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From press release

Felipe Massa leads an all-Williams front row going into this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

The popular 33-year-old ended a streak of 94 races without a pole position.

Felipe Massa (Photo: WRi2)

"It's an incredible moment for me, but the whole team is feeling this too," said Massa whose last pole dates back to the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix.

"There is a lot to do tomorrow and we have a very strong Mercedes behind us. Today is a day I won't forget though and it's the first time my son has seen me get pole so emotions are high."

Felipe Massa with his wife Rafaela and his son Felipinho (Photo: WRi2)

Massa, who out-qualified his teammate Valtteri Bottas and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, had not enjoyed this kind of success since his early years at Ferrari, before he became teammate with Fernando Alonso, and also before the 2009 accident that almost claimed his life.

Bottas was happy to celebrate with the team.

"I am really happy for us as a team as it is such a good result," said Bottas. "It couldn't have been a better Saturday for us. I would have liked to have been on pole, but Felipe had the better lap when it mattered."

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW36 (Photo: WRi2)

Qualifying results* - Austrian Grand Prix (round 8 of 19)
1.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'08"759 - Q3
2.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'08"846 - Q3
3.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'08"944 - Q3
4.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'09"285 - Q3
5.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'09"466 - Q3
6.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'09"515 - Q3
7.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'09"619 - Q3
8.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'10"795 - Q3
9.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - no time - Q3
10.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - no time - Q3
11.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'09"780 - Q2
12.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'09"801 - Q2
13.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'09"939 - Q2
14.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'10"073 - Q2
15.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'10"642 - Q2
16.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'09"754 - Q2 **
17.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'10"825 - Q1
18.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'11"349 - Q1
19.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Cosworth) - 1'11"412 - Q1
20.Kamui Kobayashi (Catheram CT05-Renault) - 1'11"673 - Q1
21.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Cosworth) - 1'11"775 - Q1
22.Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'12"673 - Q1
*Unofficial results
**5-place grid penalty

Red Bull Ring (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

FIA president Jean Todt has admitted some F1 teams are in danger of bowing out.

Despite the impressively rejuvenated Red Bull Ring, an air of slight melancholy has gripped the F1 paddock.

F1's in Austria this weekend (Photo: WRi2)

Television ratings are down, the new battery-powered 'green' era and Bernie Ecclestone's apparent aversion to social media is being debated, and seemingly desperate measures like artificial noise, sparks and standing re-starts are being seriously considered.

Against all that, the powerful teams look to have won their latest battle against F1's struggling minnows -- the race to drive down the sport's huge costs.

The F1 Commission met in London last week, but - having already dispensed with the budget cap - almost every single cost-reducing counter-proposal was also rejected.

"I don't think we have achieved any measurable cost cutting so far," said Monisha Kaltenborn, boss and co-owner of the struggling Swiss team Sauber.

"I really wonder what the FIA is now going to do and how formula one is going to be governed in this respect," she added.

Many insiders have contrasted Todt's FIA presidential technique with that of his predecessor Max Mosley, who was more inclined to banging heads and provocatively forcing initiatives.

"I admit," said the softly-spoken 68-year-old, "these calls (for cost reduction) have been tougher than expected.

"I am aware that there will never be complete agreement," added Todt, "so I strive for the best possible compromise."

It seems the eventual outcome, however, is already known -- no huge cost-cutting initiatives, but a trimming of the fat with things like non-European testing and further reduced wind tunnel time.

"It may be that some teams do not survive," Todt continued to the Austrian newspaper. "We have seen this situation often.

"But I am convinced that the present formula one is more stable than in recent years. And, yes, we want new teams in formula one."

Mercifully, two are at the ready -- Gene Haas' American outfit, and a Romanian camp run by the former HRT chief Colin Kolles.

"The new US team will come in 2016," Todt confirmed.

"Also Forza Rossa of Colin Kolles (could enter)," he added, "if it meets the requirements, but currently they do not have a license."

Red Bull youngster Daniel Ricciardo has out-qualified his four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel for the sixth time this season.

Ricciardo managed to qualify fifth in Spielberg, on Red Bull's very own track.

"It was tough out there," admitted the Australian. "It's been tough all weekend to be honest and it's felt like we've had to squeeze everything out of the car to get into the top five, which we just managed to do today."

"Fifth was the best we could have done in that session today."

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRi2)

Vettel, who was a distant 13th, had no explanation for his bad showing.

"There were no real problems today, other than that we weren't quick enough. Daniel was quicker in Turn 5 and has been quicker in Turn 2 all weekend. We'll see how it goes for the race; it should be hotter tomorrow and hopefully we can make a big step and take on some of the other cars."

"Sebastian struggled to generate the pace over a single lap and it was obviously disappointing not to make it through into Q3," added his boss Christian Horner.

"More encouragingly, our race pace looks better and hopefully if temperatures increase, we'll be pushing to make a lot of headway tomorrow in front of Red Bull's home crowd."

From GMM

Mercedes' reliability worries are not over.

In Canada, Lewis Hamilton failed to finish, while Nico Rosberg nursed his ailing W05 to just second place as the otherwise utterly dominant German squad struck cooling problems with its energy recovery systems.

In Friday and Saturday practice at the Red Bull Ring, the problems were back.

"No, unfortunately not," said team boss Toto Wolff, when asked by the Austrian broadcaster ORF on Saturday if the Canada problems were fully resolved.

"We still have aches and pains that we have not resolved but we need to for the race. It's much like the cooling issues in Montreal.

"The sword of Damocles is hanging over us," admitted Wolff. "It's not dramatic, but it's costing us performance. We need to resolve it."

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRi2)

On Saturday morning, it is believed Mercedes' troubles contributed to Valtteri Bottas setting the fastest time in the final practice session before qualifying, even though Wolff said the Mercedes-powered Williams is simply "fast" in Austria.

So much so that Williams then out-qualified Mercedes. Rosberg, in the fastest W05, was only third and Hamilton a distant ninth on the grid. The Brit, who went wide on his first flying lap and spun on his second, didn't even set a time in Q3.

"Sometimes you get it all together, sometimes you don't and today I didn't get the job done," he said.

"My first lap in Q3 was looking good before I went wide in the second-to-last corner, and I think that lap would probably have done it. Then on the second run, I hit the brakes into Turn 2 and just locked the rears; I still need to look at the data to see exactly what happened."

Team boss Toto Wolff, however, suspects a driver error.

"We are just looking at the data," he told Austrian broadcaster ORF. "It looks as if the rear brakes blocked, at precisely the moment when he downshifted.

"Whether it was a driver error or a problem, I don't know exactly yet."

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