Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position in a dramatic, rain-hit qualifying hour for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The world champion beat teammate Nico Rosberg by 0.543 seconds on a drying track following the downpour at the Red Bull Ring.

Rosberg will start seventh after a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change following a crash in practice, which moves Force India's Nico Hulkenberg up to second on the grid.

With Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel also demoted, McLaren's Jenson Button will be promoted to third on the grid, immediately behind Hamilton and Hulkenberg.

The thrilling end to the session came amidst controversy early in qualifying when Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat suffered suspension failure, seemingly on the raised outer kerbs.

Coming after Rosberg suffered a crash in the third practice session, Perez was able to crawl back to the pits with his damaged car, but Kvyat would lose control of his Toro Rosso at turn eight and crash heavily into the barriers.

Austrian GP qualifying standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
3. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
4. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari)
5. Jenson Button (McLaren)
6. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari)
7. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
8. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
9. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
10. Felipe Massa (Williams)
11. Esteban Gutierrez (Haas)
12. Pascal Wehrlein (Manor)
13. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
14. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
15. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
16. Sergio Perez (Force India)
17. Kevin Magnussen (Renault)
18. Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
19. Rio Haryanto (Manor)
20. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
21. Marcus Ericsson (Ferrari)
22. Felipe Nasr (Ferrari)