a 30% risk. This session is crucial for the McLaren drivers, each of whom will incur a 25-place penalty for various part changes – power unit or gearbox.

Q1: The drivers start on intermediates for their first laps. The Toro Rosso drivers take the lead and maintain it at the beginning of the session, while some drivers go off track like Perez and Stevens. But shortly after, Rosberg takes the lead with a 1:19.039, a little over a tenth ahead of Vettel and 3 ahead of Kvyat and Sainz.

But the Toro Rossos are performing well and Verstappen takes the lead again before the Williams improves, with Bottas ahead of Massa. The drivers have fitted slick tires, mostly super-softs, which explains this change in hierarchy halfway through Q1.

Nasr takes the lead in the session before Button goes faster in his McLaren. Hamilton falls short against his compatriot, but Verstappen reclaims the lead in a truly surprising Toro Rosso under these conditions. However, the Dutchman then sees his teammate take the lead, followed by Hamilton, Ericsson, Vettel, and Rosberg. In short, the drivers swap the lead and the best positions lap after lap.

In the end, Button, who was temporarily first, was eliminated alongside Kimi Räikkönen. It’s not great for the Finn and Ferrari, though he should benefit from his rivals’ penalties to move up a bit on the grid.

Eliminated in Q1: Perez, Button, Räikkönen, Merhi, Stevens

Q2: A Toro Rosso and the Red Bull cars set off as the light just turned green. Sainz sets the first time at 1:16.366, the Red Bull drivers do not perform better unlike Felipe Nasr, Marcus Ericsson, and then Nico Hülkenberg.

Verstappen and then Rosberg fail to surpass the recent German winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But the Mercedes driver succeeds on his second attempt with a time of 1:09.588. Kvyat is 2nd and Hamilton has to settle for the 3rd fastest time.

Less than 5 minutes to the end of Q2, Vettel takes off for the first time, the German is the only one who hasn’t set a time yet. On his first lap, the Ferrari driver falls short by a few thousandths of a second behind Rosberg.

The Mercedes drivers take advantage of the improving track to significantly outpace their rivals, 1:08.634 for Rosberg and 1:09.062 for Hamilton, while Maldonado and Ricciardo, who could have made the top 10, are eliminated. Nasr, on the other hand, qualifies for Q3.

Eliminated in Q2: Maldonado, Ericsson, Sainz, Ricciardo, and Alonso

Q3: Nasr sets off among the first with the Williams, 1:10.573 for the Brazilian, which is better than Massa, Bottas, and Kvyat, but Hülkenberg, Hamilton, and Rosberg do better, 1:08.850 for the German from Mercedes who surpasses his teammate. Rosberg improves again on his next lap, but Hamilton does better this time, 1:08.455 for Hamilton and 1:08.655 for Rosberg, while Vettel is 3rd.

In his last attempt, Hamilton messes up and spins at the first corner while Rosberg also makes a mistake and goes straight off at the last corner, ending up in the gravel. The laps of the first stint were therefore enough for the Mercedes drivers to lock out the front row, with Hamilton ahead of Rosberg.

Vettel is 3rd ahead of Massa, Hülkenberg, Bottas, Verstappen, Kvyat, Nasr, and Grosjean.

2015 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying

Ranking to come…