For Charles Leclerc pole at the Austrian Grand Prix was a clearcut statement of confidence and intent from the 21-year-old. In making it the Monégasque, who has repeatedly proved his credentials as a future world champion, beat the current title holder, Lewis Hamilton, into second. For Hamilton, however, the place he had secured at the Red Bull Ring was far from certain. In the balance for two hours he was ultimately given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Kimi Räikkönen.

With F1 suffering from Hamilton and Mercedes dominance this season, the front of the grid in Austria at least now represents a truly intriguing proposition. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen starts alongside Leclerc on the front row. Valtteri Bottas is in third and with Hamilton gaining a place due to Kevin Magnussen’s penalty from fifth, he is in fourth in front of McLaren’s Lando Norris. On the short, tight circuit in the Styrian mountains this should present a mighty battle in the opening laps.

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Hamilton was investigated by the stewards for impeding Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo at turn three in Q1. He was close to the inside line when the Finn looked to go through on a quick lap, although he went wide as soon as he was aware of Räikkönen. Having spoken to both drivers, the stewards concluded Hamilton had not taken sufficient action and forced Räikkönen to abort his lap.

“Totally deserved the penalty today and have no problem accepting it,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram. “Was a mistake in my behalf and I take full responsibility for it.”

Hamilton had already been well beaten by Leclerc, who has been on fine form here and pulled off a series of superb laps under great pressure. He laid down his marker with his first hot run in Q3, with a time of 1min 3.208sec, before putting his second lap exactly where he wanted it. On the final runs he improved with a time of 1:03.003, this time two-tenths up on Hamilton.

“I changed a little bit my approach from Paul Ricard [last week] and I really felt I did a step forward,” said Leclerc. “Austria is also my favourite track, so it might fit a little bit better my driving style. I could feel it in the car, so I’m happy with this.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leclerc entertains the crowds in Austria. Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA

It was far from a perfect weekend for Ferrari, however, as Sebastian Vettel suffered a mechanical problem in the final session and set no time, finishing in 10th. Ferrari discovered a problem with the air pressure line in Vettel’s engine between the second and third sessions, but although the team worked furiously on it he was unable to emerge for the final runs. He will start in ninth because Magnussen has a five-place grid penalty for taking a new gearbox.

Hamilton has started from behind the front row only once this season and that was third to Leclerc’s first F1 pole in Bahrain, another race where Ferrari had the edge. They held the advantage here but before the results of the steward’s inquiry Hamilton was bullish about his chances.

“Of course I’ll be pushing for the win tomorrow,” he said. “Ultimately that is always the goal but it is not going to be easy to get close and pass the Ferraris as they have been very, very fast all weekend. Of course I’ll give it absolutely everything.”

He will be disappointed but the stewards have imposed penalties four times for impeding this season. Williams’s George Russell was also given a penalty here and Hamilton’s punishment is consistent with those decisions. Nor will it greatly derail his season. He still leads Bottas by 36 points and Vettel by 76, while Leclerc trails his teammate by a further 24.

The day, however, was undeniably Leclerc’s. It is his first pole in Austria and one he will be optimistic of converting into his debut F1 win. He was hugely unlucky in Bahrain not to take the flag after he dominated the race until a mechanical problem relegated him to third. Having spoken about needing to adapt to changing track conditions in the final part of qualifying, he did so superbly in Austria. Now he must simply repeat the form when it matters on Sunday.

The Alfa Romeos of Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi were seventh and eighth, with Pierre Gasly ninth for Red Bull. Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg was in 12th place but will take a five-place grid penalty for using his fifth engine of the season. His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, was 14th. The Haas of Romain Grosjean was 11th.

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McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was 15th but will start from 19th having taken an entire new power unit and gearbox for this race. He is joined at the very back by Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon, who took a slew of new components but qualified 13th.

Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll were 16th and 17th for Racing Point with Daniil Kvyat 18th for Toro Rosso. George Russell and Robert Kubica were 19th and 20th for Williams.