Rosberg gets the jump on Hamilton in Austria
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 yesterday.
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 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, who lost crucial seconds on his pit stop when the wheel gun jammed on his right rear tyre.
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.
The McLaren ended up on top of the Ferrari, fortunately without hitting Raikkonen’s head or hands.
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.
“I jumped out quickly to see if he was OK. I saw he was,” Alonso said.
Williams’s Valtteri Bottas finished fifth, ahead of 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India, with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado seventh for Lotus.
Max Verstappen, the 17-year-old Dutch rookie, was eighth for Toro Rosso.
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 champions. – Reuters