Rosberg wins in drama-filled race

SPIELBERG, Austria Nico Rosberg celebrated his 30th birthday with a third win in four races yesterday when he beat Mercedes teammate and series leader Lewis Hamilton to triumph in an incident-filled Austrian Grand Prix.

The German driver, who left his 20s behind on Saturday, repeated his 2014 success when he came home a comfortable 3.8 seconds clear of the defending world champion and reduced his lead from 17 points to 10.

After eight of this year ’ s 19 races,

– Briton Hamilton, who picked up a five seconds penalty in the race, has 169 and Rosberg, who won last year ’ s Austrian event, 159.

It was Rosberg ’ s third win of the season and the 11th of his career.

The race began with drama as Rosberg sped into a first corner lead and almost immediately a spectacular collision between two-time champion Fernando Alonso and 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen caused the race to be halted with the introduction of a safety car.

Alonso ’ s car landed on top of Raikkonen ’ s car. Both drivers were unhurt and walked away, shaken but not injured.

It was another hugely disappointing day for the struggling McLarenHonda team.

On top of Alonso ’ s first lap crash, Briton Jenson Button had to make an early retirement in the other car with engine problems.

The serious collision involving Raikkonen and Alonso caused the race to be stopped and run behind the safety car until the debris was cleared.