Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

The kerbs have been a talking point all weekend, with a number of suspension failures. Max Verstappen’s on Friday was simple carelessness. But those afflicting Nico Rosberg, Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat on Saturday were more worrying as they were created by what Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff described as "some kind of strange frequency or oscillation on the tyre that makes the suspension break". 

It’s not the bright yellow kerbs on the far extremity that are causing the problems, but the 50mm high metre width of red ones just inside them. Some drivers felt changes should be made, but the FIA has decided to leave them as they are - as a deterrent. And told the drivers to stay off them if they are concerned.  

Image source, .

David Coulthard was the last non-German to win in Austria. Although there have only been four races since then - two victories for Michael Schumacher and two for Nico Rosberg.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

For Nico Hulkenberg, his stellar qualifying performance was a flashback to his pole position in similar circumstances for Williams back in Brazil in 2010. "It reminded me a lot about Brazil and I was feeling really good in the car," he said. 

Force India have quietly turned into a very impressive contender after the upgrade they put on the car for the Spanish Grand Prix. Sergio Perez has been on the podium in two of the last three races, and this is as good a chance as Hulkenberg is going to get to be up there for the first time in his career. 

"Our car has made huge steps forwards since Barcelona really and ever since we’ve scored a lot of points and a few podiums so yeah, we’re on a good slope, we have good momentum and just try to carry it into tomorrow and make it into another good Sunday."   

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Who has a thumb, a big straw and is second on the grid?

This guy.

Nico Hulkenberg finished in P3 in qualifying - but Nico Rosberg's penalty bumps him up to the front row.

He's never finished a race higher than fourth - Belgium 2012 and Korea 2013

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RightTurnLover: Would love to see Jenson Button come race in @FIAWEC (World Endurance Championship), he'd not only be a good addition as a driver but also as a personality

kernowboykuwait: Button should take over the Milk Street Brewery in Frome - home of The Griffin pub - and show where his roots lie.

Alex Withington: Button doing a solid job vs. Alonso at McLaren so he should stay if he can, Williams a good bet if he's replaced by Vandoorne

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Rex Features

Strategy is a bit of an unknown this weekend because the rain on Friday afternoon affected the teams’ tyre assessment programmes. If the race is dry, it is projected to be between a one-stop and a two-stop, with a two-stop being faster. 

The life of the tyres is estimated at approximately 15 laps for the ultra-soft, 30 for the super-soft and 40 for the soft. Which makes a one-stop look very difficult if not impossible for those in the top 10 starting on the ultra-soft (everyone but the Red Bulls and Ferraris). In the wet, of course, tyre choice is free and all that goes out of the window.

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Walker: Jenson should stay at McLaren and start winning races again. Go man go! Best chance you've had for a long long time.

Nigel Nother: Jenson to Williams as driver for next year, then into management with them, great ambassador 

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This is the standout moment of the drivers' parade.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Rex Features

A mixed-up grid always tends to spice up a race and it does not get much more mixed up than a Force India and a McLaren in second and third. 

Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button both did superb jobs in the drying conditions in Q3 and ended up third and fifth - and were promoted because of the five-place grid penalties for illegal gearbox changes to Nico Rosberg in second and Sebastian Vettel in fourth. Both were delighted. 

Button said: "P5 in qualifying, starting P3, it's madness. P3 is luck, but P5 wasn't luck, we did a really good job. I'm so happy. It feels like a pole position for me. Whatever happens tomorrow we'll enjoy today."

But Button is not confident of staying in that position. "We have to enjoy the moment," he said, "what we did and how much we got out of the car. We’re in a great starting position and we’ve made the race a lot easier for ourselves and now it is about giving our all and keeping our heads and not leaving anything on the table. We are pretty good at starts and so we could have a good race but I have a Mercedes, two Ferraris and two Red Bulls behind, who are much quicker than us."

It's spitting! It's spitting! Everybody in!

Image source, Getty Images/Reuters

There's some other news post-qualifying too. Daniil Kvyat will start from the pits after requiring a new gear box and chassis overnight, following his crash yesterday.

And there have been three-place penalties for Jolyon Palmer, Felipe Nasr and Rio Haryanto after they failed to slow through yellow flags in the aftermath of Kvyat's crash.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Rex Features

How is Jenson Button third on the grid and team-mate Fernando Alonso 14th? Bad luck is the answer. 

The two had been separated by hundredths all weekend - sometimes one quicker, sometimes the other. And the last place in the top 10 was always likely to be between the two of them. Alonso was quicker on the first run in Q1; Button the second. Then in Q2, it all went wrong for Alonso. When his mechanics took his tyre warmers off for the start of his first run, they found the car had been fitted incorrectly with used tyres rather than new. 

With rain coming and no new tyres ready, there was no time to change them - so he was half a second and more off Button on that run. Inevitably. At that point, he felt he’d be OK, because the rain was holding off, but when he went out on new tyres, he got yellow flags on his one lap, which meant he could not improve, then Daniil Kvyat’s crash brought out the red flag, and then it rained. Alonso called the tyre mix-up a "primary school error" but in the circumstances was remarkably calm - but it was clearly burning him up that such a good opportunity had been wasted.

Image source, Getty Images

All the talk is that Jenson Button is out of the McLaren door at the end of the season - but what's this? Out of nowhere, the former world champion is third on the grid today.

Good on you, Jenson. Stick it to the man.

So, we need your help to plan out Jenson's next career move - I'm sure he will appreciate the advice.

Do you fight for your McLaren seat? Do you pick another team? Or do you retire and set up a fishery in the countryside near Frome?

All your ideas are welcome. What should Button do next? Tell us on #bbcf1

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Rex Features

Lewis Hamilton at no point this weekend looked the most likely to be fastest in qualifying. Until the point that he was. Hamilton admitted he had had to work up to the pace of team-mate Nico Rosberg. 

"Nico had been performing well all weekend and it was just chipping away at improvements, constantly looking at my data, trying to figure out where I was losing the time and how I could improve," Hamilton said. "Bit by bit, corner by corner. At one point there’s five corners where I’m down, then it’s four corners, then two, then just one. 

“Then it rained and I was thinking: ‘Jeez, I’ve finally got into this position where I can perhaps battle for pole with Nico and now it’s rained.’ But fortunately those are conditions I like as well, so it made it a little bit easier, I have to say, when it got into those conditions ‘cos it’s then a bit more about who takes the most risk, I guess.’ 

Hamilton did it - to the tune of more than half a second. And a pole that at one point it looked like he might inherit as a result of his team-mate’s gearbox penalty, he had earned on merit.”

Image source, Reuters

Nico Rosberg finished second in qualifying.

But he had a five-place grid penalty for changing gear boxes.

So two plus five equals... (carry the four, divide by nine, square route of 91) seven. It equals seven.

But Rosberg is sixth on the grid?

How? Why? My head hurt.

Because Bernie Ecclestone has the ability to change the laws of mathematics, don't you know.

Oh wait. It's because fourth-placed Sebastian Vettel takes his five-place penalty first, so that pushes Nico up onto the third row.

Cheeky.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Rex Features

What a season this is turning out to be - and what a race weekend the Austrian Grand Prix has already become. 

Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties have injected a sense of jeopardy into the title battle that was lost from race one in 2015, and in Austria this weekend the combination of mixed weather and drivers flirting with the kerbs that define how far off the track is too far has really spiced things up. Hamilton is on pole, yes, but then it’s a Force India and a McLaren. Nico Rosberg is starting sixth; Sebastian Vettel ninth.

Strategy is up in the air, with tyre behaviour a mystery in cooler conditions. And it’s damp and a bit rainy.

Delicious.

Rain drops are appearing over the Spielberg track.

Daniel Ricciardo is dressed practically - in short lederhosen.

"It feels nice," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Boy, we had fun yesterday. It was up there with one of the best qualifying sessions of the season.

Nico Rosberg's engineers faced a race against time to get their man's car ready for the qualifying session, after a crash in practice.

They succeeded, but Lewis Hamilton won the race against the clock in Q3 to take pole with his final lap of qualifying.

On top of that, there was a Force India in P3 - Nico Hulkenberg - and a McLaren (that's right, a McLaren) in P5, after Jenson Button's terrific session.

After five-place grid penalties were meted out to Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel - this is how they line up.

Image source, Getty Images

Remember when I said Baku was going to a brilliant, thrilling, hearth-thumping race?

Remember how wrong I was?

The good news is, I'm NEVER wrong twice.

So I can say, with the utmost confidence, that today's action will be of the humdinger of a swinger variety.

Lights out on the grid are 13:00 BST - at which point you can tune in to BBC Radio 5 live for commentary, or use the Live Coverage tab on this page.

Image source, Getty Images

It's the morning of the Austrian Grand Prix.

You get up, look in your wardrobe and reach for the usual T-shirt and jeans combo.

Hey, what about a hat? It's been a while since you wore a hat. And hats are cool.

A cap? Maybe a trilby? A 90s-style bucket affair perhaps?

But then you see it, poking out of a pile of clothes, horns piercing the woolen melee like a jet through a cloud.

Yes. Today, this is definitely the hat for me.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Austrian Grand Prix.