Austrian Grand Prix: Flash and crash for Mercedes

Qualifying began with a bit of dramatic overhang from FP3 - Nico Rosberg's suspension snapped and he careered into Turn 2. That meant a race against time to get the car ready for qualifying - plus a five-place grid penalty. He didn't let that put him off, though, immediately going three-tenths quicker than his team-mate Lewis Hamilton - [FULL REPORT: Lewis Hamilton takes pole position on day of crashes]

Sergio Perez of Force India also suffered a suspension problem while in P6 - but his time was good enough to head in confident that he'd be able to grab some running repairs and make it out for Q2.

Dany Kvyat of Toro Rosso had the worst day with his suspension, though, smashing into the wall at Turn 9, and announcing, "I crashed!" with profuse apologies over the radio to his team.

It's the track causing the issues for some, you see - raised kerbs are damaging the cars when the drivers go over them. It was unclear whether or not the teams advised their drivers to simply avoid doing that and stick to the track limits.

If they did, it wouldn't have helped Carlos Sainz, stranded on the track with smoke pouring out of his car, explaining over the radio with the insight that only drivers can give, "There's something that doesn't work."

A forecast of imminent wet weather encouraged the drivers out on track quickly at the start of Q2. Hamilton was the quickest of the pack this time round, and he and Rosberg opted to clock their times then head back to the garage as swiftly as possible.

Fernando Alonso, who has managed to get the best out of the cursed McLaren-Honda so far this season, fell foul of the errant precipitation prediction, heading out with the wrong tyres on and not managing to get a quick enough time recorded - but his team-mate Jenson Button, who has had a terrible campaign thus far, finished in P10. [FULL REPORT: Nico Rosberg crashes in final practice with Sebastian Vettel fastest]

The rain started to patter down on the track, meaning everyone fussed about their tyre strategy and had a struggle to eliminate errors from their performance.

Hamilton led the way - but then Nico Hulkenberg knocked over a second off that time, taking P1 on the ultra softs.

That nudged the Mercedes pair into action - and Hamilton finally topped the rankings with Rosberg close behind him.

But Q3 wasn't the end of the drama - oh no. Apart from Rosberg's grid penalty, Vettel also dropped five places due to his gearbox change.

Then what a weekend for Nico Hulkenberg - a terrific qualifying lap, but at the end of qualifying he was awaiting a decision from the powers-that-be about their investigation into his failure to drive within the appropriate speeds during the yellow flag period in Q1.

That meant that Jenson Button will start at least THIRD on the grid - and maybe second. What a day.

In all their festivities around Jenson Button's performance, how can McLaren have put the wrong tyres on Fernando Alonso's car? Surely that's literally their job to get that right. Questions will be asked.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo has been consistent this weekend and depending on the weather during the race and what Rosberg manages to do from the middle of the field, he could benefit.

Hamilton - Vettel - Rosberg