Yesterday'a Austrian Grand Prix saw Nico Rosberg take his third victory of the 2015 Formula One season.
He overtook Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton into the first corner and held his lead until the chequered flag. Although it could have ended horribly for the German as his tyres started to wear, meaning Hamilton was catching up quickly.
However Rosberg held on and secured his second successive win at the Red Bull Ring. Hamilton followed in second followed by Williams' Felipe Massa. It was a sterling effort from the veteran Brazilian as he held off the much faster Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel to become only the sixth driver to reach the podium this season.
The repercussions of the championship mean that Rosberg now is only ten points away from Hamilton, who keeps his lead. Vettel remains third while team mate Kimi Raikkonen scored no points after being involved in a spectacular crash with McLaren's Fernando Alonso on the first lap.
There's a somwhat 'Noah's Ark' like formation to the top eight as both Mercedes' are followed by the Ferrari's, then the Wlliams and finally the Red Bull pairing. It was another poor weekend for McLaren, with Fernando Alonso crashing out and Jenson Button's car reitring on lap six with his car grounding to a halt at turn two. With this in mind the pair remain above only the Manor's with Alonso still not scoring a point.
Alonso hasn't had a season like this since his debut season in 2001 with Minardi and will be keen to kick on following this latest incident in a string of setbacks.
Drivers' standings following the Austrian Grand Prix:
# | Driver | Team | Points |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 169 |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 159 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 120 |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 72 |
5 | Valterri Bottas | Williams | 67 |
6 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 62 |
7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 36 |
8 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 19 |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 18 |
10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 17 |
11 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 16 |
12 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 13 |
13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 12 |
14 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 10 |
15 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 9 |
16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 5 |
17 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 4 |
18 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 0 |
19 | Roberto Merhi | Manor | 0 |
20 | Will Stevens | Manor | 0 |
Meanwhile, in the Constructors standings:
# | Team | Points |
1 | Mercedes | 328 |
2 | Ferrari | 192 |
3 | Williams | 129 |
4 | Red Bull | 55 |
5 | Force India | 31 |
6 | Lotus | 29 |
7 | Sauber | 21 |
8 | Toro Rosso | 19 |
9 | McLaren | 4 |
10 | Manor | 0 |