This archive report was first published on 4 July 2020.
On a warm, sunlit afternoon in the Styrian Alps, Valtteri Bottas delivered a sizzling display to claim pole position for the delayed Austrian Grand Prix.
With a best lap in qualifying in one minute and 2.939 seconds, Bottas outpaced his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who had dominated the three practice sessions on Friday and Saturday morning.
‘It feels really good – I’ve missed this feeling,’ Bottas said, reflecting on his third pole at the Austrian Grand Prix and the 12th of his career.
Hamilton praised Bottas’ performance, saying: ‘A great job by Valtteri and it’s a great start to the season. I think we show year on year that we are the best team – because we are open-minded, keep with the times and nobody is too stubborn to admit they are wrong.’
Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull, half a second adrift of the two Mercedes cars, whose dominating performance delivered a 65th front row lock out for the team, equalling Ferrari’s record.
‘I’m happy to be P3,’ Verstappen said. ‘But we have a different tyre — so it’s going to be interesting.’
