Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes took pole position ahead of his teammate, six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, as the team dominated qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg on Saturday.

Bottas, who edged out Hamilton by 0.012 seconds to claim the top spot for the season opener at the Red Bull Ring, said "it's something special when you push the car to the limit."

The Finn will be chasing an eighth career win in Sunday's race.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who admitted Mercedes is "on a different level" to his Red Bull team, wound up third at Red Bull's home track.

"Today, Mercedes was on a different level unfortunately, but let's see what we can do tomorrow," Verstappen said. 

He added that he hoped his team's decision to go for an alternative strategy by starting on harder tyres would give him a chance to add to his wins in 2018 and 2019.

"Now I am the only one on a different tire in the top 10, so I am just looking forward to it."

The 20-year-old McLaren driver Lando Norris, who secured a career-best fourth place on the grid, admitted his performance had exceeded his own expectations.

"We never thought we'd be in a chance of beating them or getting close to them so we are delighted with this and with the car performance."

"The car started to come alive and feel better and better as it went to lower fuel levels and this track was very good for us last year. So we have confidence in the car and feel it suits us at the moment."

The same confidence, however, was not shared by Ferrari as Charles Leclerc said Saturday's qualifying session was below expectations.

The Monegasque was on pole at the Red Bull Ring last year but this time qualified seventh, his quickest flying lap nearly a second slower than Valtteri Bottas.

"Unfortunately, that's where we are at the moment, but we need to stay positive in these moments that are very hard to find any positives," said Leclerc.

Leclerc's teammate Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion with Red Bull, failed to make even the top 10 and will start 11th.

Sunday's race, the sport's first for 216 days, is expected to be preceded by a collective gestures against racism by the drivers. The drivers are set to wear T-shirts bearing the message "End Racism."

The sport's outstanding driver and first black champion Lewis Hamilton revealed he had not decided what he would do before the race.

"I don't have any plans – I haven't thought that far forward, but I am sure that over the evening, we will."

(With input from agencies)