Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg won his second successive Austrian Grand Prix as he cut team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One world championship lead down to just ten points.
Rosberg overtook the Brit into the first corner and kept his lead throughout. Hamilton finished second despite having a five second penalty imposed on him for going over the white pit exit line after his second stop. Williams’ Felipe Massa became only the sixth driver to finish on the podium after he valiantly held off Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
An Eventful First Lap
Arguably the most memorable moment from this race was the eventful first lap which saw a vital overtake and three retirements. Rosberg had the better start off the grid and as he had the inside line, the German made his move and took the lead, leaving Hamilton to defend from Vettel. Fernando Alonso’s problems continued to mount (literally in this sense) as the Spaniard collided with former team mate Kimi Raikkonen coming out of turn two.
The McLaren driver had made a great start from the back of the grid following his 25 place grid penalty with Raikkonen starting the race from 14th, and as the Finn came out of turn two, he appeared to get on the gas too early and started to lose control of his Ferrari, the back end stepped out and he slid into Alonso’s path. The pair collided and Alonso’s MP4-30 mounted Raikkonen’s Ferrari and put them both out the race. Manor’s Will Stevens also retired, equalling 2014’s Austrian GP retirement total in one lap.
This incident brought out the safety car until lap five, and from here on in Rosberg nursed his lead to the chequered flag, however it didn’t all go his way. The German’s tyres went off towards the final laps and his Mercedes team mate started to close in, with the final winning margin standing at just two seconds.
The Williams of Felipe Massa did remarkably as he held off the faster Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel in the final laps. At one point the pair were effectively fighting for second place as they were within the five second margin to Hamilton. The Brit received the penalty as half of his W06 was over the white pit exit line, which is illegal and heightens safety following cars exiting pits.
A New Low
McLaren’s season hit yet a new low as Jenson Button’s car stopped on lap six following his stop-go penalty he had to serve following his 25 place grid penalty for changing some components on his engine, only for his McLaren to pull up to a halt on track. Another double retirement for the Woking team as their fall from grace continues.
With lots of jostling in the midfield for positions, the race was relatively entertaining, the battle between Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen in the closing stages was particularly entertaining. With the 17-year-old’s tyres wearing away, the Lotus man seized his chance, albeit nearly losing control of the car as he overtook Verstappen into turn one, with the Dutch teenager running wide due to his worn tyres.
Massa’s team-mate Valterri Bottas finished fifth for Williams with last weekend’s Le Mans winner Nico Hulkenberg rounding off a great week by finishing sixth. Maldonado and Verstappen were seventh and eighth respectively before Sergio Perez of Force India and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded off the top ten. Only 14 drivers finished the race as Alonso, Raikkonen, Stevens, Button, Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean retired from the race, with crashes and reliability problems galore.
Rosberg’s win means Hamilton’s championship lead is back down to ten points as the pair continue to exchange victories. The win tally standing on Hamilton four to Rosberg’s three.