The Spielberg circuit is next as Formula One heads to Austria this weekend with Lewis Hamilton wanting to continue his strong start to the season.
Last season marked the first time F1 returned to Austria since 2003 and the event didn’t disappoint. It also was the last time a non-Mercedes was on pole, as Felipe Massa secured pole for Williams with team mate Valterri Bottas making it a front row lock-out. Bottas secured Williams’ first podium of this season last time out in Montréal, finishing third, ironically the Finn made his first ever podium in Formula One here in Austria last year, finishing third.
This kicked off a strong end to the season for Williams, whose car last season was perhaps strongest in its straight line speed, as they secured third place in last season’s Constructors Championship. However their start to this season hasn’t seen the same sort of progress, with the Grove team off the pace of Mercedes and closest challengers Ferrari.
Ferrari were way off the pace of Mercedes last time out in Canada, with Kimi Raikkonen’s spin at the turn ten hairpin meaning he finished fourth with team mate Sebastian Vettel having a qualifying nightmare. He could only muster 18th after a power issue at one of the most power-hungry circuits on the calendar. But he finished the race in a strong fifth, albeit the pair were 45 seconds down on Mercedes.
Mercedes could make it a year of pole positons in Austria
As usual Mercedes continue to dominate the modern Formula One era, and could complete a year of poles in Austria. Having secured every pole position since the Williams lock out here last season, Hamilton and Rosberg will be going head to head to gain the upper hand this weekend. Lewis won last time out and extended his championship lead to 17 points over team mate Rosberg.
McLaren woes set to continue?
Eyes will be on McLaren as always this weekend too to see if they can improve on their double retirement in Canada. This prompted a strong response from Fernando Alonso, who said the team “looked like amateurs” in a radio outburst in Montréal. Frustrations are boiling over on both sides of the garage as Jenson Button conceded the team won’t get a podium this season.
The Brit said after the race in Canada that McLaren “won’t get a podium this year” and added that they aren’t on the ball in terms of development but that risks have to be taken if you want to challenge. While Alonso has this week said McLaren should give up on 2015 and focus on next season. He said that “concentrating on next year is the clever option” and added that he wouldn’t mind if starting from the pits every race meant the car would be improving.
It’s likely Mercedes will win again in Austria, but as we found out last year, “anything can happen in Formula One, and it usually does” is what one man in particular used to say…