With this being Austria's second year back on the FIA Formula 1 calendar, it was sure to be quite the show & and it sure was. Things were quite chaotic as soon as the lights went out at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. Marcus Ericsson was first to cause a talking point when he Jump-Started and was put under investigation for doing so. The Swedish driver ended up with a 5-Second-Drive-Through-Penalty and received 2 Penalty Points after the race.
Only one lap in, Kimi Raikkonen had an issue with is Ferrari and it began to swerve out of his control, causing him to start spinning. McLaren's Fernando Alonso was unlucky to be behind him at the time and crashed into Raikkonen, causing his McLaren to land on top of the Ferrari. Both cars slid onto the grass and against the barrier before coming to a stop with the McLaren still on the top of the Ferrari, just narrowly missing Raikkonen in the cockpit. Both drivers emerged unscathed but however it was an early retirement for both.
Will Stevens was the next unfortunate retirement when his Manor came to a stop in a patch of grass. It's not been the best year for the Manor/Marussia team, but they have definitely improved over the last few races. Roberto Merhi finished the race in 14th.
There was plenty of Wheel-To-Wheel racing to be seen on track with some intense battles between Bottas & Hulkenberg, Verstappen & Maldonado and at the end of the race it was Vettel & Massa in a fight for Third, with Massa taking the position and finishing on the podium. Vettel could've very well had the third place in his hands but lost time due to a lengthy pit-stop earlier on.
As for the fight up in front, Rosberg had taken the lead early on in the race despite his team-mate, Hamilton, starting from his 7th Pole Position of the season. The German was fighting hard to make the win his and in the end he did, standing at the top of the podium. Hamilton finished Second. Making it another Mercedes 1-2 & bringing even more points to the team. A very happy day for Niki Lauda, who is Austrian and was able to celebrate in his home country.
However, it was not a good day for all teams and one in particular was McLaren. With Alonso's retirement on the first lap, it was up to Button to produce a good result - But his race came to an early end as well when he was told on the radio that they needed to retire the car due to a mechanical issue. Something Button has heard quite a lot this season.
Force India got back in the groove with both drivers scoring points. Hulkenberg finished in 6th after a lengthy battle with Valtteri Bottas & Sergio Perez brought his car home in 9th after he spent the first half of the race defending against Romain Grosjean. Grosjean retired halfway through the race due to a gearbox issue. The same reason for Carlos Sainz' retirement which happened just before Grosjean's.
The teams head off to Silverstone next for the British Grand Prix, but for now - Tuesday & Wednesday the teams stay at Red Bull Ring for the 2nd and last In-Season test. We will have LIVE Commentary coverage of that on our Twitter @F1Insider78
RESULTS:
1. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 15 Points
4. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 12 Points
5. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland / + 10 Points
6. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / + 8 Points
7. Pastor Maldonado / Lotus-Mercedes / Venezuela / + 6 Points
8. Max Verstappen / Toro Rosso-Renault / Netherlands / + 4 Points
9. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 2 Points
10. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-Renault / Australia / + 1 Point
11. Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil
12. Daniil Kvyat / Red Bull-Renault / Russia
13. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
14. Roberto Merhi / Manor-Ferrari / Spain
RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Lotus-Mercedes / France / Gearbox
RETIRED - Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / Gearbox
RETIRED - Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain / Electronics
RETIRED - Will Stevens / Manor-Ferrari / Great Britain / Oil Leak
RETIRED - Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / Collision
RETIRED - Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / Collision
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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