Lewis Hamilton claims victory at the Austrian GP after last lap crash with Nico Rosberg

At the Austrian GP yesterday, Lewis Hamilton claimed Lewis Hamilton claimed a dramatic last-lap victory at the Austrian Grand Prix after colliding with teammate Nico Rosberg while passing for the lead and finishing ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton led from the start but was shuffled behind Rosberg at the first round of pit stops. Rosberg pitted on Lap 10 after working his way up to third place in the opening stint, while Hamilton waited until Lap 21 to make his first stop. The long first stint appeared to be in reaction to the Ferrari team; whose cars both started on the super-softs and were running long into the race, but it ultimately cost Hamilton time compared to his teammate.

By staying out on older tyres both Hamilton and the Ferraris lost out as Rosberg made up time with a series of impressive laps on his new set of soft tyres. After a 4.2s pit stop, Hamilton rejoined behind Rosberg on lap 21 but his tyres were 11 laps younger.

At this stage of the race, Sebastian Vettel, who had yet to pit dropped out of the lead after suffering a right-rear tyre blowout on a 27-lap old set of super-softs. The incident brought out a safety car for four laps, which played into Rosberg’s hands by extending his stint length on soft tyres.

There was some speculation over whether the Mercedes would finish without a second stop, as Verstappen and Raikkonen ultimately did, but on lap 54 it became clear the pair would have to pit again. But Hamilton had yet another slow stop as he took on another set of soft tyres, meaning Rosberg retained the lead when he pitted a lap later for super-softs.

Initially the difference in tyre compound appeared to hand Rosberg the advantage on the track, but an apparent brake issue in the final laps saw his small lead come under threat in the final three laps.

But it all came to a head on the final lap of the race. The battle between the Mercedes had been brewing for several laps and Hamilton seized the opportunity on the outside of Turn 2, with Rosberg going deep into the corner and into his teammate. The incident wiped out Rosberg’s front wing and the championship leader had to crawl to the flag, dropping to fourth place behind Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen in the final corners.

Despite starting in sixth place, Rosberg led Hamilton for the majority of the race as he benefitted from an alternative strategy and two slow Hamilton pit stops. However in the final three laps of the race, Hamilton closed on Rosberg and he finally got his chance to pass on the approach to Turn 2 on the final lap.

Rosberg took the inside line and forced Hamilton to try his chances on the outside. But Rosberg who appeared to be suffering with a brake issue went deep into the corner and a collision became inevitable. The impact damaged Rosberg’s front wing, making him a sitting duck on the following straight as Hamilton rejoined the track at full speed and retook the lead.

Shortly after the race, Rosberg faced a stewards’ investigation for “failing to stop with a seriously damaged car”, which saw him claim a ten second time penalty and also two points on his licence. The result as it currently stands provides yet another twist in the tale of the 2016 drivers’ championship, with Rosberg’s lead cut from 24 points to 11.

The resulting collision could split the Mercedes garage once more, with team boss Toto Wolff calling the incident “brainless”, but sets the scene for a tantalising British Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend.

But it was Lewis Hamilton who claimed his third win of the season ahead of Max Verstappen in second place who was 5.719 seconds behind him and ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in third place who was 6.024 seconds behind Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg finished the race in fourth place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth place, Jenson Button in sixth place, Romain Grosjean in seventh place, Carlos Sainz Jr in eighth place, Valtteri Bottas in ninth place and Pascal Wehrlein who scored the first point of his career and Manor’s first point since Monaco 2014 who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Esteban Gutierrez finished the race out of the points in eleventh place ahead of Jolyon Palmer in twelfth place, Felipe Nasr in thirteenth place, Kevin Magnussen in fourteenth place and Marcus Ericsson in fifteenth place and Rio Haryanto in sixteenth place.

Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat did not finish the race.

The classification for the Austrian GP is as follows:-

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:27.38.107s
2. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 5.719s
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 6.024s
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 26.710s
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 30.981s
6. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 37.706s
7. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 44.668s
8. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 47.400s
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 1lap
10. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 1lap
11. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1lap
13. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1lap
14. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1lap
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1lap
16. Rio Haryanto, MRT Racing, 1lap
17. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, Not Classified
18. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, Not Classified
19. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, Not Classified
20. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, Not Classified
21. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Not Classified
22. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Not Classified

Nico Rosberg still leads the Driver's Championship with 153 points, Lewis Hamilton is in second place with 142 points, Sebastian Vettel is in third place with 96 points, Kimi Raikkonen is in fourth place with 96 points, Daniel Ricciardo is in fifth place with 88 points, Max Verstappen is in sixth place with 72 points, Valtteri Bottas is in seventh place with 54 points, Sergio Perez is in eighth place with 39 points, Felipe Massa is in ninth place with 38 points and Romain Grosjean is in tenth place with 28 points.

Mercedes still lead the Constructors Championship with 295 points, Ferrari is in second place with 192 points, Red Bull is in third place with 168 points, Williams is in fourth place with 92 points, Force India is in fifth place with 59 points, Toro Rosso is in sixth place with 36 points, McLaren is in seventh place with 32 points, Haas is in eighth place with 28 points, Renault is in ninth place with 6 points and Manor are tenth with 1 point.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa