Austrian GP: Valtteri Bottas fastest in final practice
- Published
Valtteri Bottas broke the Mercedes dominance of most practice sessions in 2014
Williams' Valtteri Bottas narrowly beat Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in final practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Finn was just 0.05secs quicker than Hamilton, who was 0.053secs clear of the second Williams of Felipe Massa.
Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat took fourth, ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
The field was tightly packed around the short lap at the challenging Red Bull Ring, with 0.079secs covering the first four and 0.2secs the top six.
The fastest Red Bull was just seventh on the team's home circuit, in the hands of Daniel Ricciardo, who was 0.17secs quicker than his four-time world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel in 10th.
McLaren's Kevin Magnussen was eighth, with team-mate Jenson Button missing most of the session with brake problems.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was ninth, again struggling compared to team-mate Alonso, 0.434secs adrift of the Spaniard.
BBC F1 analyst Allan McNish said: "We've seen a very close battle and it's quite mouth-watering for this afternoon. The usual people are at the front but there is a little bit of added spice in there.
"I think Mercedes still have a bit of an advantage but Williams could well be on the second row behind them."
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was 11th, his team-mate Sergio Perez in 15th after two spectacular off-track moments at the final corner, in the second of which his car's nose bounced waist-height off the ground.
- Published20 June 2014
- Published20 June 2014
- Published26 February 2019
