At the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, Bottas qualified on pole position. Hamilton initially qualified in second place but prior to the race, he received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow down sufficiently for yellow flags at the end of qualifying, dropping him to fifth. Despite both drivers having to deal with gearbox issues which developed during the race, Bottas went on the win the race, the eighth of his career. Hamilton quickly recovered to second place but in the closing laps of the race received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Alexander Albon. Hamilton crossed the finish line in second but the penalty demoted him to fourth place. Hamilton took pole position at the rain-affected qualifying session for the , over 1.2 seconds clear of nearest rival Max Verstappen. Hamilton led most of the race and took the W11's second consecutive victory, whilst Bottas overtook Verstappen in the closing laps to finish second, having started fourth on the grid.