Valtteri Bottas beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position as Mercedes dominated qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, while Ferrari had a shocking day.
Mercedes seemed unbeatable as the season re-started after a four-month delay as a result of the coronavirus.
The cars, painted black this year to reflect Mercedes’ support for anti-racism, were half a second clear.
The fastest Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was in seventh as the sheer scale of their lack of performance became clear.
Team-mate Sebastian Vettel did not even make it into the final part of qualifying and the four-time world champion will start 11th.
It was a toss-up as to which was the biggest shock – the size of Mercedes’ advantage over everyone else, or how badly wrong Ferrari have got it with this year’s car.
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As attention turns to the race on Sunday, there will be a question as to whether anyone can challenge Mercedes, and also a focus on F1’s stance against racism, in the wake of the focus on the issue created by protests around the world.
The drivers are to make a collective statement before the race by wearing “end racism” T-shirts, although there remains a question as to whether all of them will take a knee.
