Vettel had been at danger as he was just P10 after the first Q2 runs, and on his final effort he bounced over the kerbs at the first and last corners, sliding large on each event and not improving as an outcome, with Leclerc only just getting into Q3 with P10 at the end of Q2.
In Q1, which was topped by Verstappen while Albon had an anxious wait as he was not sent out again for a last run in the opening section, last-gasp enhancements from the Haas drivers cost Williams a Q2 slot.
Carlos Sainz took P8, with Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo completing the top 10.
Bottas broke the performance history at the Red Bull Ring with a 1m02.939 s on his very first run in Q3, with Hamilton unable to get under 63-seconds on his own very first effort in the last sector as he wasted time in the third and second sectors.
Alex Albon certified 5th in the 2nd Red Bull ahead of the much-fancied RP20 of Perez, who however beat Ferraris Charles Leclerc to P6.
In Q2, which Bottas topped fractionally ahead of Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel was drastically knocked out when Albon leapt up the order with a late enhancement in the 2nd sector.
On their final flying tours, Bottas improved his time in the very first sector however then slid into the gravel at the exit of Turn 4– later spinning on the grass as he returned to the track– while Hamilton seemed improving.
Max Verstappen declared 3rd for Red Bull and will begin on alternate tyres to the Mercedes drivers, with Lando Norris claiming a spectacular 4th for McLaren as Racing Points pace was just sufficient for sixth for Sergio Perez and Ferraris form faltered even more than anticipated.
Verstappen took third however will start the race on the mediums after surviving Q2 on the yellow-walled rubber, with Norris rising to 4th with a stunning final effort in his MCL35.
The world champion did better his time to a 1m02.951 s however ended up second on the grid for the race having topped all 3 practice sessions.
Behind Vettel came Pierre Gasly in the lead AlphaTauri, with his colleague Daniil Kvyat in P13, ahead of Esteban Ocon– making his very first F1 qualifying look considering that the 2018 Abu Dhabi GP– and Romain Grosjean.
Antonio Giovinazzi ended up 18th after he skated into the Turn 4 gravel trap on his final run, with Kimi Raikkonen behind in P19, ahead of Williams novice Nicholas Latifi, who required to the track immediately in Q1 to make up for the time lost in his FP2 crash.
Leclerc was the sole Ferrari runner in Q3 after Sebastian Vettel did not make it past Q2, but the 2019 Austrian GP polesitter ended up almost a 2nd slower than Bottas time.
Grosjean squeaked through ahead of his colleague Kevin Magnussen, while Russell, who was P15 prior to the final Q1 runs, did not improve on his last effort– possibly losing thanks to a snap of oversteer exiting the downhill right of Turn 4– and will start 17th.
