Nico Rosberg reduced the points gap on his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to ten points with a commanding victory in the Austrian Grand Prix.
Rosberg took the advantage by making a great start and taking the lead at Turn 1 from Hamilton. Even with the worry about tyre vibrations in the final stages of the race, Rosberg had this covered and held on to take victory. His third this season.
Hamilton, who had five seconds added to his race time for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit, finished second with Felipe Massa scoring his first podium of the year in third for Williams after Sebastian Vettel was delayed at his pit-stop.
The safety car was called into action on the first lap when Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen made contact, sending both into the barriers and out of the race.
It looked like The Iceman had a big tank-slapper on the exit of Turn 2 and when the car snapped back to outside, Alonso had nowhere to go, vaulting the Ferrari as they came to rest against the outside barrier.
Both drivers walked away from the accident, with Alonso heading to the medical centre for a precautionary check before returning to the paddock.
With Alonso’s updated car out, the Austrian Grand Prix weekend then got worse for McLaren-Honda a few laps later when Jenson Button retired for the second race in succession.
In the battle for fifth, Valtteri Bottas had to pass Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg twice after losing out during the pit-stops.
Pastor Maldonado took his second successive points finish when snatched seventh from Max Verstappen on the penultimate lap.
Maldonado nearly lost control on the start/finish straight as Verstappen defended the inside line, but he got the position when the Toro Rosso locked up and went wide at Turn 1.
Carlos Sainz was running in the points early on as he banged wheels with Romain Grosjean before passing the Lotus to take ninth.
But he picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane and then pulled into the pits to retire with a loss of power.
Grosjean’s race didn’t last much longer as he ran off track onto the grass before reporting a problem with the gearbox and retiring.
Sergio Perez recovered from a difficult qualifying to give Force India its first double-points finish since the season opener in Australia with ninth.
Daniel Ricciardo salvaged a point for Red Bull at its home race with 10th, passing Sauber’s Felipe Nasr in the closing stages.
Nasr crossed the line P11, with the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat, who like his team-mate Ricciardo had a grid penalty for an engine change, was classified P12.
Marcus Ericsson had a troubled race, first picking up a drive-through penalty for jumping the start and then losing around 15 seconds when he stopped on the start/finish straight and had to do a full system reset before getting going again.
Manor’s Roberto Merhi was the last of the finishers in P14, the best finish of his Formula 1 career, while his team-mate Will Stevens retired for the first time this season with a suspected oil leak.
Austrian Grand Prix race results, 71 laps:
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1h30m16.930s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +8.800s*
3 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +17.573s
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +18.181s
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +53.604s
6 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +64.075s
7 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1 Lap
8 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1 Lap
9 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1 Lap
10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1 Lap
11 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1 Lap
12 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1 Lap
13 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 2 Laps
14 Roberto Merhi Marussia-Ferrari 68 3 Laps
– Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Renault Retirement*
– Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes Retirement
– Jenson Button McLaren-Honda Retirement
– Will Stevens Marussia-Ferrari 1 Retirement
– Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Collision
– Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda Collision
*Hamilton had 5s added to his race time for crossing the white line at the pit exit. Sainz received a 5s time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Fastest lap Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 11.235s (lap 35)
Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 169
2 Nico Rosberg 159
3 Sebastian Vettel 120
4 Kimi Raikkonen 72
5 Valtteri Bottas 67
6 Felipe Massa 62
7 Daniel Ricciardo 36
8 Daniil Kyvat 19
9 Nico Hulkenberg 18
10 Roman Grosjean 17
11 Felipe Nasr 16
12 Sergio Perez 13
13 Pastor Maldonado 12
14 Max Verstappen 10
15 Carlos Sainz 9
16 Marcus Ericcson 5
17 Jenson Button 4
18 Fernando Alonso 0
19 Roberto Merhi 0
20 Will Stevens 0
Constructors’ standing:
1 Mercedes 328
2 Ferrari 192
3 Williams-Mercedes 129
4 Red Bull-Renault 55
5 Force India-Mercedes 31
6 Lotus-Mercedes 29
7 Sauber-Ferrari 21
8 Toro Rosso-Renault 19
9 McLaren-Honda 4
10 Marussia 0
Next race: British Grand Prix, Silverstone. July 3-5
Former world champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen suffered a short and dramatic race at the Austrian Grand Prix as the pair collided during the first lap.
Raikkonen, who was furious with his Ferrari team blaming a lack of communication as he failed to make it out of the first session of qualifying on Saturday, appeared to lose control of his car.
Alonso, meanwhile, ended up flying up the back of Raikkonen’s car as the pair collided and smashed into the barrier.
The McLaren driver’s car was shunted over the top of Raikkonen’s in what looked to be a nasty crash for the pair.
Fortunately, both were okay and Alonso even offered a hand to his fellow driver as the Finn clambered out of his smashed up car.
It was a frightening collision and the images showed the damage to both cars with the drivers fortunate to come away from it unscathed.
Over the radio, Alonso’s panicked McLaren team-mate Jenson Button asked: “Is Fernando okay?”
He was reassured that Alonso was fine, but Button himself was forced to retire after eight laps after engine problems with his car.
Source: Eurosport
Austrian Grand Prix winner Nico Rosberg has commented that his race pace weaknesses from 2014 are solved. Autosport.com has the news story.
Nico Rosberg believes his recent grand prix victories prove he has conquered the race-pace shortcomings that contributed to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton beating him to the 2014 Formula 1 title.
Although Rosberg had the superior qualifying record last year, with 11 poles to Hamilton’s seven, in the races their form was reversed – Hamilton taking 11 victories and Rosberg just five.
With three wins from the last four grands prix including this weekend’s Austrian event, Rosberg believes his Sunday troubles are now sorted.
“I had a good start and then good pace in the race – that is what I’m most happy about,” said Rosberg, who jumped polesitter Hamilton off the line at the Red Bull Ring then controlled the race.
“I think I have found what I needed to find last year in terms of in the races and that’s what is really working out for me this year.”
Rosberg expressed concern over the radio about a vibration in the closing stages of the race but said it was not as severe as he had feared.
“It was just vibrations picking up on the right front,” he said.
“I was just telling them to keep an eye on it but it was fine in the end, it just came from tyre wear.”
Hamilton was trailing Rosberg even before picking up a five-second time penalty for crossing the pitlane exit line following his sole stop – a punishment he was dubious about.
“I don’t think I went over anything, to be honest,” said Hamilton.
He also suspected a technical issue contributed to him losing the lead at the start.
“I had a problem with the revs,” he said.
“I took my foot off the gas and the throttle was still on.
“It was not the best way to start the race but it is something we will work on to improve on my side of the garage.”
The Austrian GP result leaves Hamilton with a 10-point advantage over Rosberg in the world championship.
Fernando Alonso described his dramatic Austrian Grand Prix crash with Kimi Raikkonen as “scary” and “strange” after his McLaren Formula 1 car ended up perched on the Ferrari.
Raikkonen lost control under acceleration out of Turn 2 on the first lap of the Red Bull Ring race and collected Alonso, taking both into the barriers.
“I was in the wrong place,” said Alonso.
“It was a very strange incident because he lost the car in fifth gear or something like that.
“Obviously it was quite scary.
“Kimi started with the prime [soft] tyre and had a lot of wheelspin out of Turn 2.
“The car was moving left, right, left, right, with a lot of wheelspin.
“We were overtaking him left and right – all the cars – and then he lost the car on the left and I was on the left at that point and we crashed.
“I could not see anything because with the seat position I was looking only at the sky and then I looked in the mirror and when I stopped I saw the car under my car.
“I jumped quickly and checked that he was OK.”
Both drivers were unhurt in the accident but paid precautionary visits to the medical centre.
The incident will be investigated by the stewards.
Raikkonen was left puzzled by the crash.
“I got some wheelspin and then went left, which was unusual so it’s hard to say [what happened],” he said.
Alonso’s team-mate Jenson Button had been right behind the collision and said it was frightening to watch.
“It looked like Kimi tried to get on the power – there’s very low grip there – lost the rear and went one way and tried to correct and went the other way,” he said.
“Horrible accident. You never want cars to be in the air or on top of each other so I’m glad they’re both OK and can walk away from it.”
Source: Autosport.com
Pastor Maldonado believes Max Verstappen went too far in terms of racing. Autosport.com has the details.
Lotus Formula 1 driver Pastor Maldonado believes Toro Rosso rival Max Verstappen was not “respecting the rules” in their Austrian Grand Prix battle.
Maldonado, running an alternative strategy, caught and passed Verstappen for seventh late in the Red Bull Ring F1 race.
Asked by AUTOSPORT if he was happy with Verstappen’s driving during their close wheel-to-wheel race, Maldonado replied: “He was a bit… let’s say not aggressive, but he wasn’t really respecting the rules.
“You must leave some space for the other car and he was not respecting that.
“But when I saw him doing this I said I need to be more careful but more aggressive.
“He was a bit on the limit a few times but it’s OK.
“If the stewards don’t say anything then I say OK, they allowed us to race and that’s great.”
The battle ended in spectacular fashion when Maldonado lurched sideways on the pits straight as he pulled out to pass Verstappen, who then locked up and shot off onto the Turn 1 run-off.
“It was just the tow – and maybe we had the headwind as well so maybe the front took more grip than the rear because of the DRS,” said Maldonado, who had come through from 12th after a clutch problem at the start.
“Then as soon as the DRS closed I recovered the grip so it was a bit scary but OK. Good control!”
Verstappen said the Maldonado battle had lasted longer than he expected given the Lotus’s pace.
“I was enjoying it,” said the Dutchman.
“I couldn’t see what happened [in the end]. I couldn’t look because I was trying to control the car.
“With the pace he had I thought maybe two laps and he’s gone.
“But I kept him behind for a few laps and it was really enjoyable.”
The Toro Rosso driver was more frustrated that he had lost time behind Daniil Kvyat’s Red Bull – which was running longer – after his pitstop.
“It’s a shame with Kvyat, he cost me a few seconds, maybe what I needed to secure P7,” said Verstappen, who spent two laps on the Red Bull’s tail before Kvyat let him overtake without resistance.
“Normally if it’s the other way around we don’t make it too difficult for them [Red Bull].
“I didn’t say anything on the radio, there’s no point.”
The Austrian Grand Prix Formula 1 stewards have declared that no driver was at fault in the collision between Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso on the opening lap.
Alonso’s McLaren ended up on top of Raikkonen’s Ferrari between Turns 2 and 3 after Raikkonen lost control, giving Alonso nowhere to go.
TV pictures were not clear regarding the cause of Raikkonen’s problem, but after investigating the clash the FIA decided “no driver was at fault.”
Raikkonen said of the stewards’ interview: “They just wanted to understand what happened.
“It was a really odd place, quite far away from the corner. Whether it was my fault or not it was the same end result.
“I got some wheelspin and suddenly moved left. I don’t know exactly what caused it.”
Ferrari is looking into what happened to Raikkonen, but so far it is unsure.
When asked if there was a problem on the car, Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene said: “Honestly I don’t think so.
“I thought Alonso touched Kimi, but apparently it’s not true. Alonso doesn’t have any responsibility.
“Apparently there’s no images on the camera of Alonso so we have to trust Kimi.
“He said the car had wheelspin and that’s it. Alonso didn’t touch him.”
Arrivabene also dismissed suggestions Raikkonen suffered the same problem that caused him to spin in the Canadian Grand Prix shortly after a pitstop.
“We don’t think so,” he said. “This time it was on the straight.”
Alonso suggested the fact Raikkonen was starting on softs among a group of cars on super-softs could have been a factor.
“I think starting with the prime tyre he had less grip than us so out of Turn 2 he started wheelspinning and losing the car a little bit,” said the McLaren driver.
Source: Autosport.com