Lewis Hamilton takes pole position in Spielberg

Hamilton ensured that he would start from the front in Sunday's Grand Prix as he pipped Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who finished second and third fastest respectively.

In securing top spot on the grid, Hamilton drew level with Ferrari rival Vettel on 45 pole positions - the third most of all time behind only Ayrton Senna (65) and Michael Schumacher (68).

It also completed a year of domination by Mercedes, with Brazilian Felipe Massa's pole for Williams in Austria last June the last time any driver from outside the team has started from the top slot.

"It was quite a difficult qualifying session for everyone because of the track conditions," said Hamilton, who spun off at turn one as he started his final quick lap on a drying track after morning rain.

"I was pushing that bit extra on the next run and just locked the rears," he added.

Rosberg, who was two tenths slower than Hamilton going into his final lap, pushed just a bit too hard and careered across the runoff and into the gravel just as it seemed he was going to be quicker.

"I went on the astroturf out of the second to last corner. Maybe that was still a bit wet or something or I just overdid it after that, I'm not sure. I just lost it there into the last corner," said the German.

"I knew I had to go for it."

At a scenic circuit owned by energy drink giant Red Bull, 17-year-old Dutch rookie Max Verstappen provided some cheer for the unhappy hosts with seventh place on the grid for Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso.

Both Red Bull's main drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat have 10 place grid penalties as a result of engine replacements.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen failed to get through the first phase of qualifying and was 18th before penalties are applied to others ahead of the Finn.

"How is that possible?," exclaimed the Finn, with the expletive deleted.

An element of farce was added to the session with McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button each facing 25 place grid penalties in a field of just 20 cars for exceeding their allocation of power unit components.

Alonso qualified 15th while Button was 17th, meaning they will have to serve time penalties on Sunday as well as starting from the back with new Honda president Takahiro Hachigo attending the race to see for himself how the McLaren partnership is faring.