Mercedes’ Hamilton & Rosberg come to blows again — Hamilton emerges victorious; Red Bull’s Verstappen, Ferrari’s Raikkonen pounce to take P2 & P3

Nico Rosberg thought he had a brilliant come-from-behind victory in the bag at the Red Bull Ring in Austria this Sunday. After being pushed back 5 spots on the grid from a qualifying effort that should have been good enough for P2 when his Mercedes team had to heroically rebuild his car and gearbox following a crash in practice, the German championship points leader made an excellent start, rushing by the two Red Bulls into fifth place. Rosberg continued to methodically work his way up, eschewing an early pit stop and making his tires last while others around him pitted. With Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel running P1 and also on a long tire stint, Rosberg was right behind his countryman to see the Ferrrai’s rear right tire disintegrate on the start-front straight on Lap 27, ending the  4-time World Champion’s race. That left Rosberg, whose Silver Arrow picked up a lot of Vettel’s shredded rubber, leading the race under the Safety Car and upon its withdrawal. Hamilton shadowed him from P2 and the two Mercedes’ aces traded fast laps for much of the middle part of the race.

When Rosberg had a superior pit stop to his teammate on Lap 56, it looked for all the world that he would keep his edge because Hamilton was now stuck behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. But working diligently, Hamilton finally managed to get by Verstappen and into P2 on Lap 63 of the 71 lap race.  And the drag and damage on Rosberg’s car from Vettel’s tire debris seemed to tell over time with Hamilton steadily reeling him in as the laps wound down. On the final lap Hamilton made his move into Turn 2 with a wide outside passing attempt and abrupt reentry on to the racing line that clipped Rosberg’s front wing, causing it to collapse as Hamilton sailed towards victory. Not only that but Rosberg lost his chance at a podium, as first Vesratppen then Raikkonen flew by his wounded Silver Arrow. While Rosberg was later found at fault by the stewards for the crash and given a time penalty, he managed to hold on to his P4 and his Championship lead. And it appeared there was plenty of blame to go around with Hamilton’s aggressive overtaking move vs. Rosberg’s defending. Afterwards Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was fuming at both of his drivers for once again losing out on maximum points, threatening to impose the dreaded team orders. One thing is for certain, the Hamilton-Rosberg relationship is arguably the most toxic since Prost and Senna… or at least Vettel and Webber. And with only three tightly-packed races remaining before the summer break and a mere 11 points separating these Mercedes title contenders don’t look for any cooling of this white hot intrateam rivalry in the weeks to come.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

As mentioned above, Red Bull’s Wunderkind Max Verstappen drove an excellent race to be in position to capitalize on Rosberg’s misfortune and take P2 on the team’s home track and in front of a delighted Red Bull impresario Deitrich Mateschitz himself. And Raikkonen, whose future with Ferrari seems in doubt, was nevertheless there to once again pick up the pieces for the Scuderia with his P3, somewhat salvaging another disappointingly mixed day for the team due to Vettel’s tire failure DNF. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo could never quite find the pace of his junior teammate and had to settle for P5. It almost seems like his hasn’t been the same since his crushing disappointment at Monaco. But Jenson Button of McLaren found his form for a splendid run, making the most of his somewhat flukey P3 start to finish a solid P6 in his underpowered Honda-engined car. Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean was also impressive, driving a very steady and assured race to come home a valuable P7 despite being penalized 5 seconds for speeding in the pits.

Rounding out the Top 10, Carlos Sainz was solid, taking his Toro Rosso to P8 and beating out the ostensibly superior Williams of Valtteri Bottas (P9). And Manor rookie Pascal Wehrlein took the last points paying position with P10. While he and the team benefitted from a raft of retirements, the Mercedes-powered Manor chassis was undeniably fast all weekend in the speed traps on this fast little circuit. It was Manor’s first championship point since the late Jules Bianchi scored a P9 for them in Monaco in 2014. So for this underfunded little perennial back marker team that 10th place must have tasted as sweet as a victory.

Top finishers in Austria:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but one week away from venerable Silverstone in England.  With the Mercedes rivalry heating up like the July weather and that contest on Hamilton’s home court don’t be surprised if there are more fireworks next Sunday. Hope to see you then!