Nico Rosberg won the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix for the second year in a row in a Mercedes one-two finish with teammate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.
Hamilton’s overall championship lead was cut to 10 points, after eight of the 19 races, with the Briton starting on pole position but beaten crucially into the first corner by the determined German.
The victory was Rosberg’s third of the season, to Hamilton’s four, and left him on 159 points to his teammate’s 169.
“I will try from now on,” grinned Rosberg when asked why he did not drive every race like that. “It’s an awesome feeling of course to win again here. The start made the race.
“It really worked out perfectly today.”
Any hopes of a thrilling chase to the end were dashed when the double world champion, who finished 3.8 seconds behind, collected a five-second penalty for a pit lane infringement on the 35th of the 71 laps.
Brazilian Felipe Massa finished a distant third for Mercedes-powered Williams after holding off Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso collided and crashed into the barriers at the second corner, bringing out the safety car for five laps as the wreckage was removed.
The McLaren ended up on top of the Ferrari, fortunately without hitting Raikkonen’s head or hands, and perched on the barriers.
Alonso, who had started on the back row of the grid after collecting a 25-place drop following engine and gearbox changes, said the collision with his former Ferrari teammate had been a scary moment.
“The start was very good. Kimi had a lot of wheel spin out of turn two. We were overtaking him and he lost the car on the left. I was on the left. I could not see anything. I looked in the mirror and saw a car under my car,” he said. “I jumped quickly to see he was OK. I saw he was so I was happy,” added the Spaniard, who waited for Raikkonen to get out of the car before they walked away together.
Only 14 cars finished the race, with both the Honda-powered McLarens out of action after just 10 laps in another dismal afternoon for the former champion.
The results: 1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1h 30m 16.930s, 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) + 8.800s, 3. Felipe Massa (Williams) 17.573, 4. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 18.181, 5. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 53.604, 6. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1:04.075s
7. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus), 8. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso), 9. Sergio Perez (Force India), 10. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), 11. Felipe Nasr (Sauber) and 12. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) (all 1 lap). 13. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 2 laps, 14. Roberto Merhi (Marussia) 3 laps.
Retired: Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso), Jenson Button (McLaren), Will Stevens (Marussia), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (McLaren).
Overall standings: Drivers: 1. Hamilton 169 points, 2. Rosberg 159, 3. Vettel 120, 4. Kimi Raikkonen 72, 5. Bottas 67, 6. Massa 62, 7. Ricciardo 36, 8. Kvyat 19, 9. Hulkenberg 18, 10. Romain Grosjean 17, 11. Nasr 16, 12. Perez 13, 13. Maldonado 12, 14. Max Verstappen 10, 15. Carlos Sainz Jr 9, 16. Ericsson 5, 17. Jenson Button 4.
Constructors: 1. Mercedes 328 points, 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.
