GROVE-BASED Williams left the Red Bull Ring in high spirits after a double points-finish in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The result came off the back of a difficult qualifying session, which saw Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll down in 17th and 18th respectively.

But the duo showed strong race pace to finish ninth and tenth to head into Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone in high spirits.

Massa was particularly pleased with his start, despite Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat’s collision with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso at turn one.

He said: “For sure you cannot celebrate a ninth position, but starting 17th it was a fantastic race for me.

“I had a really good start, getting through the issues that were happening in corner one, and overtaking cars.

“It was a fantastic first lap as the pace was great, compared to qualifying, which is something we need to work to understand so that we don’t repeat starting out of position.

“I’m so happy with my race and it’s good to have both cars in the points.”

Stroll was put under pressure for tenth by Enstone-based Renault’s Jolyon Palmer, who finished 0.5secs adrift of the points.

The teenager said: “It goes to show anything can happen in a race and it is not over on a Saturday.

“I am feeling very positive as I started 18th, finished tenth and picked up another point.

“The next race is Silverstone, the home race for the team, so I am really looking forward to it.”

Palmer, whose teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished 13th, was disappointed not to finish in the top ten.

He said: “We started in P16 and finished 11th, it’s my third race with an 11th place finish, once more within touching distance of points.

“I had Lance Stroll in my way for just over 40 laps and couldn’t get past him, which is frustrating.”

“ I need to focus on qualifying better, but throughout the weekend the pace seemed improved so overall there are some positives.

“It’s my home race coming up, and Silverstone’s a great track with a lot of fast corners and it’s one I really like to drive, so hopefully that can be the one that gets me in the points.”

Banbury-based Haas fared better, with Romain Grosjean sixth, but Kevin Magnussen was forced to retire on lap 29 with an hydraulics issue.

Grosjean said: “It was a really strong race.

“We pushed hard all the way and that’s the racing we like.

"It was a great race and a great job by all the guys.”