Austrian Grand Prix qualifying went from dry to wet and then rapidly dried again. Hamilton took pole with a final push on ultrasoft tyres, while Rosberg and Vettel faced gearbox penalties.
Archive photograph from the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, showing Felipe Massa and Rob Smedley talking in the Williams paddock.
Q1 took place in dry conditions. Hamilton first set a 1:07.014 and then improved his best to 1:06.947. After repairs to his car, Rosberg went fastest with a 1:06.516.
Rain began to fall late in Q2. Hamilton led Rosberg by 0.175 seconds with a 1:06.228. Vettel was third on a 1:06.602 and Räikkönen seventh. Both Ferrari drivers used supersoft tyres in Q2.
Q3 began on a slippery track, with the drivers initially using intermediates before switching to ultrasofts as the surface dried. Hamilton ultimately took pole with a 1:07.922, ahead of Rosberg in second and Hülkenberg in third.
Rosberg and Vettel each received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. Hülkenberg, third on the timesheets, therefore moved up to second on the race grid, while Button qualified fifth and was set to start third.
Pérez suffered a suspected rear suspension problem in Q1 and, although he advanced, was unable to take part in Q2, leaving him sixteenth. Sainz was also unable to run in Q2 and qualified fifteenth. Toro Rosso’s Kvyat ended qualifying twentieth after crashing in Q1.
Bottas qualified eighth, Verstappen ninth and Massa tenth. Haas drivers Gutiérrez and Grosjean were eleventh and thirteenth respectively. Palmer, Haryanto and Nasr each received a three-place grid penalty for yellow-flag infringements in Q1.
Hamilton retained pole, with Hülkenberg promoted to the front row by the penalties and Button moving up to the second row. Kvyat was set to start from the pit lane following chassis and gearbox changes, while post-qualifying technical adjustments could still affect the starting order.
| Position | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:06.947 | 1:06.228 | 1:07.922 | 21 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:06.516 | 1:06.403 | 1:08.465 | 20 |
| 3 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India | 1:07.385 | 1:07.257 | 1:09.285 | 25 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:06.761 | 1:06.602 | 1:09.781 | 18 |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:07.653 | 1:07.572 | 1:09.900 | 22 |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:07.240 | 1:06.940 | 1:09.901 | 21 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:07.500 | 1:06.840 | 1:09.980 | 20 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:07.148 | 1:06.911 | 1:10.440 | 18 |
| 9 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:07.131 | 1:06.866 | 1:11.153 | 17 |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:07.419 | 1:07.145 | 1:11.977 | 21 |
| 11 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Haas | 1:07.660 | 1:07.578 | — | 18 |
| 12 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1:07.565 | 1:07.700 | — | 17 |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:07.662 | 1:07.850 | — | 19 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:07.671 | 1:08.154 | — | 12 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:07.618 | — | — | 10 |
| 16 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:07.657 | — | — | 5 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:07.941 | — | — | 10 |
| 18 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:07.965 | — | — | 9 |
| 19 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1:08.026 | — | — | 11 |
| 20 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:08.409 | — | — | 8 |
| 21 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:08.418 | — | — | 12 |
| 22 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:08.446 | — | — | 13 |
