That's gonna be all for today, folks. Thanks for riding along! Join us again in two weeks time for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. See ya!
In the Constructor's championship, Mercedes increased their lead over Ferrari, surpassing the 300-point mark - the German entry is now at 303 on the season. The Italians have 192.
This is Mercedes' 7th win in 8 races so far this season. It is also their 5th 1-2 finish on the year, following Australia, China, Barcelona and Canada.
Nico Rosberg claims his second consecutive triumph in Austria, following last year's victory lane effort. It's his 11th career win, and the 3rd in the past 4 races. He tightens the title battle, cutting his deficit in the points table from 17 to 10 points.
Felipe Nasr, Daniil Kvyat, Marcus Ericsson and Roberto Merhi also finished the race. Carlos Sainz, Romain Grosjean, Jenson Button, Will Stevens, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso retired.
Nico Hülkenberg finishes 6th, with Maldonado 7th, Verstappen 8th and Perez 9th. Daniel Ricciardo closes the points zone, claiming Red Bull's lone point of the afternoon.
Felipe Massa holds on Sebastian Vettel to finish 3rd, his first podium finish this year and also first since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last season. It's Williams' second podium finish in a row. Valtteri Bottas crosses the line 5th, completing the top-5.
Checkers - Nico Rosberg wins the Austrian Grand Prix! It's his 3rd win of the season as Mercedes scores another 1-2 finish with Hamilton second.
2 laps to go - Verstappen closes in on Maldonado for the payback, as the Venezuela struggles with tire degradation. It looks like Massa will hold Sebastian Vettel as well.
3 laps to go - Maldonado passes Max Verstappen for 7th place, as Max locks at turn 1 and runs wide. Great move by Maldonado controlling a nervous swerve by his Lotus.
4 laps to go - Massa locks and Vettel tries to move on the inside, to no avail.
5 laps to go - Massa under heavy pressure. The difference between the two is virtually inexistent. Ahead of them, Rosberg is cruising to his 3rd win of the season.
6 laps to go - Ricciardo laps a 1:15.818, increasing his gap to Perez to over 10 seconds, kissing his chances of attaining the 8th position goodbye.
7 laps to go - Vettel in DRS range. Can Massa hold on for his first podium finish of the year?
8 laps to go - Next target for Ricciardo is Perez, who's 8.3 seconds ahead of him. The Red Bull driver is taking over 1 second off the Mexican per lap. Can he do it?
9 laps to go - Maldonado is glued to Verstappen's rear wing, battling for 7th.
10 laps to go - It's Vettel's turn to attack. He laps a 1:11.659 to Massa's 1:12.247. Felipe's podium finish in jeopardize as the gap falls to 1.1 seconds.
11 laps to go - And there you have it. Ricciardo moves past Felipe Nasr to join the top-10.
12 laps to go - Barring an accident, Felipe Nasr will be an easy prey for Daniel Ricciardo. Their difference is now at 1.5 seconds, with the Aussie lapping over 1 second per lap faster than the Sauber driver.
13 laps to go - No imminent battles going on right now. The closest gap throughout the field is Massa's 1.9 lead on Vettel for the 3rd position.
14 laps to go - Nasr posted a 1:13.334 lap, while Ricciardo has lapped in 1:11.742. Their gap is at 5.4 seconds right now.
15 laps to go - After fending off another backmarker, Vettel is back clocking faster laps than Massa. The gap is now at 2 seconds.
Lap 53/ 18 laps to go - Ricciardo is 9 seconds behind Felipe Nasr and the points zone. However, he lapped the Red Bull Ring 1.7 seconds faster than the competition. Closing in fast.
Lap 52 - The 3-time race winner rejoins at 11th place, behind Felipe Nasr. Meanwhile, Vettel's gap to Massa is down to 2.1 seconds.
Lap 51 - Ricciardo finally stops. Supersofts in for him. Will try to make up for the lost ground with flying laps on the newest compounds of the field, trying to safeguard some points for the home team.
Lap 50 - Maldonado, on Supersofts, pressures Ricciardo for the 8th position, but Ricciardo does a great job on worn out tires to hold him off as much as he can. At the main straight, though, the Aussie can't resist the Mercedes engine-newer compounds combo.
Lap 49 - The quadruple-world champion has two backmarkers between him and his target: Merhi and Kvyat. Massa uses them to widen the gap a bit.
Lap 48 - Massa is already in Vettel's line of sight. Another 0.4 off their difference this lap, and the gap falls to nearly 2.5 seconds.
Lap 47 - Nasr can't resist and Perez is through. Meanwhile, his teammate Marcus Ericsson stops for Supersofts.
Lap 46 - Kvyat finally makes his stop, a 3.6-second effort.
Lap 46 - Sebastian Vettel takes another 0.3 off Massa this lap, cutting their gap to 3.2.
Lap 45 - Sergio Perez closes in to Felipe Nasr, a direct battle for the 10th place. The Force India driver is running on newer, Supersoft compounds and has all the power of the PU106 Hybrid to his favor.
Lap 44 - Ricciardo, who received a 10-place grid penalty for changing his engine, has risen 10 positions up to this point. From 18th all the way to 8th. He is currently the 4th slowest car on the track, though.
Lap 43 - Perez also passes Kvyat for 11th. The Mexican is now virtually 10th, as Daniel Ricciardo, running 8th, is yet to make his stop.
Lap 42 - Vettel is lapping faster than Massa, but not enough to poise a real threat to the Brazilian yet. Their gap is at 4.1 seconds.
Lap 40 - Kvyat, who is still to make his stop, is an easy prey for Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Nasr. The Venezuelan driver is up to 9th after starting 11th, aiming to add to his points tally. Two weeks ago in Canada he scored his first points of the season.
Lap 39 - This penalty all but wipes out Hamilton's shot at the win today. He currently runs over 5 seconds behind Rosberg. However, he's 17 seconds ahead of Felipe Massa.
Lap 38- 5-second time penalty for Lewis Hamilton as he crossed the line at the pit exit. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean retire with mechanical issues, leaving only 14 cars running.
Lap 37 - Problems for Vettel as he stops. Rear right just would not come out, causing him to lose time and the third position to Felipe Massa.
Lap 36 - On much newer compounds, Hülkenberg and Bottas close in on Maldonado, who's yet to stop. In the meantime, Valtteri passes Nico again and Pastor to take over the 6th place.
Lap 35 - Lewis Hamitlon hits pit road. New set of softs, 3.1 stop for him, but he is back on track behind Rosberg - who set a new fastest lap, 1:11.235 on the newer tires.
Lap 34 - Felipe Massa pits from 4th, a 3.6 stop. Rejoins in the same position.
Lap 33 - Soft tires for Nico. 2.7 stop. Untroubled. He rejoins right behind Felipe Massa, in 5th but as the virtual leader.
Lap 32 - In 4 laps, Hamilton takes 1 second off Rosberg's lead, causing the team to promptly call the race leader in for his stop.
Lap 31 - Kvyat laps a 1:14 lap and is passed not only by Verstappen, but Grosjean overtakes him as well. Daniil is down to 12th.
Lap 30 - The first six drivers are yet to make their stop. Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Massa, Perez and Maldonado are still running on the same compounds they started the race.
Lap 29 - Max Verstappen tries to emulate Bottas' move on him on Kvyat, but the Russian won't budge. The Red Bull is currently running 10th, his teammate right ahead of him in the charts.
Lap 28 - Bottas stops for Softs and rejoins behind Hülkenberg. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz under investigation for speeding in the pit lane.
Lap 27 - In his lap back, Grosjean has Felipe Nasr in front of him, but moves past the Brazilian, who was running 8th at the time of the stop.
Lap 26 - Nico Hülkenberg stops for softs and rejoins ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Sainz in, too, but he has a troubled 8.5 stop that will likely hurt his chances for a top-10 finish.
Lap 25 - Bottas has closed in to Nico Hülkenberg. And he passes the German rather easily! Bottas back in the top-5 as the Force India driver seems to be losing ground. Next target for the Williams driver: his teammate Massa.
Lap 24 - Romain Grosjean hits the pit road, becoming the first driver to change tires today. He gets a new set of Softs and rejoins the track after a 22-second stop.
Lap 22 - Although the fastest cars are still lapping almost 4 seconds off the pole time, this is surely a fast paced race. Nico Rosberg, who increased his lead up to 3 seconds, approaches Roberto Merhi to lap the Spaniard.
Lap 21 - Marcus Ericsson slows down at the starting straight, apparently losing power. However, he is back in full speed in no time. Electronic issue, maybe?
Lap 20 - As the first pit window approaches, no heated battles are going on right now.
Lap 19 - Rosberg responds with another fastest lap, a 1:12.001. However, Hamilton clocked a 1:12.145 in this very same lap.
Lap 18 - After 18 laps, the Mercedeses have pulled away from the field. Sebastian Vettel runs a comfortable 3rd, taking a good advantage over Felipe Massa, who is 4th.
Lap 17 - Daniil Kvyat complains on the radio that the car is not quite the same after changing the front wing early on. The Russian currently sits 14th, one spot behind his teammate. Both Red Bulls are far from the Perez-Grosjean-Maldonado battle for the points zone, though.
Lap 16 - Grosjean is once again on Perez's tail. Despite sharing the same power units, the Lotus car is much better aerodynamically. Pastor Maldonado watches the duo from distance.
Lap 15 - Hamilton is now faster than his teammate for the second lap in a row. The difference is now around 1.7 seconds.
Lap 14 - A podium finisher here last year, Bottas attacks Verstappen in turn 1, using the best of his powerful Mercedes energy to move past the Toro Rosso rookie. No DRS used. The Williams driver is now up to 6th place.
Lap 13 - Hamilton is faster than Rosberg by only 0.100, as their gap floats around 2 seconds. Meanwhile, both Lotuses are closing in on Sergio Perez's Force India.
Lap 12 - Grosjean pressures Sergio Pérez for the 10th place. He however made a mistake at the last turn of the Red Bull Ring, running wide and allowing for the Mexican to escape him for a moment.
Lap 11 - Nico Rosberg sets another fastest lap, a 1:12.157. Marcus Ericsson gets a drive through penalty for jumping the start.
Lap 10 - Jenson Button drives his McLaren-Honda to the garage, ending his day early once again. Another catastrophic outing for the team, with both cars out in less than 10 laps.
Lap 9 - As Jenson Button serves his in-race penalty for the gearbox change, race control informs it is investigating Marcus Ericsson for allegedly jumping the start.
Lap 8 - Replay shows Grosjean ill-fated attempt at passing Sainz for 9th. He ran wide and was passed by Perez, who now runs 10th.
Lap 8 - Rosberg sets the fastest lap of the race so far, a 1:14.607, widening the gap to Hamilton and escaping the dreaded DRS range.
Lap 7 - Rosberg pulls away from Hamilton at the restart. Fighting for intermediate positions, Ricciardo moves past Roberto Merhi for the 14th place.
Lap 6 - Safety Car's lights are out. We will be back on green right away!
Lap 4 - The Safety Car still leads the pack. Rosberg is first, right ahead of his teammate Hamilton. Vettel curretly sits third. Massa and Hülkenberg complete the top-5, while Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Nasr, Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean place 6th-10th, closing the points zone.
Lap 3 - Replay shows Raikkonen losing control of his Ferrari and swerving towards the wall, collecting Alonso - who was trying to avoid him - in the process.
Lap 2 - Daniil Kvyat stops for a new front wing. Meanwhile, Will Stevens parks his Manor Marussia no.28 car with mechanical issues, becoming the third retiree of the afternoon.
Lap 1 - Safety car is in! Raikkonen and Alonso had a massive crash at the backstraight. The drivers are ok, but their race is over. Nightmare weekend for the Finn driver, who was cut in the Q1 yesterday.
Lap 1- Lights out! Rosberg tries to move on the inside of Hamilton and he does it! After the first turn, the no.6 Mercedes leads, with Lewis behind him.
The only driver to start in the top-10 without Supersoft compounds is Pastor Maldonado, who fell in the Q2 and thus was free to choose his starting tires.
Off they go! Formation lap underway at the Red Bull Ring. Start coming up soon. Be sure to check the official grid after yesterday's penalties!
The 2014 Austrian Grand Prix was the only one on which none of the Mercedes started from the front row. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas set a Williams 1-2 in qualifying for the team's first pole since the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Nico Hülkenberg at the wheel.
Today's race marks the second start of the Austrian Grand Prix after its return to the World Championship. The Spielberg track was absent from 2004 to 2013, before being renwed and renamed Red Bull Ring.
The points leader and pole-position Lewis Hamilton had a gear ratio and dog ring change in his gearbox prior to the race, but will not suffer a penalty for that.
Good morning, everyone! Ready for the start of the Austrian Grand Prix? Cars are already rolling out of pit road and making their way onto the grid.
Be sure to follow @VAVELFormula1, the official Twitter account of F1 coverage on VAVEL USA, for more.
Get up to speed with a full preview of today's race below! Closer to race time, be sure to return here for minute-to-minute updates of every lap of the Austrian Grand Prix.
As Formula 1 returns to Europe after a one-week stay in North America in the middle of the swing, Ferrari aims to close its gap to championship-leader Mercedes, who tries to carry on its steady cruise to back-to-back drivers’ and constructors’ championships. In the middle of the pack, Maranello’s best client, Swiss entry Sauber, aims to shorten the gap to its direct rivals Mercedes-powered Williams and Lotus, and pull away from Force India, who has in its lineup a Nico Hülkenberg in state of grace after a dominant Le Mans victory last week.
On the flip side of the charts, Red Bull and McLaren shoot for redemption after another disappointing race in Canada. The Austrian entry, facing an embarrassment at its home race, was involved amidst speculation of a switch from Renault to Ferrari power units for the 2016 season, ending its nine-season relationship with the French manufacturer. McLaren, trying to reverse the course of a disastrous first half season back with Honda engines, preparing a new aerodynamic package for this week’s race and the next rounds in Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps and Hungaroring.
Both teams’ struggles were heavily aggravated by strategic decisions made prior to the first practice session, as both the Milton Keynes-based and the Woking-based entries decided to give their drivers fresh engines, the fifth of the year for each of the four cars, inflicting grid penalties upon them.
As soon as track activities began on Friday, it was clear that Ferrari were closer to the German competition. Here are recaps of Practice 1 and Practice 2.
Without mishaps this time (Austria ended up being the only track Mercedes did not conquer on Saturday last year), Lewis Hamilton earned pole position for today's race.
Despite leading the first practice of the weekend and the second round of qualifying, Nico Rosberg was not able to clinch his second pole position of the year. A spin at the last turn of the track, facilitated by the German’s razor’s edge approach in the final seconds of qualifying, on what would be the fastest lap of the weekend all but ended his chances to replicate his Spain result, handing the first place start to his garage neighbor.
With the result, Lewis Hamilton claimed a seventh pole of the year, improving his advantage on the direct head-to-head against Rosberg to 7-1. The pole-position in Austria is the 45th of his nine-season career, which ties him with Vettel for third-most in the history of Formula 1, trailing only Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
As Hamilton rebounded from two negative results in Barcelona and Monte Carlo with a win in Canada, Rosberg now will have to turn his fortune around and do something he has not been able to since the start of the 2014 season, when Mercedes emerged as the best car in the world: directly challenge his teammate for the win. Throughout the year and dating back to their tangle in Belgium last year, Keke’s son has been widely dominated by the Brit, failing to hold his stablemate when he starts in front and never posing a real threat to Lewis’ leads when Hamilton sets the pole.
In fact, the two-time world champion has mastered the ability of completely controlling his teammate. The only race at which he started ahead of Rosberg and finished behind, the Monaco Grand Prix in May, can be attributed more to the pitstop blunder than to Nico’s own capabilities. In last week’s race in Montreal, for instance, the 2014 runner-up always rounded the driver of the No. 44, but never even threatened to make a move.
Starting right behind them, Sebastian Vettel surfaces as the clear favorite for the last podium spot after a disappointing outing in Canada. The four-time world champion is the only non-Mercedes car to win this year.
Although Vettel’s No. 5 Ferrari is still relatively far from the Mercedes, it can also be said it is comfortably ahead of the Williamses in regular race conditions. Massa, the pole sitter in Austria last year, and Bottas, who claimed his first podium of the year in North America, start fourth and sixth. On a track with a layout that helps powerful engines, it is up to tire consumption – which Williams seems to deal with rather well – and how good Raikkonen will fare starting from behind whether the Grove team will achieve its objectives or not.
A good battle for the lower half of the points zone can be predicted of today's race, as Nico Hülkenberg, fresh off a Le Mans win, qualified his Force India in fifth place. Also boosted by Mercedes power units, and holder of an unmatched talent when it comes to preserve tires, fuel and hold faster cars, the German may fight wheel-to-wheel with the Williams for a top-five spot, or fade due to his entry’s lack of performance and stability, contending only in the bottom of the top-10.
Being that the case, he will be joined by names such as Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Nasr, and Kimi Raikkonen. On a track with such long straights and terrain variations, Kimi ought to easily climb through the field, smelling blood after falling under heavy criticism for missing out on a podium finish two weeks ago, but if the Lotus duo stays accident-free, they might have every possibility of seeing checkered before him.
In either case, the most likely outcome is that the Mercedes and Ferrari clients will hardly find it difficult to overcome youth talent Max Verstappen and his unreliable Toro Rosso Renault. Same problems are likely to fall on Red Bull, despite the fresh engines, mostly its main driver, Daniel Ricciardo. Not anymore bearing the ear-to-ear smile that had him as the most charismatic persona of Formula 1 last year, the Aussie, thanks to the engine change, will start from antepenultimate position and serve an in-race penalty, which majorly ruins his chances of adding to his point total after also failing to do that in Montreal.
Talking about woes, McLaren’s seem never-ending, as the two drivers of the second winningest operation of the sport will share the last row, with only two expectations surrounding them: one is to complete the race and the other, to finish ahead of the Manor Marussias. So much for a partnership who won four consecutive world titles from 1988 to 1991.
After a one-week stop in Canada for the seventh round of the World Championship, F1 arrives in Austria for its seventh European race of the year. Lewis Hamilton leads the table with 151 points. His teammate Nico Rosberg is second, 17 points behind him and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel currently sits in the third position with 108 points.
The Grand Prix starts at 8 a.m. ET, but from now until then you will find news, notes, and more as a preview to the race, all above. Then, at race time, be sure to return here for great updates of the race! The preview begins above (in backwards order).
Welcome to live coverage of the 2015 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix here on VAVEL USA! I am Pete Liguori, and I will be bringing you live minute-to-minute updates throughout the race today!
