Lewis Hamilton takes penalty for Austrian GP as Bottas takes pole

Lewis Hamilton will start the Austrian Grand Prix in eighth place with title rival Sebastian Vettel second behind Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton, who started the weekend knowing he would drop five grid places because of a gearbox penalty, had a scrappy session, with numerous errors.

It leaves him with a difficult task to limit the damage to his title hopes as Vettel has a 14-point advantage.

It is the first race since their collision in Azerbaijan.

Vettel publicly apologised for deliberately driving into Hamilton during the race in Baku upon his arrival in Austria, after governing body the FIA decided not to take any further action against the four-time world champion at a meeting on Monday.

However, Vettel has been warned that any similar incident of a loss of temper in the racing car could have severe consequences.

Hamilton sought out Vettel to shake his hand as they waited on the grid for their post-qualifying television interviews, but refused to shake it again when asked by the interviewer. Hamilton then beckoned team-mate Bottas over before heading to the garage.

Hamilton has said he has accepted Vettel's apology and that his main concern was that he withdraw the accusation made in Baku that Hamilton 'brake-tested' him.

The final battle in the dying seconds of the session fizzled out as Romain Grosjean's Haas ground to a halt with engine problems at the exit of the Turn Three hairpin.

But Hamilton had already probably thrown away his chance of qualifying fastest - and therefore starting sixth - with an error at Turn One, his Mercedes clouting the kerb on the inside, losing speed up the long straight that followed it and dropping 0.3secs in the final sector.

Hamilton, who was quickest in the first qualifying session, might have had time for another lap but Grosjean's stranded Haas put paid to that.

Hamilton had also had a scrappy first run, in which he was 0.173secs slower than Bottas, who takes his second pole of the session.

Vettel, who described the end of the session as "an anti-climax", missed out by just 0.042secs.

Hamilton's engineers have gambled on a different tyre strategy for the race - he will start on the super-soft tyre while all around him in the top 10 will be on the ultra-soft.

The plan is possibly to run a longer first stint and certainly be on the quicker tyre at the end of the race.

He said: "I hoped to be higher up but it wasn't to be. But I plan to be on the podium and make it a one-two with Valtteri."

He added that he did not think the tyre choice would make much difference.

"I don't think the tyre will make a big difference," he said. "It is a slower tyre. But lots of things can happen, rain, safety cars. We shall see."

Being in eighth rather sixth means Hamilton has a tougher task getting into the podium positions.

He will have to negotiate a way past Force India's Sergio Perez, Grosjean and both Red Bulls before he gets in the mix with the other drivers in the top two teams.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completed the top four but was 0.486secs slower than Vettel - a significant margin on one of the shortest laps of the year.

Raikkonen was only just ahead of the Red Bulls, with Daniel Ricciardo ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen for the first time since the Russian Grand Prix at the end of April.

Verstappen had a difficult session, a number of mistakes ending with a spin at Turn Five as he complained of a lack of grip and balance.

Polesitter Bottas: "Really enjoyed it today and when you enjoy it usually the result is good. Got the car nice and stable for qualifying and was able to build up the confidence and this is a track where you really need it in the high-speed corners."

Vettel: "Q3 was pretty good. I was very happy with the lap. The story continues between us two. It is a short track, not easy to get everything right so overall I'm happy."

Hamilton: "No real issues. Car was good. Valtteri did a fantastic job. And I just didn't hook it up in Q3. Q1 and Q2 was good but Q3 was so-so."