Valtteri Bottas took the pole position for the ninth race of the 2018 Formula 1 season, the Austrian Grand Prix, at the Red Bull Ring.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas has not started from the pole position for a Formula 1 race since last year’s season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That is set to change tomorrow in the Austrian Grand Prix.
Bottas took the pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix, the ninth race of the 21-race Formula 1 season, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, is set to start the race beside him on the front row.
Bottas recorded a top lap time of 63.130 seconds (152.999 miles per hour) around the 10-turn, 2.683-mile (4.318-kilometer) Red Bull Ring road course to claim the pole position, which is the fifth pole position of his Formula 1 career. His top lap time was just 0.019 seconds quicker than the top lap time of Hamilton, which was 63.149 seconds (152.953 miles per hour).
Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers are set to start the race on the second row behind the Mercedes teammates. Sebastian Vettel is set to start the race in third place with Kimi Raikkonen alongside him in fourth.
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Race polesitters have won each of the last four Formula 1 races going all the way bay to the fifth race of the season, Spanish Grand Prix, which was held on Sunday, May 13 and won by Hamilton.
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, who is set to start the Austrian Grand Prix in seventh place, took the pole position and led every lap of the Monaco Grand Prix to claim his second victory of the season, and Vettel did the same thing in the Canadian Grand Prix to claim his third victory of the season. Hamilton led all but one lap of the French Grand Prix after starting from the pole position en route to his third victory of the season.
The last race that was not won by the race polesitter was the fourth race of the season, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Vettel started that race from the pole position, but Hamilton was victorious for the first time in 2018 after starting in second place.
Bottas has not won a race yet this season. In fact, the last race he won was last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That race win was the third of his Formula 1 career. He also won last year’s Austrian Grand Prix after starting from the pole position and leading 69 of the race’s 71 laps.
Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine |
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | #77, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Mercedes |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | #44, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Mercedes |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | #5, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | #7, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Renault |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | #8, Haas, Ferrari |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | #3, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Renault |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | #20, Haas, Ferrari |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | #55, Renault Sport, Renault |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | #27, Renault Sport, Renault |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | #31, Sahara Force India, Mercedes |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | #10, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Honda |
| 13 | Charles Leclerc | #16, Alfa Romeo Sauber, Ferrari |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | #14, McLaren, Renault |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | #18, Williams Martini Racing, Mercedes |
| 16 | Stoffel Vandoorne | #2, McLaren, Renault |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | #11, Sahara Force India, Mercedes |
| 18 | Sergey Sirotkin | #35, Williams Martini Racing, Mercedes |
| 19 | Brendon Hartley | #28, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Honda |
| 20 | Marcus Ericsson | #9, Alfa Romeo Sauber, Ferrari |
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ESPN2 is set to broadcast the Austrian Grand Prix live this Sunday, July 1. Be sure to tune in at 9:10 a.m. ET to catch all of the action from the ninth race of the 2018 Formula 1 season from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. Will Valtteri Bottas earn his first victory of the year?