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Felipe Massa has
headed up an all-Williams front row, using the Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft
tyre. This was Massa 16th pole but his first since Brazil 2008, and the
first all-Williams front row since the 2003 German Grand Prix. It is also
the first time this season that a Mercedes has not claimed pole position.
Drivers followed the expected pattern in qualifying, with the frontrunners
using the P Zero Yellow soft tyre to get through Q1, before moving onto the
P Zero Red supersoft from Q2 onwards. With Spielberg being one of the
shortest laps of the year, traffic was an issue as drivers tried to ensure a
clean run.
Most used two new sets of supersofts in Q2, with Mercedes driver Lewis
Hamilton using just one set. However it was Williams driver Valtteri Bottas
who set the benchmark on his first run in Q3, before being beaten by his
team mate Massa on the second run with new supersofts. Temperatures were
warm, in excess of 20 degrees centigrade, which is expected to be the case
for the race tomorrow as well.
Bottas was quickest in the final free practice session this morning, using
the supersoft, with a rapid final lap that put him in front of Hamilton’s
Mercedes.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “To have two
Williams on the front row tomorrow, for the first time since 2003, just goes
to show what an exciting season we are having on track. We’ve seen one of
the most fascinating qualifying sessions of the year, with different teams
using the tyres in different ways. As a result, we are set for a very
interesting battle tomorrow with eight different teams in the top 10. Two
stops is expected to be the most likely strategy but just as was the case in
Canada some teams might try a one-stopper, depending on factors such as
safety cars. The warmer conditions of today should remain for the race, so
the teams now have some relevant data behind them to calculate their optimal
strategies.”
The Pirelli strategy predictor:
The Austrian Grand Prix is 71 laps long, with a two-stop strategy most
likely, but a one-stop theoretically the quickest: start on supersoft, then
change to soft on lap 18.
However, with overtaking difficult, a two-stop strategy could provide
opportunities to gain track position.
An two-stop strategy is: start on supersoft, change to soft on lap 13 and
soft again on lap 42. A soft-soft-supersoft strategy, with the changes on
laps 29 and 58, could also work in Austria, for those starting further down
the grid. |
