Austria – Race: another collision between the two Mercedes, Hamilton wins

The weather is much less pleasant than in previous days as it’s only 15°C and the track is only at 26°C, much lower than on Friday and Saturday. Two drivers are starting from the pit lane: Daniil Kvyat following his qualifying crash, and Felipe Massa because structural damage was detected on his front wing. He should have started 10th on the grid.

At the start, Lewis Hamilton is not threatened and can easily keep the lead. Behind him, Nico Hülkenberg doesn’t get the best start and is overtaken by Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen, and Daniel Ricciardo, before finally reclaiming the position from the Australian. Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel each gain only one place, moving to 5th and 8th respectively.

But quickly, the Force India driver loses places. He is the first to pit, on lap 9, to get rid of his ultra-soft tires. He is then followed by the majority of the field. Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Rosberg have overtaken Jenson Button, but the German then dives into the pit lane.

On the 15th and 16th laps, both Red Bulls stop in turn to switch to soft tires after their super softs. With these different strategies, on the 16th lap, the standings are shaken up compared to the starting grid: Hamilton, Räikkönen, Vettel, Rosberg, Verstappen, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Gutierrez, Nasr, Button, Hülkenberg.

Lewis Hamilton was able to make his tires last until the 20th lap but rejoined behind his teammate. Similarly, Kimi Räikkönen stopped a lap later, only to see both Red Bulls overtake him.

But on the 27th lap, Sebastian Vettel’s right rear tire exploded on the straight! He spins but is able to avoid hitting the wall too hard. He has to abandon his car just before the first turn, prompting the safety car to come out as debris litters the track. The German hadn’t yet pitted.

This allows the rest of the field to make their second stops. Nico Hülkenberg is the big loser as he had just stopped and is only 16th. On the 31st lap, the standings are Rosberg, Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, Bottas, Nasr, Button, Grosjean, Magnussen.

After this safety car, numerous penalties are handed out: Nico Hülkenberg and Romain Grosjean for speeding in the pit lane, Kevin Magnussen for his defense against Pascal Wehrlein.

While the two Mercedes set off at a very high pace after the safety car, Nico Rosberg managed to create a gap of two seconds over his teammate. But on the 45th lap, he went wide at turn 2 but managed to get back on track ahead of his teammate! There was then only a 0.5-second gap between the two men. Nevertheless, the German quickly managed to increase it beyond a second to not be under threat from DRS.

On lap 53, Lewis Hamilton attempts the undercut by being the first to stop, after putting in a series of fast laps! He comes out ahead of Ricciardo and Räikkönen. Naturally, Nico Rosberg stops right after and is able to maintain the lead. However, Rosberg is on super softs while Hamilton is on the softs. Hamilton expresses surprise over the radio at having harder tires than his teammate.

On the 57th lap, Kimi Räikkönen finally finds an opening on Daniel Ricciardo to take fourth place. Ahead, Nico Rosberg catches up with Max Verstappen, who still hasn’t stopped, and overtakes him effortlessly. A few laps later, it’s Lewis Hamilton’s turn to overtake the young Dutchman. The Briton then sets out to catch up with his teammate.

The 65th lap sees a succession of retirements: Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, and Nico Hülkenberg are all pushed into their boxes.

But everything changes in front: Lewis Hamilton caught up to Nico Rosberg on the last lap. The two men collide again. The German’s front wing gives way, allowing the Briton to win!

Rosberg loses even two more places, being overtaken by Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen. Nico Rosberg finishes 4th. Daniel Ricciardo, Jenson Button, Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean, Carlos Sainz, and especially Pascal Wehrlein complete the top 10. The young German scores his first point in F1!

From our special correspondent in Spielberg