What a brilliant race at the Austrian
Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes nudged himself to win the F1 race at Spielberg
for the Round 9 of the Formula 1 Grosser Preis von Osterreich 2016. In a bid to
win the race, Lewis’s car almost crashed out as his car and that of his
teammate Nico Rosberg collided in the last lap.
In lap 71, when the two Mercedes
cars collided, Rosberg kept his position but lost his front wing and drove on
to come second. Rosberg who was leading the race had hoped for a hat-trick
here, after winning the last two races in this country.
It was bad luck for Sergio
Perez of Sahara Force India who could have come in the first ten for the points
but he crashed out in the last moment. His teammate Nico Hulkenberg just gave away
his chances and despite starting third in the grid came in a poor 19th.
Iceman Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari came in third while his teammate Sebastian
Vettel retired earlier in the race after lap 26 as his tyre shreds into pieces.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came in second.
It was an afternoon of gutsy
overtakes and fascinating strategy, a turning point coming with a safety-car
period from lap 27 when then race leader Sebastian Vettel was pitched into the
barriers after the right-rear tyre on his Ferrari let go, the result of debris
on the track according to Pirelli.
Rosberg fought his way up the
order from sixth on the grid to lead pole sitter Hamilton in the closing stages
and there was rarely more than a couple of seconds between the silver cars. On
the last lap the world champion went for the inside line into Turn 1 and looked
to be cleanly past.
However, Rosberg - thought to
be suffering from brake issues - then appeared to turn in on his team mate, the
right-front of his car making heavy contact with the left side of Hamilton’s.
The German limped on, but is under investigation for causing a collision and
failing to stop with a seriously damaged car.
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing
6 Jenson Button Mclaren
7 Romain Grosjean Haas
8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso
9 Valtteri Bottas Williams
10 Pascal Wehrlein Manor
11 Esteban Gutierrez Haas
12 Jolyon Palmer Renault
13 Felipe Nasr Sauber
14Kevin Magnussen Renault
15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber
16 Rio Haryanto Manor
Did Not Finish
17 Sergio Perez Force India
18Fernando Alonso Mclaren
19 Nico Hulkenberg
Force India
20 Felipe Massa
Williams
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso
Source: Motown India / Formula1.com