Valtteri Bottas has hit out at the three-place grid penalty he was given for the Styrian Grand Prix, insisting "everyone tries to screw you" in Formula One.

The Mercedes driver qualified second at the Red Bull Ring, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but will have to start the race in fifth due to a penalty he received before the session.

Bottas spun his car in the pit lane in FP2 on Friday after leaving his pit box in second gear, leading to a punishment from the race stewards for "potentially dangerous driving".

Pole-sitter Max Verstappen and Hamilton will therefore occupy the front row for the first of two consecutive races in Austria.

A penalty was the last thing Bottas needed in a 2021 campaign where he is yet to finish in the top two and facing pressure for his seat amid speculation George Russell could replace him next year.

Since F1 returned to Spielberg in 2014, the eventual race winner has started on the first two rows in all eight races held, while on six of those occasions the victor came from the front row.

"My personal view is [that it's] quite harsh," Bottas said about his potentially costly punishment.

"I never imagined after that that there would be a penalty but of course other teams, when they see the opportunity, they complained that it was dangerous so that we would get penalised. 

"That's how it goes, so everyone is always trying to screw you over in this sport. 

"I mean yes, it can be a dangerous situation if there's many people in the pit lane but no..."

Bottas has strong previous form at the Red Bull Ring, with his impressive display in qualifying to beat the time of Hamilton coming at a circuit where he has more poles (three) than at any other in the sport.

The Finn knows overtaking is difficult in Spielberg but hopes he will be able to join Verstappen and Hamilton at the front. 

"I don't think it’s the easiest," Bottas said when asked about overtaking, with Hamilton, Lando Norris and Sergio Perez promoted ahead of him in the grid order.

"The middle sector, the high-speed corners and the last two corners is a tricky part to follow closely.

"But there's long straights and, if you have the pace, if you have the right strategy for sure we can move up – and that's of course going to be the aim. 

"In terms of strategy we're starting with the medium tyre. Some guys I'm battling with who are starting on the soft, so that can play a part."

Hamilton vowed to fight championship leader Verstappen hard but maintains Red Bull have more pace despite his team chipping away at the advantage.

"We gave it everything and we've got a long race so I hope that the balance works for us," said the seven-time world champion.

"It's going to be a tough battle with these guys - they've generally had the edge throughout the weekend and the analysis last night was that they are a quarter of a second ahead on long run pace.

"I hope through work we've closed that gap but finding the next two-tenths [to Red Bull] is a little bit difficult. We will not leave any stone unturned."

AlphaTauri had a good day with Pierre Gasly in sixth and Yuki Tsunoda qualifying eighth either side of Charles Leclerc.

But another grid penalty was handed out ahead of Sunday's race, with Japanese driver Tsunoda demoted to 11th – ironically for blocking Bottas – meaning Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and George Russell benefit.

Triumphs for Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Perez were impressive at the street circuits of Monaco and Baku.

But the Dutchman's win at the more traditional French Grand Prix last time out – a race Mercedes had dominated in the previous two years – was a huge statement that gave him a 12-point lead in the standings.

Verstappen continued his momentum to take pole and is now chasing his third career triumph in Spielberg, which would make this his most successful track in terms of wins.

Bottas and Hamilton won the two grands prix here last year, though there were sweet home successes for Red Bull in each of the two years prior.

Maverick Vinales is full of confidence after putting his disastrous German Grand Prix showing behind him to claim pole position for Sunday's Dutch TT.

The Monster Energy Yamaha rider finished last at Sachsenring last week, but stuck with the same bike at Assen and dominated qualifying on Saturday.

Vinales topped FP1, FP1 and FP3 before setting a new lap record of 1:31.814 seconds in qualifying, the 26-year-old finishing 0.071s ahead of team-mate Fabio Quartararo.

It was the perfect response on the back of last week's calamity, but Vinales insists the dominant showing at Assen should not come as a surprise.

"Honestly this should be the norm all weekends," he said. "I think we have a good level, our confidence is high.

"I have a really high confidence in what we are able to do but just we didn't find the way to do it before.

"This weekend we didn't touch anything. I said, 'don't touch the bike, it's perfect'. And working on that, it was good, I'm quite happy and now we'll see.

"Tomorrow we have a good chance, we will push at the maximum. For me the result isn't important – for me it's important to give the maximum from one to lap 25."

Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia will join Yamaha pair Vinales and Quartararo on the front row for Sunday's race, while Takaaki Nakagami and Johann Zarco are on row two.

Quartararo tops the riders' standings and has a 22-point lead on Johann Zarco, but the Frenchman accepts he faces a tough task overhauling Vinales on Sunday.

"I think with Maverick we need to be clever, because it's true that on the paper we have really good pace," he said.

"So, I think if we need to play something in my opinion it's great to be clever on the first lap and see at the end.

"But it will depend. I feel great to fight for the victory. It's not that because my main contenders are behind me that I need to be careful.

"For me, it’s the beginning of the championship, we are not even in the middle. So, if I have one chance to fight for the victory I will go for it."

Marc Marquez came out on top in Germany last week, but he will start from 20th in Sunday's 26-lap Dutch TT after crashing in qualifying.

The Repsol Honda rider was flung from his RC213V early on in Friday's FP2 session and admits that accident affected him the following day.

"It's true that today I started the morning and the first thing was I was like, 'OK, it will be impossible to ride the bike' because after the crash from yesterday I had a lot of pain," he said.

"Then it was very difficult. This was in the morning, then in the afternoon step by step I felt better, and this makes me happy because it looks like now if it's in a better way.

"But it's true that the crash from yesterday affected me a lot today."

Provisional classification

1. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha) 1:31.814
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) +0.071s
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.302s
4. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) +0.500s
5. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) +0.580s
6. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) +0.636s
7. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) +0.783s
8. Jack Miller (Ducati) +0.795s
9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) +0.852s
10. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) +0.934s
11. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda) +1.016s
12. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha) +1.105

British and Irish Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones has been ruled out of the tour of South Africa after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the 28-10 victory over Japan.

Jones had to be replaced in the eighth minute of the warm-up Test at Murrayfield on Saturday after sustaining the injury while being cleared out of a ruck as he attempted to get his hands on the ball.

Lions head coach Gatland confirmed after the match that Jones will not fly out to face the world champions.

The New Zealander said: "He's dislocated his shoulder.

"Prognosis of him being fit and very, very best-case scenario is the first Test [in Cape Town on July 24]. He's going to go and get a scan but we’re looking like we’re going to have to replace him."

Gatland added: "It’s pretty much made [the decision that Jones will not travel to South Africa], I was speaking to the physios, I’ve spoken to Alun Wyn.

"He understands, very best case scenario, he may get back for the Test but we need to call someone in and hopefully get them on the flight tomorrow.

"It's very disappointing, he’s been around rugby long enough, he's going to be gutted, I'm very disappointed for him. It's one of those things, you’ve got to put that behind you and move on as quickly as possible you can."

Gatland will consider who to replace lock Jones with in the squad and a new skipper.

He added: "We are discussing a couple of names at the moment, unfortunately I got called away to do a press conference.

"I'm going back to finalise that after I've spoken to you guys, we’ll make that call, have a discussion about who comes in and potentially who’s going to take over as tour captain as well."

Justin Tipuric also suffered a shoulder injury early on but Gatland is unsure of the extent of the damage.

The former Wales boss said: "It was a sting in the shoulder. We're going to check, to make sure there's no nerve damage.

"If there was nerve impingement that could rule him out - at the moment, pretty sure he’s going to be okay."

A hamstring injury sustained by Jack Conan will also be checked on.

Jelena Ostapenko has targeted a return to the top 10 of the WTA rankings after beating Anett Kontaveit in straight sets to win the Viking International in Eastbourne.

The Latvian was the first wildcard to reach the final since Daniela Hantuchova in 2000 and kept up her good form ahead of Wimbledon by beating Kontaveit 6-3 6-3.

French Open 2017 winner Ostapenko dominated from the start and picked up the victory in one hour and five minutes, adding to her three previous career WTA titles.

She has now won titles on all four surfaces – clay, hard, indoor and grass – and is hopeful of improving on her current ranking of 43rd in the world.

"I think it says that I can be dangerous and playing well on all surfaces probably," she said in her on-court interview. 

"Of course I enjoy to play more on just some of them, but in general I can adjust well to different surfaces.

"I think this is just the beginning for me. If I keep playing the way I played this tournament, I think I can be back in top 10 and play well.

"I just have to keep that in my mind and work even harder."

Ostapenko made good use of her strong service game to break Kontaveit's serve in the third and fifth games.

Kontaveit earned a first break in the eighth game with four service return winners in a row, but Ostapenko recovered from 40-15 in the next game to take the opening set.

It was then plain sailing for Ostapenko in the second set as she earned the only break at 2-1 and held for the remainder, clinching the victory with her second championship point.

Ostapenko will face Leylah Fernandez in the first round of Wimbledon next week.

Alex De Minaur claimed the first grass-court title of his career with a hard-fought three-set victory over Lorenzo Sonego in the Viking International final.

De Minaur lost the first set against his Italian opponent, who reached a career-high ranking of 26 earlier this month, but the Australian fought back to prevail 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

Having forced a decider, it was De Minaur who had the most left in the third-set tie-break, which decided an entertaining contest that lasted two hours and 40 minutes.

It marked De Minaur's second title of 2021 following his success at the Antalya Open back in January.

Prior to Saturday, all four of De Minaur's ATP titles had come on hard courts.

However, an excellent backhand return of a second serve set him up for a forehand smash to clinch a triumph that should give him great confidence heading into Wimbledon.

De Minaur starts his campaign at the All England Club on Monday with a testing opening clash against Sebastian Korda while Sonego faces Pedro Sousa.

Speaking at the presentation, De Minaur paid tribute to Sonego, who recently lost his grandmother.

"Everyone should congratulate Lorenzo for an incredible week. Everyone should be scared of you at Wimbledon next week," said De Minaur.

"It's been a long week, I've played some great tennis, I've managed to pull through a very tough win.

"Hopefully I can keep it going through Wimbledon, I can't wait to go there next week."

Daniil Medvedev made light work of sealing his first grass-court title, as he defeated Sam Querrey in straight sets at the Mallorca Championships.

The world number two was playing in his first final on grass, and took just 63 minutes to win 6-4 6-2 and warm up for Wimbledon in emphatic fashion.

It brings up Medvedev's second title of the season and his 11th in total, though he had failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals in his last five tournaments since winning in Marseille in March.

Medvedev suggested he was clicking into gear after his win over Pablo Carreno Busta on Friday, and he backed up his point on Saturday, cruising to victory without offering up a single break point.

The 25-year-old broke world number 60 Querrey – seeking his first ATP Tour title since 2017 – on three occasions, and an ace, his 10th of the match, sealed victory.

Like at the French Open, Medvedev heads to Wimbledon as the second seed. He is the same half of the draw as 20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer, and has a first-round encounter with Jan-Lennard Struff, who knocked the Russian out of the Halle Open last week.

Captain Alun Wyn Jones suffered an early injury blow before three British and Irish Lions debutants scored tries in a 28-10 defeat of Japan at Murrayfield.

Jones was withdrawn in pain in the eighth minute of the first-ever Lions Test in Scotland on Saturday with what was reported to be a shoulder injury.

Justin Tipuric was also forced off with an injury in the first half of the Lions' first meeting with Japan ahead of the tour of South Africa, which Warren Gatland's side won comfortably to lift the 1888 Cup.

Josh Adams, Duhan van der Merwe and Tadhg Beirne marked their debuts with a try, while Robbie Henshaw also touched down and the excellent Dan Biggar was on target with all four conversions.

Japan, playing their first Test since losing to the Springboks in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup, entertained in the second half and were rewarded with a try from Kazuki Himeno.

There was concern for the Lions when skipper Jones was replaced early on after doing damage while trying to turn the ball over before his Wales team-mate Adams got the first points on the board.

The winger showed great feet and good strength to come in off the line and power his way over following a strong run from Bundee Aki.

Tipuric also made a concerning early exit before Van der Merwe caught Japan napping, picking the ball up from the back of a ruck and crossing all too easily.

The Lions were dominant and Ireland centre Henshaw ploughed over from close range after taking a pass from Conor Murray, with the impressive Biggar's third successful conversion increasing the lead to 21-0.

Courtney Lawes, Jones' replacement, lost control before grounding the ball when he crashed over early in the second half, but Beirne took a great line and showed a sharp turn of foot to burst through and go under the posts.

The Brave Blossoms enjoyed themselves after the break and Himeno finished following a lineout routine as the Lions defence work given a great workout with bigger tests to come.

Lions wait on Jones and Tipuric

It takes a lot to keep Jones down, so the sight of the lock grimacing on the deck and taking a rueful look to the skies was a worry for the Lions.

Gatland faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of the most-capped player in Test history's injury before the Lions board the plane to South Africa.

Flanker Tipuric's involvement was also brief just under a month before the first Test against the world champions in Cape Town.

Debut delight 

Wales winger Adams and Scotland flyer Van der Merwe wasted no time in marking their mark on their Lions bows.

Van Der Merwe, the leading try-scorer in the Six Nations this year, made 72 metres from eight carries and beat four defenders.

Adams did not see as much of the ball, but grasped his early chance, while Beirne made 49 metres from his 10 carries and won two turnovers in an eye-catching display.

Chris Froome's Tour de France hopes were left in tatters on the four-time champion's return to the race as he was caught up in the second of two major crashes on stage one, which saw Julian Alaphilippe lay down an early marker with victory.

The 197.8 kilometre ride from Brest to Landerneau had already been disrupted by a massive crash in the peloton at the 152km mark.

A collision between Tony Martin and a spectator's placard sent riders careering to the tarmac and saw the front of the race neutralised to allow the peloton to catch up.

Breakaway rider Ide Schelling, whose efforts on the climbs ensured he took the polka dot jersey at the end of the stage, was eventually reeled in, but there was more drama to come with 7.5km left.

Froome, making his first appearance at the Tour since 2018 for Israel Start-Up Nation, was left on the ground after another crash that came about in less controversial circumstances, with Greg Van Avermaet and Richie Porte also involved.

Those fortunate to avoid the carnage were left with the opportunity to pick up huge amounts of time on other general classification contenders and world champion Alaphilippe grasped that chance with both hands, the Deceuninck–Quick-Step rider attacking with 2.2km to go and making the move stick.

The Frenchman crossed the line to delight the home fans, ensuring he will swap the rainbow jersey for the yellow jersey with his sixth stage win at the Tour.

Froome, who was seemingly finding it difficult to stand following his crash, succeeded in getting back on bike and riding to the finish at a pedestrian pace.

Even if he can recover, Froome's chances of claiming a fifth title this year are surely already gone.

Lewis Hamilton has cast doubt on prospects for a Mercedes victory at the Styrian Grand Prix but promised to "give it everything" to challenge Max Verstappen.

Pole position went to Verstappen on Saturday as the Red Bull team showed impressive pace at their home circuit in Spielberg, Austria.

Championship leader Verstappen, who heads Hamilton by 12 points after the opening seven races of the season, expressed satisfaction as a job well done.

Hamilton reacted to being only third quickest, behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas, by saying Mercedes simply do not have the speed that Red Bull are showing at present.

A three-place grid penalty for a pit-lane spin on Friday means Bottas will drop to fifth, with Hamilton bumped up a spot, spared having to start on the second row.

Hamilton said: "Well done to Max. I've been giving it absolutely everything. It just wasn't the greatest of sessions, but nonetheless I'm still on the front row.

"I did everything I could and we go into the race on Sunday for a fight.

"Generally they [Red Bull] had a quarter of a second on us all weekend. I don't think we have the raw pace to overtake them, that's for sure."

But Hamilton added: "We'll be giving it everything. Maybe Sunday we'll be surprised, maybe it rains, who knows."

Verstappen has won two of the last three races to power ahead at the top of the drivers' standings, giving him early season hope of a first world title.

"It's been a very good weekend," said Verstappen. "Again in qualifying the car was really good to drive. I'm super happy to be on pole here at home. It's nice to see a Red Bull car first here.

"The lap, when you look at the track you think there are not many corners, but the corners you have are quite difficult. It's a small track but it's hard to get a good lap out of it. The first lap in Q3 was not too bad. It's never perfect, but it was good enough."

Looking ahead to race day, Verstappen said: "It's never easy – I wish sometimes it was easy. I'm sure again it will be very tight. Hopefully again it will be as interesting as it was in France."

Verstappen won after an undercut as he delivered victory last weekend at the French Grand Prix. Hamilton took second place there, with Sergio Perez third and Bottas fourth.

Bottas said his grid penalty this weekend was "a shame", adding: "It's a new day on Sunday with a race ahead and anything is possible."

Lando Norris (McLaren) and Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Perez will form the second row, with the relegated Bottas alongside Pierre Gasly on row three.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc struggled for pace with Ferrari in qualifying, and Sainz was bumped out of the top 10 close to the end of Q2, qualifying only 12th quickest.

Leclerc clambered to seventh on the grid, with Gasly's AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda eighth and Fernando Alonso ninth.

Sainz still qualified ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel – 13th and 14th respectively – with George Russell just a sliver away from making it through to Q3. Williams driver Russell was 11th, a mere 0.008 seconds behind Lance Stroll's Aston Martin.
 

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:03.841
2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +0.194secs (has three-place grid penalty)
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.226s
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.279s
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.327s
6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) +0.395s
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.631s
8. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +0.673s
9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +0.733s
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.867s

A collision between Tony Martin and a spectator's placard led to a huge crash in the peloton on the first stage of the Tour de France.

Shortly after Ide Schelling had topped the final climb of the 197.8 kilometre ride from Brest to Landerneau to ensure he will finish the stage in the polka dot jersey, Martin was sent careering to the tarmac, his crash sending scores of riders to the ground.

The incident led the front of the race to be neutralised to allow those caught up in the crash to catch up, but Jasha Sutterlin of DSM was not able to do so.

Sutterlin was forced to abandon the race in an extremely unfortunate turn of events for a rider competing in only his second Tour.

Schelling was eventually caught by the peloton once the race was allowed to restart at normal speed.

Angelique Kerber defeated Katerina Siniakova in straight sets on Saturday to win the inaugural Bad Homburg Open and end her three-year wait for a title.

The number four seed, whose last tournament triumph was at Wimbledon in 2018, prevailed 6-3 6-2 on home soil in a time of one hour and 25 minutes for her 13th career WTA singles crown. 

Kerber overcame Amanda Anisimova and top seed Petra Kvitova on Friday to reach her first final in two years but took time to get going against Siniakova, who won her only two career titles in 2017.

Siniakova broke Kerber's serve in the third game, only for the German to quickly respond by taking the next game as the pair continued to exchange blows.

World number 28 Kerber slowly found her rhythm and opened up a two-game lead at 5-3, but she had to save three break points before Siniakova fired into the net to concede the opening set.

The second set played out in a similar manner to begin with as Siniakova battled back after losing serve in the first game to level at 2-2 against her former world number one opponent.

But Kerber showed her quality by reeling off four games in a row and getting over the line with her third match point to add to her trophy collection.

The victory for the 33-year-old was her 75th on grass, which is the third most among active players behind Serena and Venus Williams.

Kerber is seeded 25th for Wimbledon and will face Nina Stojanovic in the first round next week.

"Everyone knows that I love to play on grass, I really feel well," she said in her on-court interview. 

"I had some great matches. The goal was to have some good matches to prepare for Wimbledon. Let's see and hope I can continue this next week."

There was concern for the British and Irish Lions when captain Alun Wyn Jones was forced off early in Saturday's Test against Japan.

Jones was withdrawn after doing damage while trying to turn the ball over in the eighth minute of the match at Murrayfield.

The lock appeared to injure his left wrist and walked off the field shaking his head in the warm-up match ahead of the tour of South Africa.

Jones, the most-capped player in Test history, was replaced by England lock Courtney Lawes.

The Lions start the three-match series against the Springboks at Cape Town Stadium on July 24.

The Russian Grand Prix will be staged at a new purpose-built circuit just outside St Petersburg from 2023.

The Sochi Autodrom has been the venue for the race since it was added to the calendar in 2014.

Autodrom Igora Drive, 54 kilometres from St Petersburg, will be the next Russian track to host a Formula One Grand Prix after it was given Grade 1 status by the FIA last year.

"I am pleased to confirm following joint intensive work with our Russian partners and detailed assessment of Igora Drive – Formula One will be racing at that amazing circuit from 2023," said F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali.

"I am impressed by St Petersburg and believe that the Russian Grand Prix at Igora Drive will be an incredible event."

The new circuit will feature 10 different track layouts in an area of around 100 hectares.

Lewis Hamilton has won four times in Sochi, but it was his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas who took the top step of the podium last year.

The 2021 Russian Grand Prix will be staged at the Sochi Autodrom on September 26.