Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel row remains centre stage as Valtteri Bottas takes Austrian Grand Prix pole

As is protocol the top three drivers were interviewed on the grid after the qualifying session, with the host asking for Vettel and Hamilton to shake hands only for the latter to walk away

Saturday 08 July 2017 14:16 BST
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Valtteri Bottas took pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix
Valtteri Bottas took pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel's high-profile row continued to take centre stage as Valtteri Bottas qualified fastest ahead of Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.

Vettel finished ahead of Hamilton in Azerbaijan a week ago to add to his title lead despite being hit with a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for deliberately driving his Ferrari into the Brit.

The four-time world champion escaped further punishment after a meeting with the FIA on Monday and the pair said earlier in the week that they are now fully focused on winning here.

As is protocol the top three drivers were interviewed on the grid after the qualifying session, with the host asking for Vettel and Hamilton to shake hands only for the latter to walk away. It is understood the pair did shake hands before the interview.

Hamilton congratulated his team-mate on just his second pole position in F1 and said he was aiming to share the top steps of Sunday's podium with the Finn.

"Firstly, congratulations to Valtteri - he did a fantastic job. He has been quick all weekend and Sebastian has been very quick," said Hamilton. "It just wasn't meant to be today. I will do the best job I can, obviously I want to get up there and get a one-two with Valtteri."

Bottas took pole position for Sunday's race with a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change meaning Mercedes teammate Hamilton, third quickest, will start from eighth.

With Hamilton displaced, Kimi Raikkonen will start behind Ferrari teammate Vettel in third and will share the second row with Azerbaijan race-winner Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull's home race.

The sister Red Bull of Max Verstappen is fifth while Romain Grosjean will start sixth for Haas.

Vettel and Hamilton clashed last weekend 

It is the equal-best starting position for Haas, although Grosjean struggled at the end of the session and pulled over to bring out yellow flags and ruin any last-gasp improvements.

Hamilton will slot in in eighth ahead of the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

Nico Hulkenberg came within 0.010 seconds of making it into Q3 but dropped out and will start 11th for Renault.​

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