Hamilton takes pole at Austrian GP

Lewis Hamilton signs autographs for his fans after the race.
Lewis Hamilton signs autographs for his fans after the race.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start Austrian Grand Prix Formula One race from pole position despite spinning off in the dying seconds of qualifying, thanks to teammate Nico Rosberg also making an error on the very last turn of his final flying lap here.

Both Mercedes drivers were pushing so hard that they went off on their final laps, Hamilton spinning at Turn 1 and Nico Rosberg going off at the final corner after having been quicker than his teammate in the previous sectors.

Hamilton’s pole was his seventh in eight races this year.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third from Williams’s Felipe Massa. Nico Hulkenberg was fifth for Force India ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.

And there was another highly impressive performance from 17-year-old Max Verstappen, who put the Toro Rosso seventh.