Victory For Hamilton In Austria

Excitement. Tension. Drama. In a dash through the Red Bull Ring, it was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton who was victorious, beating team mate Nico Rosberg in a tightly fought battle in the final stages of the race.

Victory For Hamilton In Austria

It was Lewis Hamilton who was victorious in the Austrian Grand Prix, defeating Nico Rsoberg in a tightly fought battle in a dash to the finish line. With one lap to go, it was Rosberg who was in the lead, however, following a poor exit from turn 1 after taking too much kerb, opportunity presented itself to Hamilton, with the Brit closing in on his team mate following a very good exit from the corner. However, turn 2 was an entirely different story, with Hamilton making a move around the outside of Rosberg. This would only end in chaos, with the two Mercedes drivers colliding for the second time this season, with Rosberg’s front wing flying off, thus promoting Hamilton to take the lead. Rosberg finished in fourth. Securing his second podium of the season in Austria was Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, who finished in second, securing 18 points. Rounding out the podium positions was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with the Finnish driver securing a further 15 points to his campaign in the championship, gaining one position after starting in fourth.

Finishing in fifth place also for Red Bull was Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian driver and three time Formula 1 race winner finishing the race where he started. This marked a particularly disappointing race for Ricciardo, with it being undoubtable that he wanted to finish further up the field, if not on the podium in his team’s home race.

The Austrian Grand Prix also marked a large quantity of success for McLaren Honda’s Jenson Button, with the Brit finishing in sixth place. This brings a haul of 8 points for McLaren, with the Woking based team’s strength being surprising on  a track with such high speeds. Their successes were also highly evident in qualifying, with Button starting the race in third after previously qualifying in fifth, with promotion occurring due to the grid penalties of Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. This weekend’s race can only be encouraging for McLaren after experiencing a tough time so far this season and a disastrous 2015 campaign. Jenson Button’s team mate, Fernando Alonso faced a disappointing Austrian Grand Prix, starting in 14th and retiring from the race in the latter stages.

Making it into the points for the first time since the Russian Grand Prix was Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean, with the Frenchman finishing in seventh place, grabbing 6 points. This success emulated previous points finishes earlier this season for Haas, with the American team capitalising from a safety car promoted by the tire blowout of Sebastian Vettel. This allowed Haas to effectively get a free pit stop for Grosjean, allowing little time to be lost in the race and grid position to be maintained. Grosjean’s team mate, Esteban Gutierrez narrowly missed out on a points finish in Austria, with the Mexican driver finishing the race in eleventh place.

Coming as a surprise to many was the performance of German driver Pascal Wehrlein, with the Manor driver securing his first points finish of the season, rounding out the top 10, obtaining 1 point to his name. This is highly successful for a team with such little finances, with the team grabbing their first points finish since the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix with Jules Bianchi at the helm.

Failing to finish in the top 10 was Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari, with the German driver crashing out of the Austrian Grand Prix in spectacular style following a right rear tyre blowout. This followed an interesting strategy from Ferrari, with the team undoubtedly keeping Vettel on track for too long without a pit stop.  Force India also faced a disappointing race, with both of their drivers retiring from the race after Nico Hulkenberg started the race on the front row of the grid alongside Lewis Hamilton in second. Sergio Perez made an unfortunate exit from the race in the final lap, making an unexpected excursion off into the gravel trap of turn three, ending up in the wall.

Now comes the all important driver of the day. This award could easily be awarded to any driver. This could go to Wehrlein for securing his first points in his career. Hamilton could also easily be in the mix, securing pole position, fastest lap, and the all important win, making this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix a Grand Slam event for the three time champion. However, what about Jenson Button? Jenson Button has been on fire all weekend. He qualified in fifth place- a well placed finish for a McLaren. The Brit held onto second place for the opening stages of the race, holding off Kimi Raikkonen for seven laps. Not only this but Jenson Button battled his way back through the field following his first pitstop, battling with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas for a portion of the race. Due to this, Button is my driver of the day.

Results from the Austrian GP:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 25 points
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 18 points
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 15 points
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 12 points
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 10 points
6. Jenson Button, McLaren, 8 points
7. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 6 points
8. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 4 points
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 2 points
10. Pascal Wehrein, Manor, 1 point
11. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
13. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
14. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 0 points
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
16. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
17. Sergio Perez, Force India, Ret
18. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Ret
19. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, Ret
20. Felipe Massa, Williams, Ret
21. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Ret
22. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Ret

Drivers Standings after 9 races:

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 153 points
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 142 points
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 96 points
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 96 points
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 88 points
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 72 points
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 54 points
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, 39 points
9. Felipe Massa, Williams, 38 points
10. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 28 points
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 22 points
12.  Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 22 points
13. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 20 points
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 18 points
15. Jenson Button, McLaren, 13 points
16. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 6 points
17. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1 point
18. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1 point
19. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
21. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
22. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
23. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points

Constructors Standings after 9 races:

1. Mercedes, 295
2. Ferrari, 192
3. Red Bull Racing, 168
4. Williams, 92 points
5. Force India, 59 points
6. Toro Rosso, 36 points
7. McLaren, 32 points
8. Haas, 28 points
9. Renault, 6 points
10. Manor, 1 point
11. Sauber, 0 points

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