Posted on 24th June 2014
Nico Rosberg stretched his Championship lead with victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Laser cut circuit by www.grahamandleigh.co.uk
Rosberg had started the race in 3rd place on the grid following a below par qualifying session for the Mercedes team. The front row was a shut out by the Williams Team cars, with Massa taking pole position ahead of team-mate Bottas.
Massa converted his pole into a lead at the start, while Bottas was passed by Rosberg into the first corner, only to retake second place into Turn Two.
Starting from 9th, Hamilton drove a sensational first lap. A lightening start put him 5th by the second corner. He then made light work of Alonso to take 4th by the end of the first lap.That meant the advantage Rosberg had on track over Hamilton was now gone.
World Champion Vettel lost drive for yet another race this season and was forced to retire from the race, but not before going a lap down and seemingly forcing team-mate Ricciardo wide and onto the dirt. A few laps later and Vettel was called in for his 3rd retirement of the season.
The two Williams and the two Mercedes pulled away from the field during the first quarter of the race. The battle between the two teams was close with 2 seconds covering all 4 positions. The Williams drivers led the early going but Mercedes were able to get Rosberg ahead of Bottas and Hamilton ahead of Massa when Williams chose to make later first pit stops than the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton may feel hard done by as he was all over the back of Rosberg before the stop, but a slower pit stop lost him over a second when he rejoined the race.
Perez of Force India was now in the lead of the race and held off Rosberg for 16 laps, before the Mercedes made a great pass into Turn 2. Bottas made an opportunist move to take advantage of Rosberg's pass, and took Perez on the next straight.
The Williams cars surprised many as they were on pace with the Mercedes throughout the race. Rosberg could not pull away from Bottas and at times looked under threat on the straights.
Lap 40 signalled the next round of stops, Bottas stopped on lap 41, but rejoined third behind Hamilton, who had stopped on lap 39 in his attempt to undercut the Williams which this time worked well for him.
The pit stops left Alonso in the lead of the race until he made his stop several laps later, this was the first time a Ferrari had led a race this season. Alonso rejoined behind Massa in 5th place but the Williams superior speed on the straights was enough to keep the Ferrari at bay.
The battle at the front intensified as Hamilton closed to within two seconds of Rosberg and at one point to within DRS. Both drivers were warned that their brakes were on the limit but Hamilton's were considerably worse.
As the laps ticked away Hamilton could do nothing to close the gap and had to settle for 2nd on a day of damage limitation for the Englishman.
Daniel Ricciardo was the only shining light on a dismal day for Red Bull at their home circuit with a fine overtake on Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg for eighth around the outside of Turn 4 on the final lap of the race.
Rosberg’s victory was his third of the season, and it extends his championship lead to 29 points, over his team-mate Hamilton.
2014 Austrian Grand Prix results
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:27:54.976
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.9 secs
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes +8.1 secs
4 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes +17.3 secs
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +18.5 secs
6 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes +28.5 secs
7 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes +32.0 secs
8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault +43.5 secs
9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +44.1 secs
10 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +47.7 secs
11 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +50.9 secs
12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault +1 Lap
13 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari +1 Lap
14 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +1 Lap
15 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari +2 Laps
16 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault +2 Laps
17 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari +2 Laps
18 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault +2 Laps
19 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari +2 Laps
Retired
Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault Brakes
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault
Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault Suspension
Note – Perez and Chilton qualified P11 and P21 respectively; dropped 5 and 3 grid places respectively for causing collisions at previous round. Grosjean qualified P16; started from pit lane after gearbox and set-up changes.
